RTÉ needs to prove it deserves our TV licence fee

LAST week, I was forced against my will to watch the annual ‘Lovely Girls’ competition, aka ‘The Rose of Tralee’. Admittedly, I must take some responsibility for subjecting my eyes and ears to such old-fashioned nonsense. After all, this is car crash television – you know you shouldn’t be watching but there is something strangely compelling about seeing how bad it is.

I have to confess I was reasonably impressed with some of the musical competency on display. As for the poetry, well, let’s just say that it wasn’t to my particular taste. Dáithí Ã? Sé did as good a job as any of his illustrious predecessors and seemed genuinely at ease in his role as host. No better man for a bit of harmless banter with the ladies.

But within one hour of this great big Kerry love-in, I could take no more and left the room while my sanity was still relatively intact. I was gutted when I learnt that this was only the first night of the competition and we would be doing it all over again the next day. It was like abeing trapped in your own version of ‘Groundhog Day’ with big gúnas, tin whistles and a twinkly-eyed presenter who could collectively charm all the mammies of Ireland.

In a cruel twist of fate, the following morning I received a final demand for my TV licence fee. Not the best time to be reminded that my hard-earned

?¬160 is helping to fund the State broadcaster’s original output.

But in fairness, the beauty/talent/nice personality pageant in the Kingdom is only a small part of what RTÃ? has to offer. The station recently revealed its autumn schedule, with highlights including another season of the acclaimed ‘Love/Hate’, as well as a drama on the life of the flawed politician Charles Haughey.

The fact that some of the same actors will be appearing in both productions is a little bit worrying and smacks of laziness. I find it hard to believe that there is such a small pool of talent in this country that we are forced to wheel out the same faces time and time again.

Naturally, ‘The Late Late Show’ will again take its place at the top of the table when it comes to the autumn/winter schedule. The station’s flagship chat show has been in decline for some time and it’s not the fault of genial host Ryan Tubridy. For starters, it’s far too long. This may not have been a problem when we were living in five-channel land but in an era of digital TV and Netflix, RTÃ? needs to realise that the viewer has a shorter attention span than in days of yore and wants instant gratification.

In recent years ‘The Late Late’ has largely become a vehicle for promoting the station’s other programmes or plugging some Z-lister’s book. As for the musical content, let’s just say that a Garth Brooks cover band was a particular low point in the last season for me personally. Tubridy has great empathy with the guests that have harrowing, human stories to tell but seems to struggle with the more lowbrow stuff concerning has-been soap actors or reality TV stars. And who could blame him for that? At least give the guy something he can work with.

RTÃ? should shave at least an hour off ‘The Late Late Show’ and concentrate on attracting a higher calibre of guest if it wants the nation to stop flicking over to Graham Norton at the earliest opportunity. It will take far more than a fresh redesign of the show’s set to reverse the rot.

There is still much to love about RTÃ?. Its current affairs output, both on television, radio and online, has yet to be matched by its competitors, although the excellent Newstalk is nipping at the broadcaster’s heels in this regard. But with the impending launch of Ulster Television Ireland and the station’s acquisition of prize bull Pat Kenny, the media landscape is set for radical change in 2015.

RTÃ? will still be able to compete for lucrative advertising while enjoying a financial top-up from the TV licence fee. But now, with more choice for the viewer than ever, it needs to prove that it’s worthy of it.

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