opportunity to phase out RTÉ

Z

z107

Guest
It seems that the government has missed an opportunity to phase out RTÉ television broadcasting. Instead they appear to be extending it!
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/...sion-service-to-be-launched-today-506470.html

Normally I wouldn't care about this because I don't pay for a television licence, so this doesn't affect me. However, I will be most concerned if a new tax is introduced that everyone will be forced to pay.

Saorview also claim to be 'free'. Isn't this false advertising? You have to buy a box and licence to use this service - hardly free!
 
Why would phasing out a public service broadcaster be a good thing ?

RTE does many things well, and well as many other things badly. On balance, I'd prefer to have RTE, than not have RTE.
 
Why would phasing out a public service broadcaster be a good thing ?
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As a news source, they are biased.
There are now many sources of alternative news, so they are also redundant.

As an entertainment outlet, they are in direct competition with private enterprise and should be abolished.

People who want to have a TV are forced to pay for this service, if they use it or not. So it's a burden as well. I'm concerned that a new tax will be introduced to fund RTE.
 
TV is not simply about enterntainment, there is a news an information element around it as well. Take some of the Prime Time programmes over the last couple of weeks and compare those with Expose. RTE is far superior in a lot of things then commercial channels
 
TarfHead said:
RTE does many things well, and well as many other things badly. On balance, I'd prefer to have RTE, than not have RTE.
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Totally agree with this. Just as RTE start driving me mad with some of their rubbish, they come out with some gem of a programme that restores my faith in public service broadcasting.

There does need to be changes with regard to licence fee and advertising revenues but on the whole, RTE TV and radio provide a valuable service. Their online offering is also pretty good.
 
umop3p!sdn, should the BBC be abolished in your opinion?
If any part of if is being funded through taxes, rather than an optional fee, then it should be abolished.

So umop3p!sdn I take it you don't have a tv then (as you don't pay the license)?
No, I don't have a TV.

Why do you think a tax would be introduced instead of (or as well as) the current license? Have you any evidence to underpin this or is this just speculation on your own part?
Wasn't there talk of a media, or an internet tax being proposed? I do use the internet.

TV is not simply about enterntainment, there is a news an information element around it as well.
Biased news, paid for by licence payers!
 
umop3p!sdn said:
TV is not simply about enterntainment, there is a news an information element around it as well.
Biased news, paid for by licence payers!
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Every news is paid for, by licence payers, by advertisers, by purchasers of a newspaper/magazine. Every news is biased in some way, by the person who writes or presents it. What you need is sufficent news sources to draw your own conclusions.
 
Labour wont do anything to harm its old Sticky friends in R.T.E. Rabbitte has said he wont caps the "stars" salaries.
No problem hitting the poor workers slaving away in the R.T.E. canteen or in hotels around the country.
Good old Labour the workers friend.
 
Ceist Beag said:
Where? First time I've heard of any such thing.
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Pat Rabbitte has stated that the government are looking at abolishing the licence fee for TVs and introducing a different type of fee (called the household charge) to accomadate the fact that people can now look at TV on a laptop without actually having a TV set.

However, there are no firm proposals in place AFAIK as they are only looking at it.

[broken link removed]
 
Thanks for that. Sure at that rate they might as well slap it onto the USC and be done with it! At this stage it's impossible to keep up with how many taxes/levies/charges we pay but I guess that's another thread! Still don't see any reason to do away with RTE tho, as I said, they're on of the better stations around imho.
 
umop3p!sdn said:
It seems that the government has missed an opportunity to phase out RTÉ television broadcasting. Instead they appear to be extending it!
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/...sion-service-to-be-launched-today-506470.html
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If you think this is breaking news, then you haven;t been reading much news lately. The rollout of digital TV has been planned for the last decade and has received a lot of media coverage

umop3p!sdn said:
Normally I wouldn't care about this because I don't pay for a television licence, so this doesn't affect me. However, I will be most concerned if a new tax is introduced that everyone will be forced to pay.
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What makes you think that this is being planned ?

There is an issue which needs to be tackled about TV licenses.
The current definition of a TV receiving apparatus is based in the pre internet days when the only way to get TV was on a TV with a tuner.,
As technology changes, this will also have to change to ensure fairness,
but I have never heard anyone except you suggest the idea of a universal tax to pay for public service broadcasting.

In fact, the law states that RTE cannot receive any direct government funding, apart from the license fee

umop3p!sdn said:
Saorview also claim to be 'free'. Isn't this false advertising? You have to buy a box and licence to use this service - hardly free!
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The current analog TV service is free, but you still have to buy a TV and a suitable aeriel, so what the difference ?

Are you going to complain that this free service is not available to you because you wont buy an aeriel and TV ?

Anyway, if you dont have a TV, why do you care ?
 
umop3p!sdn said:
Saorview also claim to be 'free'. Isn't this false advertising? You have to buy a box and licence to use this service - hardly free!
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This isn't true, many modern TVs have the required tuner built-in, before long, they all will. Inconvenient for those with older TVs, but at least they chose to roll out up-to-date technology when they were doing it.

By that logic, the legacy analogue transmission wasn't free either because you needed to buy a TV
Leo
 
By that logic, the legacy analogue transmission wasn't free either because you needed to buy a TV
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Did analogue TV claim to be free? It isn't. You have to pay for a licence and apparatus to receive it.

I only regard something as being free if I don't have to spend any money to get it.

Anyway, if you dont have a TV, why do you care ?
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If I don't have to pay any extra taxes to fund RTE, then I don't care.

If they introduce this new 'media' tax - or fund RTE through other taxes outside of the optional licence fee, then I care very much.
 
umop3p!sdn said:
I only regard something as being free if I don't have to spend any money to get it.
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The licence is for the television, not for watching or receiving tv channels. We all know where the fee ends up.

So you can watch the new digital channels for free, as you wont need to have a subscription with any TV company, but you will continue to pay a licence fee for the TV itself like before and what you do with the TV is up to you.
 
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umop3p!sdn said:
Did analogue TV claim to be free? It isn't. You have to pay for a licence and apparatus to receive it.

I only regard something as being free if I don't have to spend any money to get it.
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As RonanC has pointed out, TV licence has nothing to do with receiving/viewing transmissions, it's purely related to ownership of certain equipment.

Saorview, just like the English FreeView, means the transmissions are free to view, but you obviously need to own the neccessary equipment to view those transmissions.

You do realise that you already fund RTE through your purchasing of any product or service that advertise via any RTE outlet?
 
I don't watch any RTE adverts. I wouldn't know which products are advertised in this manner.

In fact, I would argue the reverse - people who do not watch RTE advertising are devaluing RTE adverts. If the viewer numbers go down, RTE can't sell the advertising slot for as much.
 
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