Ah come on Passive, that's an incredibly one-dimensional view of RTE. Yes, they have a public service broadcasting remit but the demographics of this country don't allow them to operate on any financial model other than a semi-commercial one - there simply aren't enough households in the country to enable them to fulfill the PSB obligations on licence fee income alone. Hence they've no choice but to act as a commercial station (albeit one with arcane work - or more like it, work-shy - practices straight out of the public service :D )Quote:
Originally Posted by Passive
However they do a great job in terms of commisioning and airing home-produced programmes - check WAR's list (or the very natty MP4 player being fired about by RTE Sales at the moment ;) ) Just compare their output in this regard to TV3, a "purely" commercial operation who were getting the benefit of preferential "transfer pricing" (in the business, not football sense) from CanWest / Granada up until recently. Or compare them to Sky1 who could easily be subsidised by the Murdoch empire if they wanted to be anything other than totally commercial.
The fact that RTE p1ss all over their competitors in audience terms indicates that they are giving the viewers what they want - a fairly crude definition of "national interest" but probably valid all the same. I know they've increased their share considerably this year and one of the key drivers was a home-produced programme - Podge & Rodge, believe it or not. Don't take my word or WAR's for it though, talk to Drimnagh Hoop. If he's still working where he used to, he's ideally placed to give you an unbiased opinion.
You yourself mentioned RTE's obligation to cover events of national interest. I think we'd all agree that, rightly or wrongly, the contents of Pineapple Stu's attendances thread would suggest that LoI simply doesn't qualify as being "of national interest".
If you stay within the limits of sport, then what qualifies as being "of national interest" is really just the EPL, CL, horse racing and Rovers' pals in the GAA, and they cover those. Unfortunately, us LoI Luddites are "of minority interest" which is a whole different thing.
PSB and minority interests may well overlap in pure theoretical terms but in the semi-commercial context of RTE, I can't see the benefit of them screening some kind of LoI highlights show in the wee hours of the morning which is where it'd most likely end up. There, or on a Friday teatime, like the Soccer Show RIP - that, I grant you, was inspired stupidity in terms of scheduling.
Our fundamental problem isn't with RTE - it's with RTE's audience. If they want to watch LoI, eventually RTE will come around. Therein lies the real challenge.
