RTE Cutbacks The Plan

vriesmays

elperello wrote: »

I don't know about the other two but you could leave the first aiders out of your speculative list.

That's the Order of Malta not Knights of Malta.

retalivity

Boggles wrote: »

The plan has a cost cutting element largely focused on wages, it's in every headline TBF.

She is right on one thing though, the 14% evasion rate is far too high, it needs to brought down.

As for the 11% who "can access" the player been semi lumped in with evaders, that's absolute nonsense.

Fix the player, have the majority of it kids content and making it login only.

No ads for kids content.

That 14% is a complete misnomer. Id guarantee im in that 14%, and i dont have a tv. Rte/An post are assuming thay every house has a tv, and claiming the evasion rate from that. I live in an apt block, havent had a tv in 10 years, and do not have any device capable of receiving a signal. Was at a party in my neighbours, a couple from argentina, same thing - no tv, only computers and tablets. Id reckon theirs thousands if not 10s of thousands of household in those evasion figures that arent evading anything

Loafing Oaf

tigger123 wrote: »

I'd say the public might be a bit more willing to consider an increase if they could even get a sense of how RTE plan to moneveur themselves in the coming years.

Does the plan consist of anything more than please send us more cash?

Think they need to be communicating with the public a little more effectively.

Seems like they're happy enough with their overall offering, just can't finance it anymore and are looking to the government/taxpayer to sort that. Leo leaving them dangling for the minute though

Professor Genius

They say cutback we say fight back !

tigger123

Boggles wrote: »

The plan has a cost cutting element largely focused on wages, it's in every headline TBF.

She is right on one thing though, the 14% evasion rate is far too high, it needs to brought down.

As for the 11% who "can access" the player been semi lumped in with evaders, that's absolute nonsense.

Fix the player, have the majority of it kids content and making it login only.

No ads for kids content.

What I was really driving at us what's their plan as an organisation. Where are they going, and how are they going to evolve to keep up with a rapidly developing media environment.

There needs to be more planning and imagination outside of salary cuts and possible lay offs.

Shefwedfan

Boggles wrote: »

His salary will be more or less halved since the lunacy of the early 2010s.

What the fúck were they thinking?

He is popular and well regarded to be fair and he has got much better at this job, 2 and half of hours of live telly with no A listers is a tough gig, whatever the "experts" on here tell you.

The top earners should be bench-marked to the private sector, there should be no one at RTE earning over 400k.

Let’s not mention the salary he was on before

He has a following, not sure how popular, would another tv station pay the same? I doubt it, he has big number on late late but that will always get big numbers

Yeah he should have a decent wage but really for a station that is making no profit then needs to review all its policies, no business can survive with constant loss making while paying inflated salaries to a select few

Take An IT company for example, they would look at that and say, right this isn’t working and our higher paid staff are not bringing in the cash. So let them go sand hire new people with new ideas

When was the last time RTE hired a new up and coming that wasn’t a nephew/niece which they then told us was up and coming?

Wibbs

retalivity wrote: »

That 14% is a complete misnomer. Id guarantee im in that 14%, and i dont have a tv. Rte/An post are assuming thay every house has a tv, and claiming the evasion rate from that. I live in an apt block, havent had a tv in 10 years, and do not have any device capable of receiving a signal. Was at a party in my neighbours, a couple from argentina, same thing - no tv, only computers and tablets. Id reckon theirs thousands if not 10s of thousands of household in those evasion figures that arent evading anything

+1. Their numbers are vague to say the least. There also seems to be a difference between those living in apartments and those in houses. I don't have a TV either, but every year like clockwork I get a demand for payment, then I have to ring to ask for a declaration form to sign to state I don't have a TV. One of my friends is the same, again living in a house. Those I know living in apartments seem to never get the letters, with the exception of one. Some are renting, some are owners, so it doesn't seem to be that.

