RTÉ - TV licence

Dinarius

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We gave up Sky about two years ago. Since then, we have the handful of channels which you can still receive via the Sky box and dish, in addition to Netflix, for which we pay €11.99 p/m.

Via a combination of very good WiFi, an iPad and a Google dongle, we receive perfect Netflix and YouTube on our television through their apps.

Via exactly the same technical combination, we stream RTE television to our tv using their “app” at a quality level that could best be described as execrable.

Despite the fact the most people are viewing RTE via cable or free-view, and despite the fact that the bandwidth demands on streaming RTÉ would be minuscule compared with Netflix or YouTube, the streamed signal is unwatchable.

Is the RTÉ app a mere fig leaf which then allows them to demand I pay a licence fee because they meet some legal requirement in terms of being seen to provide a service?

I have no interest in Saorview. I don’t want yet another box and aerial. I would simply like it that RTÉ allow me to tune in their stations via my Sky box (which I can do for dozens of other channels) or they provide an app (rather than their current transition year project offering) on a par with the others I’ve mentioned which allows me to stream their service.

For this, I will happily pay for a licence. But, without either of these, I will pay no more.

D.
 
Hi @Dinarius , I've read and re-read your post and I'm not sure what your asking, if indeed you are asking anything.
Are you just informing us of your televisual viewing methods, giving out about RTE, trying to justify why you're not buying a TV licence or maybe just having a rant?

PS.:- Anyway, for what it's worth I also think that the 'RTE Player' is absolute rubbish and is barely fit for purpose.
 
The same old arguments trotted out all over again; "RTE is rubbish, why should I pay a licence fee?" And the answer is the same as it has always been; "Unlike the BBC in the UK, RTE does not collect a licence fee. The annual TV licence fee is collected by An Post on behalf of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (or whatever they're called this week) The Broadcasting Act 2009 and other laws set out the legislation relating to Television Licences and your need to have one, even if you never watch RTE. The licence is to use a TV reception device in Ireland."

Feel free to consult multiple other threads on the same topic posted over the years.
 
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Hi @Dinarius , I've read and re-read your post and I'm not sure what your asking, if indeed you are asking anything.
Are you just informing us of your televisual viewing methods, giving out about RTE, trying to justify why you're not buying a TV licence or maybe just having a rant?

PS.:- Anyway, for what it's worth I also think that the 'RTE Player' is absolute rubbish and is barely fit for purpose.

Sorry, I thought it was obvious. The legal fig leaf that is the RTE Player app appears to force me to pay for a tv licence.

Without the app, someone with my setup (no Sky or Virgin sub, and no Saorview box) would have no access to RTÉ.

Given that the app fails utterly, can I be made to pay for a service I cannot avail of?

D.
 
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How very, very Irish.

Why do you feel it necessary to degrade your country, when in fact it is pretty much the same requirement throughout Europe and you'd you know this if you took the time to do a little research???

And rightly so. The last think we need is to have nothing to rely on but the Fox News and Murdock press.
 
The debate here has zip to do with access to information.
It has to do with a public broadcaster funding model and its failure to deliver.
Please, do not put words in my mouth.
Anyone who has used BBC Sounds, for example, knows that it works flawlessly.
The RTÉ app does not. That is ALL I am talking about.
D.
 
The legal fig leaf that is the RTE Player app appears to force me to pay for a tv licence.
Not true, nothing to do with the app. Remember it's not an RTÉ licence.

I have no interest in Saorview. I don’t want yet another box and aerial. I would simply like it that RTÉ allow me to tune in their stations via my Sky box
RTÉ is part of the Saorview platform, in fact 6 of the 11 TV channels are from RTÉ, so you do have an interest in it, Saorview can be received by most modern TVs. and often by the use of a small indoor aerial.
 
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A few other things.

On BBC radio via Freesat the music tracks are listed on the screen as they appear on shows - RTE can't manage this on saorview. Its just lazy by rte.

Where is a decent catch up service for RTE radio - e.g. 2XM programmes aren't available and indeed aren,t easy to listen to live via a smartphone. Presume its non existent or patchy for the rest of the RTE radio channels. Why don't RTE just go and speak to BBC and see how they can replicate a proven tool such as BBC Player.

It reminds me of the water charge in Scotland which is just lobbed on to the household Community Charge as a fixed charge. Why didnt Irish govt not just do this (put fixed water charge on to Property Tax) and avoid Irish Water fiasco. The UK has its faults but we could use their good ideas instead of concocting inferior home grown approaches where a proven workable solution is available.
 
I would simply like it that RTÉ allow me to tune in their stations via my Sky box (which I can do for dozens of other channels)

This is nothing to do with RTE, Sky just allow what UK legislation says they must without a current subscription.
 
The point made further up about the need for truth in an era of Fox News and the like is pertinent. It highlights the need for maximum and uninhibited access to the likes of RTE. All the more reason that their app should work as expected.

D.
 
Sorry, I thought it was obvious. The legal fig leaf that is the RTE Player app appears to force me to pay for a tv licence.
It has nothing to do with the RTE app. Your TV is a device capable of receiving a TV signal so you must pay a licence.

The point made further up about the need for truth in an era of Fox News and the like is pertinent. It highlights the need for maximum and uninhibited access to the likes of RTE. All the more reason that their app should work as expected.
D.
SAORVIEW is available to everyone for free. Your TV probably already supports it (given that it is a smart TV capable of running an app). Just because you won't purchase a combi box or an aerial doesn't mean that it is not widely available.
 
Similar discussions appear In the UK about the BBC. At the end of the day, if you get rid of the national broadcaster then who will do all the state TV/radio footage. The only competitor is Virgin media and they don't have the infrastructure to compete.

Saying that, the RTE app is very bad and they should have outsourced it instead of designing it inhouse.

And RTE's business model needs a refresh
 
The app itself is fine but some people have issues with the quality of the stream and the number of ads.

In any event it might serve a better purpose if people complained to RTE directly.
 
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