Audience Council
Thursday, 19th January 2005
Present: Sheena Walsh McMahon, Leinster; Paul M. Kinsella, Leinster; Mark Connolly, Dublin; Ruth Gallagher, Dublin; Pádraig McGinn, Connacht/Ulster; Anthony Kelly, Munster; June Tinsley, Community & Voluntary Pillar INOU; Eddie Sheehy, County & City Managers' Association; Garry Hynes, Ex-Officio Member/RTÉ Authority; Alan McCormack, The Irish Council of Churches; Eilís Boland, Northern Ireland; Mary Golden, National Children's Office;
Regrets: Oliver Donohoe, Social Partners ICTU; Patrick O'Leary, The Equality Authority; Maolsheachlainn Ó Caollaí, Foras na Gaeilge; Paul McDermott, The Irish Sports Council; Mary Cloake, The Arts Council; Alison McCullagh, Northern Ireland; Adrian Ó Donnabháin, Munster; Mary Gallagher McBride, Connacht/Ulster; Valerie Keegan, Social Partners IBEC
RTÉ: Beverly Hanly; Tom Quinn; Cathal Goan; Brídóg Ní Bhuachalla
It was established that there was a Quorum present. The Council was advised that Derek Cunningham had resigned from the Council as he has left his post with the IFA. The resultant vacancy will be filled in due course. Revd Dr Alan McCormack was elected unopposed to the position of Chairman of the Council. A vote of thanks, proposed by Paul M. Kinsella and seconded by Pádraig McGinn, was passed for Derek Cunningham and his contribution as Chairman of the Council during 2004.
The Director-General, Mr Cathal Goan, addressed the Council before its meeting commenced. He also thanked Derek Cunningham and the outgoing Secretary on behalf of RTÉ and wished Alan McCormack well during his term as Chairman. Mr Goan stressed the importance RTÉ attaches to the work of the Audience Council and assured the members that RTÉ is serious about listening to them as they are representative of the broad range of Irish opinion. Views expressed at its meetings are fed back into the internal editorial processes. In addition, RTÉ's 2004 Annual Report will include a report from the Audience Council with his response to issues raised therein. The Audience Council is a very important part of enabling RTÉ to do its job better. He especially mentioned its comments on the Local Elections which will be taken into account next time round. Mr Goan stated that 2004 had been a good year in terms of audience reaction. The effect of the licence fee increase and investment in home production is now being seen on screen, resulting in an increase in audience across the board and even more new programming will be coming up in 2005. With regard to Radio, there was more programming out of the regions during 2004 and the intention is to do even more this year. He mentioned the fact that RTÉ Lyric fm won Station of the Year for the second time.
Referring to RTÉ's coverage of the tsunami disaster in SE Asia, Mr Goan stated that a decision was made to send a number of people to cover the unfolding tragedy which raised the level of public perception.
In conclusion, he advised the Council that the Output Heads and their management are at the Council's disposal and he looked forwarded to the Council's continued advice during 2005 and stressed once again that the Council's views are listened to.
The Council thanked Mr Goan for his attendance.
1. Cork 2005 - RTÉ's role as Premier Partner
Ms Brídóg Ní Bhuachalla, Head of Corporate Events, addressed the meeting. She explained her role within RTÉ, and in particular outlined RTÉ's involvement as premier partner in Cork 2005, City of Culture. As premier partner, RTÉ is also media/broadcasting partner which is very important from a corporate branding perspective. RTÉ felt it was very important to be actively involved. As well as covering the opening ceremony on television, she would hope there would be a couple more televised special events but pointed out that RTÉ would not be involved in their organisation but would provide coverage. She stated that the programme of events is more suited to radio coverage. The MAMA Awards will be brought to Cork this year. The RTÉ Guide is the official guide to events, and the first issue of each month during the year will include that month's calendar of events.
The Council agreed it would hold one of its meetings during 2005 in Cork, perhaps tied in with an RTÉ event, and it is hoped that a date can be identified at an early date.
The Council thanked Ms Ní Bhuachalla for her presentation.
2. Report from Secretary
The Secretary reported on various corporate events and other issues affecting RTÉ which had occurred since the Council met in November.
3. Discussion on programming
The Council considered the Christmas TV schedule in general to be excellent and most enjoyable. However, criticism was expressed that "'04, How Was it for You" and "New Year's Countdown" were pre-recorded and consequently there was a lack of any reference to the tsunami disaster in SE Asia. It was pointed out that the reason the New Year's Eve programme has been pre-recorded in recent years is that it is impossible to get guests to come for a live programme. The Christmas schedule on Radio also received high approval.
Some criticism expressed about the Late Late Toy Show presentation.
The Council agreed RTÉ's reporting and analysis of the SE Asian disaster was very good. Members would like to see more programmes being done on Africa.
Coverage of the Presidential inauguration was good. Concerns were expressed about some recent Liveline editions. In particular, the question of 'time delay' was raised. A member voiced concerns about a comment made by an RTÉ 2fm presenter on her programme over the Christmas which will be followed up. Concern was also expressed about the increase of bad language in programmes - this has been raised before and it was agreed it should be kept under review.
4. Meeting with BBC Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland
This joint meeting will take place in Dublin on Thursday, 3rd March 2005. It is envisaged that the agenda will include a presentation from each Council on its remit and a small group headed by the Chairman will liaise to draw up this presentation.
5. Any Other Business
It was felt that it would be more effective if the Council were to focus on specific strands of programming at each meeting, rather than the somewhat general, ad hoc discussions which have been taking place to date, and that the appropriate RTÉ executive(s) would be invited to attend to participate in these discussions. Suggested models for these structured discussions would be drawn up for consideration by the Council at its next meeting.
Members felt it would be useful to get profiles of audience viewing figures and were advised that this information could be made available. The Council agreed that it would be helpful in this regard if the Audience Research Department was invited to a future meeting to give a presentation.
There was reference to the Code on Children's Advertising drawn up by the BCI which came into effect on 1st January 2005 and the fact that the BCI is expected to finalise a new Code on Taste and Decency during 2005.
6. Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 3rd March 2005, which will include the joint meeting with the BBC Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland. It was agreed that in future, the duration of meetings would be 1.30 to 4.00 p.m. to facilitate those members who travel some distance.