And like you I've noticed more and more people giving up TV's and going the tablet/PC route and most of these would be middle aged types with kids, I'd bet that trend is even more pronounced among younger types. 20 years ago if someone was to say I don't have a TV that would have been considered a bit odd, nowadays nope.

thomas 123

Fingers crossed tastes like home is cut. What is that show. Presenter goes to a family members house, “learns a family recipe”, gets flown across the world, sits with the family awkwardly talking about their loved family member - bizarre.

elperello

vriesmays wrote: »

That's the Order of Malta not Knights of Malta.

Same thing.

The ambulance corp actually do a lot of good work.
As it happens the Freemasons do a lot of charity work too.

Did you find any connection to Ray Darcy by the way?

boring accountant

Damien360 wrote: »

Works out as €1000 per month allowance on a car after tax. Would put you in A6, 5 series, E class territory for lease. Senior manager allowance in a lot of private sector companies.

If the private company was loss making for several years that car allowance is getting slashed

boring accountant

elperello wrote: »

Same thing.

The ambulance corp actually do a lot of good work.
As it happens the Freemasons do a lot of charity work too.

Did you find any connection to Ray Darcy by the way?

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he was. A lot of high flyers and professionals are in it. I know one guy who is in it. He’s a normal guy, it’s not some kind of cult or conspiracy.

Zird

If the government had given RTE a big licence fee increase 5 years ago, it would still be the same except Tubs and Darcy would be on 950k like Pat kenny was in the 00s.

Sir Oxman

Marian Finucane just told Dee Forbes on her show "the RTE Player is a disgrace and the only thing that works on it are the ads."
Forbes says "it will improve..."

...also, Forbes says "this is an organisation that has been starved of funds!"

EDIT: Moya Doherty not Forbes!

Loafing Oaf

Zird wrote: »

If the government had given RTE a big licence fee increase 5 years ago, it would still be the same except Tubs and Darcy would be on 950k like Pat kenny was in the 00s.

This is why the government is looking for RTE to demonstrate it is serious about cost cutting before it gives it any more money. Debatable if the latest proposals achieve that

Seamai

Sir Oxman wrote: »

Marian Finucane just told Dee Forbes on her show "the RTE Player is a disgrace and the only thing that works on it are the ads."
Forbes says "it will improve..."

...also, Forbes says "this is an organisation that has been starved of funds!"

I think it's Moya Doherty, head of the RTÉ board ( I missed the intro) what gobsmacks me is that Marian Finucane is behaving as if she's not part of the problem on her massive salary.

Cork Boy 53

Seamai wrote: »

I think it's Moya Doherty, head of the RTÉ board ( I missed the intro) what gobsmacks me is that Marian Finucane is behaving as if she's not part of the problem on her massive salary.

It is Moya Doherty. Do you seriously believe Marian or any other of the high earners would say anything negative about themselves live on air? If you do you are deluded.

tigger123

Regardless of how much she earns, Mariane Finucane is an employ of RTE, same as the rest of them. Her job is at risk if those in charge don't turn this around.

People shouldn't be surprised when the likes if Marian, Miriam, Dobbo et al stick the boot in. They've the most to lose here.

Seamai

Cork Boy 53 wrote: »

It is Moya Doherty. Do you seriously believe Marian or any other of the high earners would say anything negative about themselves live on air? If you do you are deluded.

In fairness I wouldn't expect anything less but it's the brass neck of her. Moya Doherty isn't exactly inspiring me with confidence either.

Loafing Oaf

Ten Pin wrote: »

As Michael O'Muircheartaigh might say...

"Neither a fiscally responsible stronghold"

All the govt is waiting for is post election glory and RTE will get their licence fee hike and it'll be a chorus of "Cutbacks? What cutbacks"

RTE were banking on an early election but now they have to wait until the politicians figure out the mood of the electorate before throwing more money into the bottomless pit in Montrose

Yeah I probably should have said the government is looking for the cover of some fairly cosmetic 'cost-cutting' by RTE so it can go to the electorate and ask them for more money to bail out the broadcaster.

BarryD2

Boggles wrote: »

He is popular and well regarded to be fair and he has got much better at this job, 2 and half of hours of live telly with no A listers is a tough gig, whatever the "experts" on here tell you..

