RTE not FTA

F

Froggie

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Why is RTE not available as a Free To Air service. I think it is a national disgrace that I pay my TV licence fee but can only get good TV reception if I pay extra. The advertisers are loosing out here too. When there is a program on RTE but also available on a FTA chanel I will go to the FTA chanel every time as the reception is much better, so I dont see any of the local adds.
 
Dead right. Its ridiculous. There are third world countries with FTA satellite channels and we cant manage it.
 
Froggie said:
Why is RTE not available as a Free To Air service. I think it is a national disgrace that I pay my TV licence fee but can only get good TV reception if I pay extra. The advertisers are loosing out here too. When there is a program on RTE but also available on a FTA chanel I will go to the FTA chanel every time as the reception is much better, so I dont see any of the local adds.
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Rupert Murdock has bought RTE1/2 and i think TG4 so if he owns them why would he let ppl see them for free when he can charge astronomical prices for them?
 
Sn@kebite said:
Rupert Murdock has bought RTE1/2 and i think TG4 so if he owns them why would he let ppl see them for free when he can charge astronomical prices for them?
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News to me! I think you may be mistaken here.
 
Maybe I'm being dense here but what are you complaining about ? The fact you have to pay a TV Licence Fee or the fact you have to pay for an aeriel to get RTE?
 
Sn@kebite said:
Rupert Murdock has bought RTE1/2 and i think TG4 so if he owns them why would he let ppl see them for free when he can charge astronomical prices for them?
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This is absolutely not true. RTE is owned by the government. Yes perhaps Murdoch distributes them on his Sky Platform - but he most certainly doesnt own them.
 
in uk you dont have to have a licence if you watch tv through a computer. dont know how it works but thats in uk.
 
cuchulainn said:
in uk you dont have to have a licence if you watch tv through a computer. dont know how it works but thats in uk.
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It's different in Ireland - the legislation states that any device that is capable of receiving television broadcasts must be covered by a tv licence (or words to that effect).
 
efm said:
It's different in Ireland - the legislation states that any device that is capable of receiving television broadcasts must be covered by a tv licence (or words to that effect).
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That would mean that bringing your broadband enabled laptop to your holiday home would require a TV license - is this the case?
 
came across this only about a week ago and it definitely stated that if you can prove that you are accessing tv through a computer etc no licence was required but that you might have prove it.
 
Markjbloggs said:
That would mean that bringing your broadband enabled laptop to your holiday home would require a TV license - is this the case?
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No - it's if your laptop has a TV card - ie a card that allows you to receive TV signals
 
efm said:
No - it's if your laptop has a TV card - ie a card that allows you to receive TV signals
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And perhaps [broken link removed] a PC will require a licence regardless of whether it has a TV card or not...
 
And perhaps [broken link removed] a PC will require a licence regardless of whether it has a TV card or not...
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I always said if they did this I'd refuse to pay it.
I'll have to stick to my guns.

When I've lived in Ireland I've tried to avoid having a TV, when I move back I certainly won't have one. I'm not paying tv license fees to keep my work tools in the house,. I don't have a TV Card, but I might watch clips on You Tube, NBC etc. I might use the Laptop or PC to watch a DVD, that's as close to TV as I'd get.

If my office is outside the house I'd be paying two licences even though I wouldn't have a TV in either location. And all that so that RTE can keep pumping out high quality goods like You're A Star.

If I had a holiday home and I brought the laptop there with me, I'd need a TV licence for that property too, that's 3 licences, all for owning one portable machine.

I can't get rid of the PC(s) so the so-called TV licence has now become an unavoidable tax, and quite a high one at that.

Sorry Mr Dempsey, no deal. I'll be breaking this particular law and you can waste police and court time pursuing me if you like. Hopefully enough others will do the same to make it not worth your while.

Somewhere around the mid 90's we were told Ireland would become the E-Hub of Europe if not the world. A decade later we've barely got broadband, nothing outside the cities, and now they want to tax people for owning what has become as normal an appliance as a washing machine or a hoover.

