RTE Cutbacks The Plan

JDxtra

They'd be bonkers to throw away the momentum they have with RTE Gold. Right now, RTE Gold has almost the same amount of online listeners as RTE 2FM. Other stations, like RTE Pulse, are justified for the axe - it has only 1.5% the audience online that RTE Gold has.

MrMusician18

Boggles wrote: »

There is several examples of this model in Europe, they died a death.

No one watches them and any talent was hoovered up by the commercial stations.

The reality is RTE has pretty much held it's own with 20 odd years of 30 odd billion of programming a lot of it FTA from across the sea. That's before you even get into online content.

It needs to be tweaked, not nuked.

The whole idea of public service broadcasting is that what it creates appeals to few people i.e. the stuff that's not commercially viable.

A slimmed down RTE, not dependent on commercial revenue, dedicated to it's public service remit would seen appropriate. If it's not making celebrities out of it's presenters, who cares?

FrancieBrady

blanch152 wrote: »

Maybe because the Arts Council is an advisory, grant-giving and regulatory body and isn't operationally involved in arts?

Well, I kinda meant that the Orchestra's self operate and draw their subsidy from the Arts Council, like Ballet Ireland or the Abbey Theatre.

MrMusician18

ToBeFrank123 wrote: »

Something similar happened on RTE TV during the rugby world cup final. The first two ads on one of the breaks was related to RTE content.

They are using prime time slots to advertise their own content.

In fairness, they were only advertising their own content in this show because a commercial advertiser didn't take them.
Sometimes it can be more cost effective to charge a higher price even if that means some slots dont get filled

Loafing Oaf

MrMusician18 wrote: »

The whole idea of public service broadcasting is that what it creates appeals to few people i.e. the stuff that's not commercially viable.

A slimmed down RTE, not dependent on commercial revenue, dedicated to it's public service remit would seen appropriate.

Could you convince the great unwashed to pay a licence fee to subsidise this kind of highbrow service though?

MrMusician18

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Could you convince the great unwashed to pay a licence fee to subsidise this kind of highbrow service though?

News and current affairs, domestic and international sport (where there is an Irish angle)? Yeah, I think people would pay for it.

It's quite clear what people dont want to pay for and that's endless reruns and/or imported content, that's largely already been aired on other broadcasters.

lawred2

MrMusician18 wrote: »

News and current affairs, domestic and international sport (where there is an Irish angle)? Yeah, I think people would pay for it.

It's quite clear what people dont want to pay for and that's endless reruns and/or imported content, that's largely already been aired on other broadcasters.

certainly don't like paying for RTE to be competing in the entertainment industry

it's absurd

i.e. is there anyone here happy to be bankrolling Amy Huberman's latest comedic offering? Don't see any other operators rushing to secure them!

bobbyss

Lots of people lose their jobs every day. We don't hear much about them and their struggles.

ebbsy

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

Ryan Tubridy – €495,000
Ray D'Arcy – €450,000
Joe Duffy – €389,988
Sean O’Rourke – €308,964
Marian Finucane – €300,617
Miriam O'Callaghan – €299,000
Claire Byrne – €216,000
Brian Dobson – €198,146
George Hamilton – €186,195
Mary Wilson – €185,679

It really is impossible to justify the salaries these people are getting.

Getting rid of Duffy and D'Arcy alone would save several jobs of ordinary workers.

D'arcy 450k ?

That is amazing.

ToBeFrank123

MrMusician18 wrote: »

In fairness, they were only advertising their own content in this show because a commercial advertiser didn't take them.
Sometimes it can be more cost effective to charge a higher price even if that means some slots dont get filled

But why didn't they fill them? Why are they struggling to sell prime time ad slots?

Surely they could offer a last minute cut price deal to fill those slots, as almost all commercial entities do.

Advertise their own content at quiet times, no issue with that.

But prime time slots and huge audience figures, to be advertising your own content is bizarre. What other commercial entity would get away with this, given they are in the business of maximising revenue.

dulpit

Brock Turnpike wrote: »

Ryan Tubridy – €495,000
Ray D'Arcy – €450,000
Joe Duffy – €389,988
Sean O’Rourke – €308,964
Marian Finucane – €300,617
Miriam O'Callaghan – €299,000
Claire Byrne – €216,000
Brian Dobson – €198,146
George Hamilton – €186,195
Mary Wilson – €185,679

It really is impossible to justify the salaries these people are getting.

