"RTÉ - it's good to come home to" (RTE 1)

Member Name: Tuatha

Product:	RTE 1
Date:	25/01/01 (246 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Large quantity of US imports, beats UK airdates, quality news, good on-air presentation, very wide programming variety

Disadvantages: Scheduling times vary - often good programmes are screened only late at night, domestic programmes often reflect only a "Dublin" view of affairs

"RTÉ - it's good to come home to."

Or so the trailer on RTÉ said this Christmas.

With RTE ONE, you're actually getting a fairly decent entertainment channel. It's all there - documentary, current affairs, quality news, drama, soap, US imports and blockbuster Hollywood films.

One of RTE's finest qualities is its ability to buy in overseas imports and show them long before their satellite/terrestrial UK debuts. Some shows are shown by RTE and never see the airwaves in the UK, so it's wonderful to have such an outlet for those programmes here.

Of course, RTE's relatively small audience (3.5-4m) helps keep costs down, which is why ER, Friends, West Wing, Felicity, Dawson's Creek, Ally etc. can be shown in such quantities.

On the home front, there are domestic soaps (Fair City, Glenroe), docusoaps, investigative journalism (Prime Time) and chat (Open House, The Late Late Show.)

In all, something for everyone - the trailer's caption was 100% correct!

Summary: