Remote Viewing

at

This afternoon.

Further to recommendations by the Future of Media Commission that the TV licence fee should be abolished and replaced by exchequer funding for RTÉ… and an Oireachtas committee recommendation that streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime should face a new levy to pay for a fund for independent productions….along with the appointment of an online safety commissioner…

…David Tully writes:

My Dad watches TV. He is in his 80s. Everyday the same routine. Buys The Irish Times in the morning. At a minute past six, watches the Six-One news. The TV is in the same corner. Wires, dust behind it. Three remote controls. Multiple black boxes doing God knows what underneath. It’s cute, but…. why the f*#k should I pay for it?

I don’t watch TV. Haven’t done so in literally 20 years.

Hence this sneaky RTE bill. A tax wrapped in a levy. Wrapped in altruism. Suggesting media arts production and child safety. But “We’ve a mandate to deliver culturally appropriate content nationally”

When there were one or two cameras in the country. A cinema. One screen. Three channels. Yes, necessary back then. What about now? When people blog. Tweet important news. Upload.When musicians live stream. Where’s the relevance with regards to cultural parenting or control.

Why should a failing system get to extract tax. At the same time not adapt. Plus policing the internet like a 3rd Irish parent. What does that even mean. And if you do open the internet to taxing platforms. Where does it stop? Who decides? This isn’t about a few big platforms. It’s opening Pandora’s Box to taxing the internet.

Sadly, there is an idea for a national platform but you couldn’t have people from TV involved. It’d be like getting Easons to invent Wikipedia. Here’s a nice article how they made that beautiful egalitarian ecosystem.

Anyone?

Sponsored Link

20 thoughts on “Remote Viewing”

  1. Hank

    RTE plays a role as a government mouthpiece preaching to an audience, many of whom view their output as unbiased reporting. It’s in the government interest to keep them funded while also keeping up the appearance that they’re an independent news source.
    Simple!

    1. Bitnboxy

      Says Hank, who as night follows day, is consuming the greatest load of cobblers packaged as “truth” and feeding every and any grievance against a mythical “elite”. Of course the cretins falling for all this truthy tripe are oblivious that it is being fed to them by another type of elite.

      But the public servicr broadcasters are the enemy.

      Sheesh!

      1. benblack

        I wonder if Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act 1960 was used by the Minister at any time over the Covid period?

        https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2021/0507/1217560-section-31-broadcasting-ban-censorshop-troubles/

        “It empowered the relevant Minister to prevent the broadcast of “any particular matter or matter of any particular class”. This, theoretically, gave the Minister the scope to ban anything s/he chose from the airwaves.”

        It still seems to be on the Irish statute book.

        Anyone know if it’s still in existence?

      2. Hank

        Really??!! That’s hilarious!
        Please provide an example of even a single time when I’ve alluded to the existence of a mythical elite.

  2. Pat

    Independent productions is not RTÉ. They are the companies that make programmes bought and commissioned by RTÉ. I wouldn’t begrudge them funding from internet behemoths – they keep a lot of people employed

    But yeah the Late Late is boring and whatnot

  3. George

    Complaining about the abolition of the tv licence?

    Sounds good to me and much better than the previous proposal which was to expand it to include computers, phones and radios. Surely a levy on Netflix etc for independent productions should mean better quality programmes being made in without the involvement of RTE.

  4. Rob_G

    I don’t use the schools, or the prisons, or even the breast cancer screenings – ‘why the f*#k should I pay’ for them?

    Yours, etc,

    Outraged, Killiney

  5. Madam x

    So we all pay to keep inefficiencies at RTE add infinitum. Great thinking guys. Do they have any brains at all. First thing cut RTE in half. Make it’s income be based on commercial use and what programmes it makes and sells like any other media production company along with advertising. Otherwise you continue to build in total inefficiency which is embedded now and has been for years.

  7. Skeptik

    Europe might have something to say about trying to levy fees on internet services.
    Besides, they are already saying there should be more local content provided on streaming services in the EU after the extrication of Blighty.
    RTE in it’s current form is poor value. News/weather coverage is good. Most of the rest is expensive rubbish, like Fair City. Independent production companies could produce higher-quality programming at a fraction of the cost of the state broadcaster. Cut out the middle man, abolish RTE (keep the transmission network) and set up an agency for procuring local programming. We might actually see some real innovation then and get programming people might be willing to pay for?

    1. Rob_G

      I’m not a fan of Fair City, but it’s been RTÉ most consistently highest-viewed and most profitable productions since it began airing.

    2. Pat

      Independent production companies make high quality programmes for RTÉ and other networks in and outside Ireland all the time. And most of them squeeze the best from every cent of funding. Fair City is not an independent production – it’s made in-house by RTÉ

    3. george

      Fair City may be a lot of things but expensive isn’t one. It is extremely cheaply made using a multi-camera set up.

      1. SOQ

        Fair City is the only time I have ever approved of face nappies- because it improved the standard of acting.

        Nothing to do with budget.

  8. Scundered

    Keep paying for that licence or you’ll be sent to prison where you can watch it for free, that’ll learn ye

Comments are closed.

Broadsheet.ie