Getting rid of Duffy and D'Arcy alone would save several jobs of ordinary workers.

At least Tubridy & D'Arcy have TV shows to go with their radio shows, but Joe Duffy seems super high. Especially when his show continues along fine when he's being covered by others.

Marian is scary high. 4 hours of broadcast per week, maybe 26 weeks of the year it would seem. Brendan O'Connor is better than her too when he fills in.

bobbyss

ebbsy wrote:

D'arcy 450k ?

ebbsy wrote:

That is amazing.

What? Two hours a day? More than amazing.

dulpit

RunningFlyer wrote: »

I think the top presenters pay is a disgrace because it is designed in a tax-efficient way so they pay very little (if any tax) by creating companies that RTE happily pay into to avoid PRSI, PAYE contributions etc. On top of this, there are lots of other sneaky tax methods at play such as allowances, car allowances, accommodation which ultimately means they will retain most of the gross figures quoted previously.

I actually wouldn't have as much as issue if all the presenters above were PAYE employees on those salaries because they would be returning a huge amount of their gross salaries back to the exchequer. Yet RTE, as a state company, has no problem with this tax dodging because they are all on the gravy train. It all came to light a few years ago in the UK and HMRC have been cracking down on it since with the BBC so why doesn't Revenue chase it up here?

So effectively, our TV licence fee is a tax on us to help fund these presenters, yet their salaries contribute next to nothing to the exchequer in return! (I know the licence fee is distributed)

Whilst I've no issue paying the licence fee (other countries Ive lived in have taken it from tax), the quality of presenters and programming in RTE is abysmal and I just don't understand how they have the same regulars being recycled for car-crash television programmes (Who watches them?). A massive cleanout is needed but the loyalty and arrogance of RTE means nothing fundamental will change ultimately.

Sean O'Rourke, Bryan Dobson & Mary Wilson are all RTE staff. The other 7 listed as contracted through their companies though.

ToBeFrank123

dulpit wrote: »

At least Tubridy & D'Arcy have TV shows to go with their radio shows, but Joe Duffy seems super high. Especially when his show continues along fine when he's being covered by others.

Marian is scary high. 4 hours of broadcast per week, maybe 26 weeks of the year it would seem. Brendan O'Connor is better than her too when he fills in.

Often its the producers and editors who make or break these shows and they are no doubt well paid. The well paid presenters are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these programs with highly paid staff behind the scenes.

I vaguely remember Gerry Ryan offering to go to another station if they paid 1 million for the whole team. Needless to say he was told where to go.

bobbyss

ToBeFrank123 wrote:

Often its the producers and editors who make or break these shows and they are no doubt well paid. The well paid presenters are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these programs with highly paid staff behind the scenes.

Katy Hannon did an eccellent job on liveline when Brendan Grace died. But so too would many others. Wasn't that a fear of Duffy and indeed Gay that they were worried about being sick in case their subs would prove popular.

Loafing Oaf

MrMusician18 wrote: »

News and current affairs, domestic and international sport (where there is an Irish angle)? Yeah, I think people would pay for it.

I'm not so sure. There's a helluva lot of people paying the licence fee unwillingly as it is. Any significant cut to their output could trigger a mass boycott.

MrMusician18

ToBeFrank123 wrote: »

But why didn't they fill them? Why are they struggling to sell prime time ad slots?

Surely they could offer a last minute cut price deal to fill those slots, as almost all commercial entities do.

Advertise their own content at quiet times, no issue with that.

But prime time slots and huge audience figures, to be advertising your own content is bizarre. What other commercial entity would get away with this, given they are in the business of maximising revenue.

They could flog them last minute and full them cheaply, but for the same reason that a last minute flight isn't flogged cheap. Advertisers would wait until the last minute for the best price.

Additionally it would wreck relationships with advertisers at a time when they are ever more important.

The J Stands for Jay

ToBeFrank123 wrote: »

Changing times and RTE have been slow to adopt.
Sounds like the digital stations were a significant loss maker.
They've let go workers before and ended up having to hire in contractors to replace them.
But its good the government are holding firm on not providing an increase in funding.
Evasion was always a problem with the licence fee and will also be there when the broadcasting charge comes in.
RTE need to accept they are no longer a monopoly but existing in a highly competitive dog eat dog environment.

I'm always a bit dubious of the evasion rate claims. They always make an assumption that everyone without a TV licence is evading it. There's loads of households who don't have the equipment to require a licence. And I would imagine that the majority of those do not consume any online rte content

bobbyss

bobbyss wrote: »

Katy Hannon did an eccellent job on liveline when Brendan Grace died. But so too would many others. Wasn't that a fear of Duffy and indeed Gay that they were worried about being sick in case their subs would prove popular.

PBH was doing really well on Liveline until it became very obvious that his leash was reigned in.

MrMusician18

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

I'm not so sure. There's a helluva lot of people paying the licence fee unwillingly as it is. Any significant cut to their output could trigger a mass boycott.

RTEs output has been totally trashed in the last 10 years as commercial revenue has fallen off a cliff.

There has been no mass boycott to date.

retalivity

Replace rte1 & rte2 with tg4, the only decent channel in the country that meets its public service remit

The J Stands for Jay

jelutong wrote: »

Is there really a need for RTE One+1 and RTE Two +1?

They likely cost very little, but still provide advertising space to sell.

McGaggs

McGaggs wrote: »

I'm always a bit dubious of the evasion rate claims. They always make an assumption that everyone without a TV licence is evading it. There's loads of households who don't have the equipment to require a licence. And I would imagine that the majority of those do not consume any online rte content

Its the arrogance of RTE management that can't understand why anyone wouldnt consume their services, mixed with the letter of the law that states any device capable of receiving RTE must have a license.

So they are including Polish and Latvian and other immigrants in their figures for evasion, even though many if not most have never as much as watched the Angelus.

nkl12xtw5goz70

Marian Finucane is 69. Joe Duffy is 63. Bryan Dobson and Miriam O'Callaghan are almost 60. Ray D'Arcy is 55. Even Claire Byrne and Tubridy are in their mid-40s.

If RTE wants to attract younger audiences, it's hard to see how it can do so with an over-reliance on "stars" who are the age of their parents or grandparents.

The J Stands for Jay

Noemi Shapely Weakling wrote: »

It's a radio interview -- you can listen to it here.

Thanks. I'll give it a listen on the train home.

Brock Turnpike

Noemi Shapely Weakling wrote: »

Marian Finucane is 69. Joe Duffy is 63. Bryan Dobson and Miriam O'Callaghan are almost 60. Ray D'Arcy is 55. Even Claire Byrne and Tubridy are in their mid-40s.

If RTE wants to attract younger audiences, it's hard to see how it can do so with an over-reliance on "stars" who are the age of their parents or grandparents.

Claire looks great in fairness to her

The J Stands for Jay

Boggles wrote: »

RTE doesn't just have a Public Remit is has a commercial one.

It would be a reasonable commercial decision to cut this loss making arm of the business.

Blanco100

Is it not mental paying an entire met eireann department aswell? surely they are on high salaries aswell, do what alot of others though, buy your news in and pay one of the numerous presenters to read the autocue.

Likewise the concert orchestra, couldnt give a toss to see them wheeled out once a year to play over Joe Dolan or dickie rocks back catalogue.

Id say thats only scratching the surface of the waste.

Loafing Oaf

MrMusician18 wrote: »

RTEs output has been totally trashed in the last 10 years as commercial revenue has fallen off a cliff.

There has been no mass boycott to date.

Yeah but they've maintained the same broad mix of programming AFAIK. If they came out with a big announcement that they were scrapping Fair City, Winning Streak, Room to Improve etc., you might have a lot of generally apolitical types asking what exactly they were paying for.

Thread title should have 'The Plan' in inverted commas:
"The Plan"


There is no plan...

Just the application some brutal surgery by the accountancy department.