That depends on who you ask doesn't it. His radio show gets listeners by default as it follows the early morning news programming. If Tubridy was put on after 8pm on radio, his listeners would be tiny in number. Who watches the late late now? The era for that type of presenter went years ago.

Harry Palmr

Seamai wrote: »

I think it's Moya Doherty, head of the RTÉ board ( I missed the intro) what gobsmacks me is that Marian Finucane is behaving as if she's not part of the problem on her massive salary.

She isn't - her contract is. if you were being offered money for old rope you'd take it as I would. The problem is that RTE management back when they were under no fiscal pressure opened the taps to full flow and didn't react quickly post 2008 crash (probably due to contracts that were too long without any escape clauses).

However as has been pointed out frequently, the costs associated with the so called household names is small in the scheme of things. RTE employs too many people, is obliged to fund things they shouldn't - orchestras, broadcast infrastructure and so on.

---

Does anyone else think 2FM is being kept going by RTE not because it makes any fiscal sense but simply as a spoiler in the marketplace - if they have it then they weaken Today FM esp. Close it and DO'B radio and the big Dublin stations will have more listeners and potentially a larger income.

Calhoun

Harry Palmr wrote: »

However as has been pointed out frequently, the costs associated with the so called household names is small in the scheme of things. RTE employs too many people, is obliged to fund things they shouldn't - orchestras, broadcast infrastructure and so on.

The cost associated with the big stars maybe small in the grand scheme of things but they are essentially the canary in the mineshaft. Their salaries tell you all you need to know about RTE and how it manages it's funding.

You can also imagine that the public nor regular staff in RTE would be to happy with cuts without seeing some changes in that space.

nkl12xtw5goz70

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Yeah I probably should have said the government is looking for the cover of some fairly cosmetic 'cost-cutting' by RTE so it can go to the electorate and ask them for more money to bail out the broadcaster.

The whole thing is a bit odd.

Dee Forbes claims that the information was leaked to the Irish Times. But I find it just too coincidental that this leak happened the week of Gay Byrne's death. It feels like an intentional "leak" that allowed RTE to look back on the golden age of Gaybo, make the public nostalgic for RTE of the past, while simultaneously bemoaning the need for cuts at Gay's beloved RTE because the government won't cooperate in jacking up the licence fee.

I absolutely agree that they want to do a bit of cosmetic cost-cutting and warn of more to come if the government doesn't cooperate. But they are not tackling the core issue at all, which is that fewer people, especially young people, are watching RTE, and so their advertiser base is drying up. Meanwhile, personnel costs are out of control.

The backlash on social media shows that the public is no longer prepared to fund the RTE gravy train. Real and substantive changes are needed — and even then, some people will just never go back to watching TV in the "old" way. Younger generations are growing up with content on demand, not with the Late Late on a Friday night.

FreudianSlippers

The "star" (jesus I'm using that phrase loosely) salary thing is a total red herring. It's a drop in the bucket of an organisation that wouldn't hold together if it weren't for long-term state subvention. Permabear's point (we missed you btw) is totally spot on, root and branch reform or else let it die and just keep the news wing somehow.

Boggles

BarryD2 wrote: »

. If Tubridy was put on after 8pm on radio, his listeners would be tiny in number.

The same would go for everyone.

Either way he has grown figures for his show.

BarryD2 wrote: »

Who watches the late late now? The era for that type of presenter went years ago.

Half a million people apparently.

The special the other night received 600k viewers.

elperello

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

The "star" (jesus I'm using that phrase loosely) salary thing is a total red herring. It's a drop in the bucket of an organisation that wouldn't hold together if it weren't for long-term state subvention. Permabear's point (we missed you btw) is totally spot on, root and branch reform or else let it die and just keep the news wing somehow.

All the talk about presenters salaries in RTE is just noise.
It keeps people outraged and brings out the worst sort of begrudgery.

Larry Goodman and his family pocket c. €430,000 in Single Farm Payments annually. That's just for owning two large farms in Louth.

Damien360

Boggles wrote: »

The same would go for everyone.

