• RTÉ News revamp

    Just thought I’d point you in the direction of a boards.ie broadcasting thread on the RTÉ News revamp.

    Those watching the situation closely will note that the newroom has been moved to a temporary studio to facilitate a studio 3 revamp; the new studio should be revealed in September.

    Information is thin on the ground but Telefís details some of the possible improvements here. An LCD wall would certainly bring RTÉ up to date with its British counterparts, namely the BBC and ITV.

    This revamp is just one piece in a huge puzzle of rebranding going through the PSB at the moment, from RTÉ.ie to RTÉ One itself.

    As some speculation on the thread suggests some of this may be part of a repositioning to facilitate new digital ventures although in my opinion that kind of repositioning will only happen at a channel-wide level; for example we may see RTÉ One move more towards serious programming and aim for a 35+ age group while RTÉ Two continues on its more funky and young venture. It is likely that any new DTT channels (RTÉ Three and Four perhaps) will only happen if each of the existing RTÉ stations is given a more specific role. Look at the way the BBC had tried to reposition BBC One and Two when it brought Three and Four into the public gaze.

    Another hot topic is the viability of an RTÉ News channel and under what guise it would take (Rolling news, factual, current affairs etc.); I’ve already discussed the matter here before but I’m sure I’ll return to it soon enough.

    The fact is though all of this is speculation; few know for sure what RTÉ News will look like in September or what RTÉ in general has to offer in the digital world; what can be said is that it’s interesting times for media geeks like myself!