The TV licence is a relic of a distant past. Let it die, embrace new technology. If you believe the existance of a strong public broadcasting organisation is for the benefit of all citizens then fund it out of tax revenue, stop creating pointless additional taxes that can be double or trebled for some while others pay nothing.

If you believe people should pay to see RTE then put it on a digital system can charge a subscription. Let the public decide whether they want it or not.

By scrapping the licence and paying out of regular tax revenue, you save money on...

Inspecting Homes to see they've paid.
Advertising the Licence.
Selling the Licence.
Prosecuting those who don't pay. (police, solicitor and court time)
Punishing those who don't pay. (court and possibly prison time)

The full cost of pursuing one defaulter all the way through the system is more than that person would pay in licence fees in their entire life.

All of these savings could be put into hiring actual talented people to present You're A Star. Or better still, reducing the amount of commercials required to keep the stations on the air.

-Rd
 
Try watching TV3 for a night - then see if the licence system is a good idea.
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The license has nothing to do with the quality of programming. Funding from the state does. That funding doesn't have to come from a licence.

If I choose to not watch any TV why should I pay for you to watch RTE.

If the funding came from general tax take I'd be paying for it, but I should be paying less, since the system would be much simpler to administer and police. I certainly wouldn't be paying up 450 Euro just because I carry a laptop around with me.

-Rd
 
The full cost of pursuing one defaulter all the way through the system is more than that person would pay in licence fees in their entire life.


-Rd
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agree with this statement. afaik An Post tried to offload the collection of the tv licence a few years ago unless they got a substantial hike in the fees for same. RTE did the math and decided they didn't want to be the collecting agency for their own licence!! to me it would be simpler to put it on the esb bill and have it paid in 6 equal instalments. and everybody pay unless you go to the esb and prove you didn't have a set. very un pc of course but effective. certainly not many 'spongers' under that system. holidays homes would be a sore point but the flip side is ESB have a list from s/w who are entitled to free electricity and they could just use this list for the free tv licence too. most pensioners over 66 qualify for a free licence and everybody over 70 has a free licence.
 
daltonr said:
If I choose to not watch any TV why should I pay for you to watch RTE.
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You don't - If you don't have a TV, you don't pay for me to watch RTE.

The Leas Cross issue convinced me of the value of RTE this year. That one show was worth the entire licence fee for the year.
 
You don't - If you don't have a TV, you don't pay for me to watch RTE.
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Under the rules described above I would have to pay, because I own a couple of computers.

The Leas Cross issue convinced me of the value of RTE this year. That one show was worth the entire licence fee for the year.
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So to do the job of the Health Service Executive, we need to all chip in 158 a year extra, over and above PAYE, PRSI, and the Health Levy?

There's no question that a strong public service broadcaster is a valuable asset to a nation. Whether you own one TV, Ten TV's or No TV's at all, everyone benefits from the existence of RTE. That said, those issues that I have personal knowledge of make me more skeptical of RTE Current Affairs than I used to be.

So, get rid of the Licence, pay for it out of exchequer funds, everyone pays equally, and nobody has to be pursued through the courts, we don't have to waste money administering the licence fee system, and people who have no TV but happen to bring a laptop from home to their business or to their mobile home in wexford don't have to pay for two or three licences.

Also if public service broadcasting is so important and so good, then funnel some of the cash to the other channels so we can get a bit of competition in the public service broadcasting industry.

And while you're at it, fund RTE enough so that it doesn't have to rely on advertisers, so you might finally get it going after businesses in Ireland with a bit of teeth.

Getting back to the original question....
Personally I'd hand the running of RTE over to the BBC, so RTE would effectively be BBC Ireland. RTE would be available on the BBC Freeview service (which would finally be *officially* available in Ireland). Everyone in Ireland would have a better service and a wider selection of Free Channels.

Not a popular suggestion I'm sure, but that's what I'd do.

-Rd
 
Exactly, if we need RTE to provide a public service like exposing Leas Cross then fund it out of the exchequer. Those don't own a TV signal receiving device and don't pay for a TV licence also benefited from this public service.
 
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