Either way he has grown figures for his show.



Half a million people apparently.

The special the other night received 600k viewers.

The data for TV viewer numbers is extrapolated from 1090 homes (Tam Ireland website statement). I am probably the wrong demographic in my 40’s but I don’t know a single person that watches the late late other than the Christmas show. Certainly very few in their 20’s and 30’s. So where do they get 600k from. I would love to know the demographic of the 1090 homes used to calculate.

nkl12xtw5goz70

elperello wrote: »

All the talk about presenters salaries in RTE is just noise.

True, RTE would still be struggling even if those top 10 presenters' salaries were all reduced to 30k each.

That said, it's legitimate to for the outraged taxpayer to say: "We don't want to fund a gravy train. Don't come crying for more money from us until you've reduced all your costs to a reasonable level."

It takes over 3,000 TV licenses just to pay Tubridy. At the current average 2.75 people per household, that's equivalent to the population of Tuam.

I'm sure if we were to look at the level of salaries, expenses, car allowances, pension contributions, etc., across RTE, there's a lot that could be cut. Tubridy's salary is the peak of the iceberg, but it's a symbolically significant peak.

end of the road

Zird wrote: »

If the government had given RTE a big licence fee increase 5 years ago, it would still be the same except Tubs and Darcy would be on 950k like Pat kenny was in the 00s.

no he wouldn't.
rte would not get away with paying those kind of wages again.
those days are gone.

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Does anyone else think 2FM is being kept going by RTE not because it makes any fiscal sense but simply as a spoiler in the marketplace - if they have it then they weaken Today FM esp. Close it and DO'B radio and the big Dublin stations will have more listeners and potentially a larger income.

no tbh.
today fm is weakening itself slowly by, well, not being good enough of it's own accord.
i would say it's hay day is very much gone, just like 2fm, it's sad in a way, it had some good parts over it's years.
i can't imagine the dublin stations would have more listeners if 2fm was to go, even if that was possible IMO that would not be a good reason to close 2fm as it's no incentive for the commercials to improve their offerings later on.
2fm should be swapped with one of the other digital stations simply because of it's own merrit it does not meet a ps remit and rte should focus on being a public service broadcaster rather then being a hybrid which is not working.

Noemi Shapely Weakling wrote: »

The whole thing is a bit odd.

Dee Forbes claims that the information was leaked to the Irish Times. But I find it just too coincidental that this leak happened the week of Gay Byrne's death. It feels like an intentional "leak" that allowed RTE to look back on the golden age of Gaybo, make the public nostalgic for RTE of the past, while simultaneously bemoaning the need for cuts at Gay's beloved RTE because the government won't cooperate in jacking up the licence fee.

I absolutely agree that they want to do a bit of cosmetic cost-cutting and warn of more to come if the government doesn't cooperate. But they are not tackling the core issue at all, which is that fewer people, especially young people, are watching RTE, and so their advertiser base is drying up. Meanwhile, personnel costs are out of control.

The backlash on social media shows that the public is no longer prepared to fund the RTE gravy train. Real and substantive changes are needed — and even then, some people will just never go back to watching TV in the "old" way. Younger generations are growing up with content on demand, not with the Late Late on a Friday night.

with respect this supposed back clash on social media only shows that those ranting on social media are not willing to fund whatever it may be, whether it be this supposed gravy train, or even rte itself as opinions will no doubt differ.
i wouldn't take to much from it or even use it as a gauge for how the public as a whole feel. we are going to need actual research to gauge that, for which social media should absolutely the last resort in terms of gauging IMO.

Boggles

Noemi Shapely Weakling wrote: »

It takes over 3,000 TV licenses just to pay Tubridy. At the current average 2.75 people per household, that's equivalent to the population of Tuam.
.

That's a bit ould fella down the pub ranting and raving TBH.

I imagine the commercial revenue from his Radio and TV more than covers the cost of his salary and production, etc.

But but but you could put a chicken on and they would get the same numbers, etc.

Basically don't hate the player, hate the game.

It's RTE that needs to change not Turbidy.