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Post by Ken Griffin on Nov 8, 2015 22:40:52 GMT
Did RTE actually buy any UK programmes? I thought viewers in Eire had dual standard TV sets so that if they wanted to watch UK programmes they just pointed an aerial to the North and switched to 405 lines which was very good at travelling long distances. RTE was a major purchaser of UK programmes from the 1960s to the 1990s, buying in huge quantities of BBC and ITV material on an annual basis. The line standard situation in Ireland was quite complex due to (a) the existence of overspill signals from the UK and (b) the Irish government's lukewarm attitude to television. This led to a situation where many prospective viewers decided against waiting for an Irish service to begin and simply bought 405-line television sets so they could watch UK transmissions. When the Irish government finally got its act together, it decided to adopt the 625-line standard for the new Irish television service. By this stage though, there were so many 405-line sets in the state that government felt it couldn't risk alienating their owners. So, it adopted an Irish solution to an Irish problem - it provided 405-line transmissions in the Northern half of the country where UK overspill could be received but only offered 625-line transmissions in the remainder. |
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Post by Ken Griffin on Nov 8, 2015 22:41:40 GMT
RTE bought At Last The 1948 Show. Mind you I never checked if it actually went out, I just saw it mentioned in some paperwork. It was aired as one long series between August and October 1969. |
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Post by markboulton on Nov 9, 2015 10:36:50 GMT
I don't suppose anyone looked through RTE's VT archive? Mind you, did they even keep much of their own output anyway?
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RWels
Member
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Post by RWels on Nov 9, 2015 11:03:41 GMT
I don't suppose anyone looked through RTE's VT archive? Mind you, did they even keep much of their own output anyway? No idea if there's been any official search. You'd expect so. They answer questions, for example they told me they hold no 1948 show material. |
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Post by Ken Griffin on Nov 9, 2015 13:31:11 GMT
I don't suppose anyone looked through RTE's VT archive? It's been done several times over the decades. From my own experience, I can safely say that there is no missing UK television footage left there. The station's holdings have been comprehensively catalogued and digitised. |
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Post by richardwoods on Nov 9, 2015 18:40:50 GMT
Did RTE actually buy any UK programmes? I thought viewers in Eire had dual standard TV sets so that if they wanted to watch UK programmes they just pointed an aerial to the North and switched to 405 lines which was very good at travelling long distances. RTE was a major purchaser of UK programmes from the 1960s to the 1990s, buying in huge quantities of BBC and ITV material on an annual basis. The line standard situation in Ireland was quite complex due to (a) the existence of overspill signals from the UK and (b) the Irish government's lukewarm attitude to television. This led to a situation where many prospective viewers decided against waiting for an Irish service to begin and simply bought 405-line television sets so they could watch UK transmissions. When the Irish government finally got its act together, it decided to adopt the 625-line standard for the new Irish television service. By this stage though, there were so many 405-line sets in the state that government felt it couldn't risk alienating their owners. So, it adopted an Irish solution to an Irish problem - it provided 405-line transmissions in the Northern half of the country where UK overspill could be received but only offered 625-line transmissions in the remainder. And to confuse things further didn't they also transmit in 625 line on VHF in some parts of the country? |
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Post by Richard Marple on Nov 9, 2015 22:31:59 GMT
RTE was a major purchaser of UK programmes from the 1960s to the 1990s, buying in huge quantities of BBC and ITV material on an annual basis. The line standard situation in Ireland was quite complex due to (a) the existence of overspill signals from the UK and (b) the Irish government's lukewarm attitude to television. This led to a situation where many prospective viewers decided against waiting for an Irish service to begin and simply bought 405-line television sets so they could watch UK transmissions. When the Irish government finally got its act together, it decided to adopt the 625-line standard for the new Irish television service. By this stage though, there were so many 405-line sets in the state that government felt it couldn't risk alienating their owners. So, it adopted an Irish solution to an Irish problem - it provided 405-line transmissions in the Northern half of the country where UK overspill could be received but only offered 625-line transmissions in the remainder. And to confuse things further didn't they also transmit in 625 line on VHF in some parts of the country? Yes they did in some areas where it was suitable. There used to be a very good site about the history of Irish TV but it seemed to be off-line now. |
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Post by jheaton on Nov 17, 2015 10:55:18 GMT
Yes right up to the end of analogue.
A colleague moved to Ireland in around 2006, taking a UK telly with her. Could only get TG4 and TV3, no RTE 1 and RTE2. Which, given her learner standard of Irish, effectively meant 1 channel.
I think Sky gained a new customer pretty fast - it was cheaper than a new telly.
James
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Post by Sue Butcher on Nov 19, 2015 0:13:57 GMT
VHF 625 line was the standard in Australia until city UHF stations started in the 80s, and it's only been gone a year or so. VHF TV is the best choice for a large sparsely populated country, but digital TV is all UHF now.
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