Anyone know anything about them? How many studios are in the complex? How big? How well equipped etc? Are they available to independent production companies outside the main RTÉ fold?
I know there is a Studio Four which is RTE's largest studio. It is used for the Late Late Show, Election Shows etc, a bit like BBC TV Centre's Studio One. I remember someone saying it is around 8,000 Sq Ft.
There is also another large studio, but a bit smaller than Studio Four. This is used for Winning Steak - Irish National Lottery Shows, gameshows and some chatshows.
There is also a very small news studio where all RTE1 & RTE2 News programmes come from.
I have tried to research and find out about them but unlike the BBC TV Centre, London Studios, Elstree Studios etc, RTE doesn't provide as yet a proper information service about them.
Yes the RTÉ Television Centre is quite well equipped but obviously is only a fraction of the size of BBC TVC. The previous post is correct - Studio 4 is the largest (since 1994 when it was upgraded. Apparently this studio was the first studio in the world to have been equipped with a fully automated lighting grid. It was also equipped to broadcast in 16:9 at this time however this facility it wasn't used until 2005). Then Studio 1 is the next largest (before 1994 this one was the biggest). There is the small Studio 3 on the upper floor for news, Studio 5 is an alongated studio for production of shows that do not use a live audience e.g. The Afternoon Show. I think Studio 8 is another small studio on the upper floor; used for kids' shows. Not sure about the rest.
That's pretty much it yup. Increasingly two old soundstages, Soundstage A and B, probably once used for Glenroe are also being used for basic gameshows and other production that only require illuminated cyclorama curtains and standard lighting. Their barn-like qualities are also being availed of for complex purpose-built setups like Test the Nation and formerly Who Wants to Be a Millionare. They don't have the height clearance nor complex lighting grids for any half decent studio production however, so Studio 4 and the smaller Studio 1 still take pride of place in that respect.
I suspect Miriam's was Studio 1, though am open to correction on that; the depth required for the seating to either side might have necessitated Studio 4, though the audience looked pretty miserable...
The studios can indeed be hired out, and RTÉ used to have a Facilities website, but seem not to be bothering with it anymore, not even after the recent relaunch, since it went down about three years ago. Most galleries are pretty high-spec, though News are still operating with a letterboxed 4:3 monitor bank, save the Transmission monitors.
Studio 4 rarely gets a decent new look given the cost of its expansive set fit-outs, so the confirmed upcoming relaunch of The Late Late Show should prove most interesting. One suspects this time round a Dunphy-esque sophisticated plush look shall be employed to maximise the contrast with the 'modernist' shambles of the past four years.
It'll also be Pat's swansong, so all the stops will be pulled out.
Most galleries are pretty high-spec, though News are still operating with a letterboxed 4:3 monitor bank, save the Transmission monitors.
This is standard in most 16:9 SD galleries. You can't get small 16:9 CRT preview monitors - and so have to use 4:3 / 16:9 switchable models, which scan-crush to a letterbox. I'm pretty certain all of the BBC TVC SD studios and OB units use 4:3 preview monitors for pretty much everything except transmission and preview in most cases.
On the occasions that these studios are switched back to 4:3 it is a shock to see how much bigger the monitors appear when they are running in "tall screen"!
Very modern galleries may be using individual 16:9 LCDs or - even worse - virtual stacks using high-resolution projectors or plasmas, which suffer terrible video delay problems causing a lip-sync nightmare...
It'll also be Pat's swansong, so all the stops will be pulled out.
So Pat Kenny is leaving the Late Late at the end of this season? What are RTÉ's plans for the Late Late then? Will they continue it with a new host or will they cancel it altogether?
Indeed that is correct. The reference to 'swansong' was in relation to this being his 'final leg' so to speak, i.e. they'll get another threeish years out of the new look, by which stage he'll certainly want to wrap things up. He's said on numerous occasions that he wants to step down round about 60.
I have seen pictures of the RTE Television studios from the 1980s on the www.thetvroomplus.com website.
They have a Studio Six which probably is still there which is used for Fair City and other television dramas.
Does anyone know the website address which details RTE studios? The BBC and London Studios have one for their complex.
Are RTE Studios selling their facilities on the open market? That is why the BBC and TLS have websites detailing their facilities - to advertise them to potential clients.