Sir, – RTÉ is to be admired for trying to keep Radio 1 as a station open to all. To do this, it has settled on the chat show as a flexible form. It can be light, serious, have music too, and can be interrupted easily for ad breaks. But do we need, and can we take, so many of these shows? John Murray, Sean O'Rourke, Joe Duffy, Ray D'Arcy, Marian Finnucane.
The radio centre sounds like a big kitchen, where people sit chatting about sport, pain, lottery wins, emigration, obesity, novels, politics. The ad breaks that come so quickly and unannounced seem like a mad neighbour barging in.
The argument that these programmes are cheap to produce doesn’t hold. The presenter, if no one else, is paid a great deal.
The argument that people won’t listen to a formal discussion, interview or documentary is condescending. I believe the few that there are, on Saturday and Sunday evening, and usually excellent, are popular. They make me doubt that advertisers won’t buy time on programmes treating someone or something with a respectful depth. – Yours, etc,
ADRIAN KENNY,
Portobello, Dublin 8.