Report card: How RTÉ has performed on TV and radio during challenging times | Irish Independent
Flor Lynch
We assess how the national broadcaster has been doing in seven key areas from currents affairs to light entertainment
Three years have elapsed since the RTÉ payments scandal, and director general Kevin Bakhurst has gone back to the Oireachtas, cap in hand, for public funding for the next three years.
The past 36 months have been the most challenging in the history of the national broadcaster, thanks to straitened budgets, a lack of public trust and a level of scrutiny it has never experienced before.
RTÉ’s public service remit remains, but it also has to pull in viewers and listeners. It’s a tricky balancing act.
Here, our writers, assess how it has performed in a difficult environment…
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News and current affairs
John Meagher
It’s been all change over the past few years with several heavy-hitters departing. Joe Duffy and, more recently, Áine Lawlor, have retired, and the popular Claire Byrne jumped ship for Newstalk. They are moves most keenly felt on their radio coverage and the reshuffled deck has been only partially successful.
Moving one of RTÉ’s finest interviewers, David McCullagh, to the magazine format of mid-morning, wastes much of his talents. Few at Montrose hold power to account as well as he, so chats about 99 cones and the like seem foolish.
It’s true, too, that Drivetime has struggled to find its feet since the tenacious Galwegian duo of Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra were switched to different programmes. Their replacements, Katie Hannon and Colm Ó Mongáin, are seasoned professionals, but spice is lacking.
Some will grumble that Morning Ireland is too set in its ways and, dare we say it — boring — but it’s old school journalism at its best and still, comfortably, the country’s most popular radio show.
There’s solidity to RTÉ’s TV news coverage with the likes of Sharon Ní Bheoláin on the Nine O’Clock News very much her era’s answer to Charles Mitchel.
Prime Time continues to hold power to account with Miriam O’Callaghan — in the hot seat for more than 30 years — and the aforementioned McInerney getting to the heart of the issues that get the nation talking.
RTÉ Investigates continues to deliver hard-hitting journalism and reporters seem to be given plenty of time and resources to really dig deep. Last month’s instalment on the scandalous level of dereliction at a time of a housing crisis was public service broadcasting par excellence.
RTÉ deserves much of the criticism it gets, but Investigates shows why the national broadcaster remains so important. And a recent survey shows it’s doing something right: seven out of 10 respondents said they trusted RTÉ news.
Good: RTÉ Investigates
Bad: Drivetime
Score: 7/10
Sport
John Meagher
Credit where it’s due. When Argentina take on Spain in Sunday night’s World Cup Final, RTÉ — via its TV and Player platforms — will have shown every single game in this expanded, bloated tournament.
That’s almost unheard of across Europe where matches were often behind paywalls. The fact that we’re able to watch every game for free is not to be sniffed at. It’s manna for lovers of the world’s most popular game.
RTÉ have always been strong on sport, and they will give tomorrow’s hurling final the sort of showpiece coverage it deserves. GAA fans will have had plenty to get their teeth into on telly and radio this summer, although’s RTE’s part-ownership of the streaming platform GAA+ came to an end in February when it was sold its 50pc stake for €3m.
It has boxed clever in recent years when it comes to landing the rights to big events and were smart to team up with Virgin Media to show the Six Nations. Losing rugby’s blue riband competition would have been a bitter pill to swallow.
Look through the schedule in any given week, and there’s a cornucopia of sport to watch. Their daily radio show, Inside Sport, needs a kick up the ass, though. The likes of Newstalk do it so much better. The incoming Ger Gilroy might shake it up.
There’s much to annoy on the box, too. The punditry across a range of sports is uniformly dull. Thank heavens for the likes of Dónal Óg Cusack who says it as it is. The floating World Cup panel has been forgettable — it’s no longer appointment TV. It’s the same in the other big ball games. Where’s the new Dunphy, Brolly and Hook?
Commentary and in-game analysis is often woeful. And what’s with the funereal chatter? Is it too much to ask for the likes of Ronnie Whelan and Michael Duignan to at least feign enthusiasm?
Best: World Cup coverage
Worst: World Cup pundits
8/10
Radio
Darragh McManus
The last three years have been all change in RTÉ radio — yet, in a curious way, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”. On the surface, Radio 1 and 2FM have both radically transformed, at least in personnel; on a deeper level, both feel more or less the same as always.
Radio has taken many of the slings and arrows aimed in RTÉ’s direction, not totally undeserved: both cause of, and scapegoat for, a lot of the broadcaster’s trouble. And radio has reacted, either through management volition or outside pressures.
A raft of presenters have left both Radio 1 and 2FM, whether retiring, transferring to a rival or otherwise: Duffy, Wilson, Dobson, Tubridy, Byrne, Garrihy, Zamparelli, The 2 Johnnies… the list feels endless.
There have been wide-ranging schedule reshuffles, most notably on Radio One with the Monday-Friday slot-swap between current affairs (David McCullagh) and lifestyle/magazine (Oliver Callan), and a new sports show at tea-time. They even changed jingles, for the first time in years, to general ‘what’s the point?’ derision.
Despite all the upheaval, though, RTÉ radio sails on — if not exactly serenely, then certainly faring fine audience-wise. JNLR figures are never markedly up or down, quarter to quarter, barring individual exceptions; shows on Radio 1, and to a lesser degree 2FM, seem basically impervious to whatever star name is hosting. (Which makes you wonder why RTÉ were obsessed with stars for so long, and to such expense…)
And the feel of each station, the mood, the vibe, hasn’t much changed either. Radio 1 is mainly dread and lamentation, interspersed with hour-long interludes of balm-for-the-soul music.
2FM is daytime fluff which could and should be left to the independents, plus interesting, eclectic music programming during the off-hours which is proper public service radio.
Lyric, meanwhile, is as charming as ever — and, inexplicably, ignored by almost everyone. Some things never change.
Good: Marty in the Morning, Lyric
Bad: Drivetime, Radio 1
6.5/10
Light entertainment
Aoife Rooney
When it comes to entertainment, it’s easy to feel like the broadcaster focuses on what will appeal to the masses as opposed to what is great. It’s not that that’s the wrong approach; what I think is good isn’t what my neighbour might want to watch, and something universally appealing is a safer bet, but others have shown to achieve both in their entertainment offerings.
Now more than ever, there is a demand for Irish stories, so why isn’t RTÉ playing its part in telling them? Look at some of the most enduring shows telling Irish stories from the last 30 years: Father Ted, Normal People, Derry Girls, Say Nothing and Trespasses have all been made without the help of RTÉ, to its detriment.
Give an audience a good enough show and they will tune in. The best example of this in recent years has been the Irish version of The Traitors. It had all the components necessary for fantastic reality television including Siobhán McSweeney. It was long overdue as RTÉ was sorely lacking a reality television show that cements itself in the cultural zeitgeist.
There are few other entertainment shows that have us flocking to RTÉ in the evening; the offering is not nearly as strong as news or sport. The Late Late Toy Show and The Tommy Tiernan Show are outliers here (as is Reeling in the Years in case we decide to revive that) and both can make for genuinely enjoyable watching.
For the rest, it’s hard to not feel like you’re being fed filler entertainment. The calendar year is marked by big hitters Dancing with the Stars and Operation Transformation (before it was shelved) then ending the year with Mrs Brown’s Boys.
Good: The Traitors Ireland
Bad: Mrs Brown’s Boys
6.5/10
Prestige programmes
Ann Marie Hourihane
Watching RTÉ over the past three years has been an eerie experience. Somehow you can feel the tumbleweed rolling along the corridors. You just know the car parks are empty. You can’t help shivering.
In the drama department there seems to be an obsession with families going mental. Whether that is in Kin, or The Dry or Smother or whatever. Kin sailed so close to the headlines that at times it was like watching the bloodier parts of the news. Smother was so complicated it made you dizzy. The Walsh Sisters, with great source material in the Marian Keyes’ books, and also with a strong cast, turned out to be one of the major disappointments of last year.
The Young Offenders aren’t getting any younger. The series started in 2018 and you can hold on to these things too long. But The Young Offenders sprang from a great idea. And Obituary was another great idea.
