Audience Council
Thursday, 12th May 2005
Present: Sheena Walsh McMahon, Leinster; Paul M. Kinsella, Leinster;
Pádraig McGinn, Connacht/Ulster; Oliver Donohoe, Social Partners ICTU; Eddie Sheehy, County & City Managers' Association; Patrick O'Leary, The Equality Authority; Maolsheachlainn Ó Caollaí, Foras na Gaeilge; Paul McDermott, The Irish Sports Council; Alan McCormack, The Irish Council of Churches; Eilís Boland, Northern Ireland; Mary Gallagher McBride, Connacht/Ulster; Niall Madigan, IFA
Regrets: Mark Connolly, Dublin; Ruth Gallagher, Dublin; Anthony Kelly, Munster;
June Tinsley, Community & Voluntary Pillar INOU; Garry Hynes, Ex-Officio Member/RTÉ Authority; Stephanie O'Callaghan, The Arts Council; Alison McCullagh, Northern Ireland; Adrian Ó Donnabháin, Munster; Mary Golden, National Children's Office; Valerie Keegan, Social Partners IBEC
RTÉ: Beverly Hanly, Tom Quinn, Mary Callery, Dermot Horan, Eithne Hand, Gareth Ivory, Ed Mulhall
At the outset, the Chairman announced that two new members had been appointed to the Audience Council - Niall Madigan representing the IFA (replacing Derek Cunningham) and Stephanie O'Callaghan representing The Arts Council (replacing Mary Cloake). The Chairman welcomed Mr Madigan to the meeting.
He also noted that the RTÉ Editorial Board representative, Adrian Moynes, MD Radio, had sent his apologies and was represented at this meeting by Eithne Hand, Head of Radio 1.
1. Report from Secretary
The Secretary gave an update on issues arising since the meeting in March. The note on internal follow-up which had been circulated following the last meeting was drawn to members' attention for noting.
2. Report on BBC NI Roadshow
Eilís Boland had attended the BBCNI's Roadshow which had been held in Ballymena on 9th March. She gave an outline of the structure and format of the meeting. Overall, she had been impressed.
It was agreed that a small group will be established to look into how the Council might relate to/interact with the audience, specifically during its visit to Cork on 28th/29th September. It was suggested that a first step might be to participate in some live programming around the Ploughing Championships to make the audience aware of the Council and its work.
2. Discussion on recent programming
(i) 'Soaps on Television', particularly Fair City and Eastenders.
The Chairman welcomed Mary Callery, Commission Editor Drama and Dermot Horan, Director of Broadcast and Acquisitions, who filled the Council in on their individual areas of responsibility.
In the absence of the members who had prepared the presentation, Chairman read out their written submissions. Issues raised included: RTÉ One daytime schedule appeared to be heavily reliant on soap type programming; marketing (generally unimaginative); effect of loss of Coronation Street for RTÉ and its replacement with Eastenders; while Fair City deals with issues affecting the audience's every day lives, a perceived weakness is lack of emphasis on minority issues; tendency towards 'hot issues' which become exaggerated within the story line; classification on soaps appealing to younger viewers needs to be stricter.
Mary Callery explained that soaps are very defined and work on scripts takes place a number of months in advance of actual transmission which might explain why some topical issues may take a while to appear on screen. Fair City has been going for 16 years. It is very expensive to get a soap up and running and returns won't be seen for about 3 years. Therefore a huge commitment required. She explained the story writing process.
Acquired programming is cheaper than home produced programming but can perform very well and benefit the home produced programming following it. Dermot Horan explained the process of buying programmes. In response to a query about the advertisement break in Eastenders, he said this is constantly being kept under review.
The Council wished that its congratulations be extended to Pat Nolan on winning a Golden Rose Award, in the 'Best Soap Actor' category, at the recent international Rose d'Or Festival in Switzerland.
The Council thanked Mary Callery and Dermot Horan for attending.
(ii) Business reporting on Radio
Eithne Hand and Ed Mulhall participated in this discussion.
Two members made their presentations. Programmes analysed included The Sunday Show, The Business and the business segments on Five Seven Live and Morning Ireland. It was felt that overall RTÉ's business programming complies with the public interest tests RTÉ sets for itself i.e. fairness, accuracy, impartiality, independence, regional focus. Points arising included the need to have as broad an appeal as possible so as to attract as wide an audience as possible, not just the business sector. A shift in content to include personal finance, mortgages etc would be desirable. Show me the Money on TV was cited as an example of how this subject can be made very enjoyable and engage the audience and the question was asked if something similar could be done on radio. The question of always using the same commentators was raised because of the danger of vested interest.
From a News perspective, Ed Mulhall said that RTÉ News has a number of special correspondents which ensures an independent view. He explained the process of business reporting from a News point of view. He noted the business slots in Morning Ireland and Five Seven Live are 'events driven'. Research shows that the Morning Ireland slot has a more general, 'catch all' audience than Five Seven Live which attracts more of a business audience.
Eithne Hand said that Radio is currently looking at ways of integrating business reporting into Marian Finucane's new weekend programmes on Saturdays and Sundays. She noted that The Business has ended for the summer and that Radio is pleased with its performance. She also drew attention to The Spend on Saturday mornings which is a consumer type programme and also a new programme for younger listeners Young Social Innovators.
(iii) Coverage of the Death of Pope John Paul II and election of Pope Benedict XVI
Ed Mulhall explained the planning which had been ongoing over a number of years - it was the most predicted and yet unpredictable event. While it is known that certain events will have to be covered, it is still a huge logistical exercise in Television terms. Arrangements were already in place for the site overlooking the Vatican from which RTÉ broadcast. Plans were in place between Radio, Television and News in terms of cooperation.
In response to criticisms that coverage went on too long, he said that there was a total of about 37 hours over the three week period. A lot of this was in the daytime so there was not a lot of disruption to the schedule and it was always ensured that there was complementary programming on RTÉ One and RTÉ Two so all tastes were catered for. In his view RTÉ got it right. The high TV audience share figures indicated the public's interest in RTÉ's coverage.
The use of 'Catholic' at times instead of 'Roman Catholic' was noted. There was also some criticism that while the spectacle was wonderful, at times this had been spoiled by too much commentary - 'let the event talk for itself'.
Presentation by Audience Research
The Chairman welcomed Gareth Ivory of the Audience Research Department who gave a powerpoint presentation which included an overview of the systems and how they work.
Draft Policy on Multiculturalism
The Council were advised that the draft document which had been discussed at the November meeting had now been agreed by RTÉ management and the final version was circulated. The Council confirmed that it was its wish to change the title to Policy on Diversity. The document will be considered at the next meeting of the Council in September.
Any Other Business
The Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman, will circulate within the next few days the two genres of programming to be discussed at the next meeting as well as seeking volunteers to participate in the small working group to plan the Cork meeting.
A request was made to have a presentation from Film Acceptance Viewers at a future meeting.
A request was made to discuss the shift to opinionated presenters and the implication, if any, of this under Section 18 of the Broadcasting Acts.
Dates of next meetings
Wednesday, 28th September in Cork
Wednesday, 9th November in Dublin