RTE News - Ireland

I think that you'll find that the primary reason was lack of funds - my understanding that they were quite happy with the content.

The real problem was that the programme was at the wrong time - it should have been at 07:00.

Agreed, the time of the programme was wrong. Cutbacks were made on the RTE News on 2 to allow the show to go ahead in the first place. (that bulletin has now been entirely dropped and replaced by a bulletin on RTE News Now at 11)

Morning Edition wouldn't have been dropped if there was some sort of audience but you can't defend a programme budget when you have basically have no one watching at all. The testcard with music had better numbers at the same time in the late 1980's

It was a breakfast show two hours too late, a bit of an oddity but RTE appear to have been scared of cannibalising Morning Ireland's listenership.

There's now less straight news on RTE One and RTE2 at any time since the One O'Clock News launched. I think there's now a case for reinstating a 23:00 bulletin (though I think the RTE2 schedulers regarded it as a pain) particularly when TV3 have dropped their straight new bulletin at that time. Pointing to RTE News Now, which despite its name isn't even run by RTE News, and isn't on Sky, simply isn't acceptable.

RTE News Now not only needs to be on Sky in Ireland, but it also needs to be available in the UK on Sky and Freesat as well. It would be the best way to re-introduce RTE to UK audiences, after the collapse of Tara all those years ago.

It said in the Irish Mirror that RTE is to 'beef-up' the Six One and Nine O'Clock News to keep up with competition from UTV Ireland. It sounds confusing because RTE News already spent a modest €25,000 for it's new rebrand back in late April. Do you guys know what sort of 'beefing up' would take place when RTE are competing with UTV Ireland in the new year?

I do agree that RTE should take some initiative of having RTE News Now by doing a carriage deal on Sky and Freesat.

It would be welcome for Freesat viewers in the UK to get this channel along with the proposed RTE Ireland channel because it will show support and awareness by showing Irish News stories to the Irish ex-pats living in the UK. There are a few negatives to this story though as it could RTE millions and millions of euro to be shown on Astra 28.2E satellite beam if it is unencrypted to a point where it could be unaffordable for RTE to provide the channel.

Another negative is that a lot of TV viewers already have UK Freesat installed in their homes in the Republic of Ireland. They could have the liklihood of having RTE News Now shown twice on their TVs at home if they combine it from an aerial giving the Irish channels on Saorview.

I don't know what kind of beefing up it could get. Presumably it wouldn't be another visual revamp so soon after the last one (although it would explain why RTÉ News Now STILL hasn't rebranded). And RTÉ has the largest newsroom in the country so I'm not sure what they could do in terms of that either.



The RTÉ Ireland channel shows no sign of happening anytime soon or, you know, ever. RTÉ News Now though could be doable but the cost of going on the UK Sky EPG could be the killer. Oireachtas TV has no reason to be encrypted in the UK but is, oddly enough.

Can RTÉ News Now be accessed on the RTÉ website outside of the Island of Ireland? I was under the impression that it could be.

Works from the UK..

All of the news bulletins broadcast on RTE News Now are however edited by the RTE Newsroom.

Well someone seems to have gotten on to CEL at last - the News and Sport logos on the website have finally been replaced by the versions used on air. The fact that the inconsistent logos we're allowed to be used at all and for so long is worrying from a branding point of view. Maybe we'll finally see that News Now rebrand?

Brian Farrell, the former presenter of 7 Days and Prime Time, has died today at age 85. He was a wonderful broadcaster when I saw him on Prime Time a few years ago. He will be sadly missed by your friends and all your loyal viewers. RIP Brian Farrell.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1110/658082-brian-farrell/

Also I just seen a new font saying RTE News and Current Affairs down at the bottom of the screen with the intro of this evening's Six One News on RTE One.

Brian Farrell was an absolute master of the political interview, moderating pre-election leaders' debates (starting 30 years before the first one in the UK), and of course presenting election results coverage when, frankly, he was unparalleled. Being a Professor of Political Science at UCD helped of course!

But I thought that John Bowman's description of his ability to conduct a political interview always with courtesy but also with attrition was bang on the mark!