These Sacred Vows must have looked good on paper. The newly monied sections of Irish society (which is most of us really) should be examined on screen. Unfortunately These Sacred Vows hadn’t a prayer.
Which brings us to The Dry, an RTÉ series with no killings, no drownings and no storms. In terms of RTÉ drama, its plot is downright pedestrian. Its disasters are all too plausible; its comedy all too believable. Not perfect, but perfect for me.
But maybe it’s more a question of what’s not on RTÉ. Little arts programming, few interesting documentaries and not enough commitment to comedy. And this from a country that sells itself on the international market as a hub of creativity. No wonder watching RTÉ has become such an uncomfortable experience, and one that more and more people are deciding not to have.
Good: The Dry
Bad: The Walsh Sisters
5/10
Podcasts
John Smith
I was lucky to cut my teeth in podcasting in Vancouver, Canada. It was 2016, and I began freelancing for the Canadian national broadcaster, the CBC, who at the time, was leading the country’s growing podcast scene. It became an incubator for great things in audio.
My experience with National Public Radio (NPR) in the US was much the same. If you’re to take any of your favourite US podcasts, you can guarantee some, if not all, the team who make it learned their craft at NPR.
I hear what you’re saying: we aren’t the US or Canada — and you’re right. We’re usually late adopters of the latest new and exciting things. That comes with being a small island nation. That said, Ireland is a country with a rich radio heritage and RTÉ is one of the oldest continuously operating national broadcasters in the world.
Culturally, we have a deep love of storytelling, and we’re really good at it. RTÉ’s Doc on One series is one of the most well-decorated documentary series out there and is considered the gold standard among podcasters and radio makers worldwide.
RTÉ’s failure to embrace the podcasting wave earlier than it did confuses me. I say this with the benefit of hindsight. Such clarity could be applied to any decisions made over the past tumultuous decade. This is certainly a case of better late than never.
In recent years RTÉ has made a significant recruitment drive, bulking up its podcast unit. Since 2020, it has released several excellent series such as Pirate Predator, The Real Carrie Jade, Runaway Joe and Stolen Sister. It is, however, chasing the pack when it comes to its daily news and sport podcasts. That’s a trend which is reflected in the Irish charts.
Podcasting is not a huge deviation from what RTÉ already does very well. The national broadcaster’s failure to embrace the medium earlier seems like a missed opportunity.
Good: Pirate Predator
Bad: Today with David McCullagh
7/10
RTÉ Player
Adrian Weckler
While Netflix, Disney, YouTube, Amazon and Apple take over tellies, RTÉ has one would-be answer: the RTÉ Player. But is the state broadcaster’s online streaming platform good enough? For something to watch, it’s surprisingly decent.
I’ve used it to stream a few World Cup matches and, with the exception of the odd freeze, it’s been adequate. I’ve certainly been grateful for its existence (it streamed every match).
Many people don’t realise, too, that it hosts a lot of fairly premium drama content. I watched an entire season of Yellowstone on it. You currently get the full box sets of Peaky Blinders, Motherland, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Frasier and Father Ted, among others. These are titles you might expect to pay some streamer €12 per month for.
And there are a handful of Player-only programmes, although none have really broken through in popular culture.
There remain a few issues. Technically, it’s significantly behind the playback standard we’ve come to expect with giants such as Netflix or YouTube. Things still occasionally freeze or unexpectedly crashes, as many grumpy user reviews on the various app stores attest.
It’s also not as easy to navigate or discover content as on its multinational competitor apps. And the streaming quality remains fairly basic (older high definition) compared to 4K standards today on the likes of BBC’s iPlayer and the big online platforms. That starts to matter when the average telly sold in Ireland is 55 inches in size.
That said, RTÉ shouldn’t be judged too harshly on this. It will never, ever have the sort of investment capital available to the Netflixes, Disneys, YouTubes or BBCs. It also still has a public service remit that prioritises resources on traditional free-to-air broadcasting.
Good: Sports rights
Bad: Playback sometimes freezes
7/10