Audience Council
Thursday, 7th June 2007
Present:
Paul M. Kinsella, Leinster (Chairman); Mary Gallagher McBride, Connacht/Ulster; Alison McCullagh, Northern Ireland; Maolsheachlainn Ó Caollaí, Foras na Gaeilge; Eddie Sheehy, City and County Managers' Association; Des Sheridan, Community and Voluntary Pillar; Ruth Gallagher, Dublin; Niall Madigan, IFA; Sheena Walsh McMahon, Leinster; Paul McDermott, Irish Sports Council; Joe O'Brien, RTÉ Authority; Beverly Hanly, RTÉ, Secretary to Audience Council
Regrets:
Mark Connolly, Dublin; Adrian Ó Donnabháin, Munster; Anthony Kelly, Munster; Eilis Boland, Northern Ireland; Oliver Donohue, ICTU; Patrick O'Leary, Equality Authority; Pádraig McGinn, Connaught/Ulster; Valerie Keegan, IBEC;Anne O'Donnell, National Children's Office; Stephanie O'Callaghan, Arts Council;
RTÉ:
Cathal Goan, Director-General, Tom Quinn, RTÉ Group Secretary, Adrian Moynes, Managing Director Radio and Kevin Dawson, Commissioning Editor Factual Programming.
Secretary's Report
The Secretary updated the Council on corporate events since the last meeting. It was noted that RTÉ has either won or been nominated for a large number of awards nationally and internationally during the first half of 2007. The Council was advised that the composition of the Authority's Programme Sub-Committee had changed recently and the ex officio member on the Council for the future will be the Sub-Committee's new Chairman, Mr Ian Malcolm. However, Mr Malcolm was unable to attend today's meeting and the Authority was therefore represented by Mr Joe O'Brien.
Meeting with the Director-General
The Chairman welcomed Mr Goan and thanked him for making himself available to the meeting.
Mr Goan referred to some recent new broadcasting legislation affecting RTÉ - the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2007 which amended the 2001 Act to facilitate the introduction of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). Each EU country must switch off analogue by 2012. The Bill also required RTÉ to make its programming available to the Irish diaspora in the UK but was silent on how this was to be delivered. He outlined the various options being investigated currently and pointed out these could be very costly for RTÉ.
He then referred to the General Scheme for the Broadcasting Bill 2006 which the Minister published last Autumn and which was the subject of Oral Hearings by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources in January. The Joint Oireachtas Committee reported in April but following the dissolution of the 29th Dail, the status of the proposed legislation is unclear. The General Scheme proposed that the Audience Council be established on a statutory basis. Mr Goan noted that the Council's current term of office expires in December 2007. In the absence of any change in legislation, it would be RTÉ's wish that something similar to what is already in place would continue, with some refinements, and that an orderly handover to a new Council would take place. He proposes writing to the Social Partners in the coming weeks to establish their views on the operation of the Council to date.
Mr Goan went on to say that 2006 had been a good year for RTÉ in terms of output. Work was currently taking place to complete the second iteration of the Corporate Plan with a view to getting sign off from the Authority prior to submission to the Minister before the end of June.
The main highlight in programming terms so far in 2007 was the General Election and Mr Goan outlined the amount of planning which had begun a year ago to ensure smooth coverage. RTÉ was rightly proud of its magnificent achievement in terms of coverage. The Exit Poll commissioned by RTÉ proved to be very accurate. Investment had been made in a new computer system; collaboration had taken place with UCD's Department of Politics; RTÉ had also got involved with the group Rock the Vote whose aim was to involve young people in the electoral process. Coverage was across all of RTÉ's services - Radio, Television, Raidio na Gaeltachta, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ Aertel and RTÉ Nuacht service for TG4. Approximately 500 staff across the organisation were involved in one way or another. The audience achieved was the biggest ever.
The Council members congratulated RTÉ on its superb coverage. While not wishing to single out any particular aspect, special mention was made of the round up of all the constituencies by Sean O'Rourke at 1.00 p.m.on the day of the Election Count.
Comments from members of the Council included the need for a 'how to vote' programme on television (it was acknowledged there had been informational programmes on radio which were very good); archive section on the Election webpage very good; the fact that while the graphics on the website were excellent, they did not print off well; delays in the Count Centres themselves because declarations had to wait to go live - this meant candidates and others were left 'standing around' for minutes at a time; while the website was updated quickly, this did not appear to be the case with Aertel which was slower; some technical drop outs on radio - Mr Moynes accepted there had been some technical issues in the Radio Centre, particularly with ISDN lines; streaming on line clogged up as the day went on and delays in the satellite on the Radio Studio webcam were frustrating - it was pointed out that broadband capacity is quickly exceeded during any big event. Mr Goan took on board all comments and will follow up as necessary.
Mr Goan thanked the Council for its work and wished it well for the remainder of its term. The Chairman, on behalf of the Council, once again thanked Mr Goan for making himself available. It is useful to have this annual exchange of views.
Arts Lives, The View, The View Presents
Mr Kevin Dawson was in attendance for this item. He gave the Council an overview of Arts programming in RTÉ, pointing out that Arts Lives has just finished its longest run ever. Responding to a query about repeating these documentaries soon, Mr Dawson said the tendency has been to repeat the previous season's documentaries immediately following the current run but he expected some of this year's to be repeated before the end of the year. While generally complimentary about the standard of documentary, it was suggested by one member that in some of them there had been no dissenting voice - only praise for the subject. While some members considered use of the word Arts to be off putting for some people, others felt it was a generally recognised brand name now and it would be foolish to change it. Mr Dawson gave details of future plans for arts programming.
John Kelly is considered to be an excellent presenter. The View Presents is a series of occasional interviews. Mr Dawson explained that sometimes RTÉ is offered the chance to do an in depth interview which it takes up. It is essentially a one to one interview and does not lend itself to visual input unlike The View.
The recent re-run of Hands was praised and it was noted it was getting a whole new generation of viewers.
Mr Dawson thanked the Council for its time and the exchange of views which he has always found useful. He will take the Council's suggestions about repeats of Arts Lives and The View back to the schedulers.
General Programming Matters
Concern continues to be expressed about mispronunciation of place names in Irish. The Uachtaran series currently being transmitted on TG4 was complimented, particularly the previous evening's one on President Mary McAleese. While some members lamented the dearth of good movies, others preferred to see the high quality home produced programming as movies now come out quickly on DVD etc. There was praise for the excellent RTÉ Lyric fm CD which was included in the RTÉ Guide.
Role of the RTÉ Authority
Following a request at the last meeting, the RTÉ Group Secretary gave the Council a comprehensive overview of the role and remit of the RTÉ Authority from its establishment in 1960 through to the present day.
Report of Joint Oireachtas Committee's consultation on the draft General Scheme of the Broadcasting Bill 2006
It was noted that the Committee had reported in April. However, as discussed with the Director-General earlier in the meeting, the current status of the legislation is unclear. It was agreed that the future role of the Council would be discussed at its next meeting in September. It was suggested that members should give thought in the meantime as to what issues should be discussed at that meeting and any proposals they might have to make to RTÉ. It was agreed that some issues definitely need to be addressed e.g. attendance, continuity, membership.
Date of Next Meeting
Thursday, 27th September 2007