RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

CGI_Livia_Soprano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797284#Comment_120797284

I have more of a keen eye for talent than you do

So far you have not proven that to be the case. Being mates with someone who claims to be a pirate radio legend doesn’t mean spit. If he was such a talent he could have plied his trade in the UK or Australia or wherever. Instead he’s stuck in Dublin crying about how he could have been Dave Fanning.

Why do you keep defending RTE an institution that needs a root and branch makeover.

I haven’t defended RTE once, that doesn’t mean I’m gonna swallow every resentful “I coulda been somebody” sob story from someone who wasn’t cut out for the big time, like your friend.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797308#Comment_120797308

The papers/sites of most impeccable repute

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797316#Comment_120797316

Stuck in Dublin? Are we still talking about Tubridy? Cap seems to fit.

hotmail.com

About 2 weeks left before RTE shuts down for the summer.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797272#Comment_120797272

Be interesting to see what his contract is - if it's radio and TV presenting together at a such a cost then he probably has broken the contract and ergo out of contract. This is probably the bit why RTE don't really know if he is or not in contract - does the contract specify each role as an agreed separate part of the contract or dependent on each other?

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797308#Comment_120797308

Could RTE not counter sue. She is paying huge amount of money via dodgy accounts to people with no contracts in place

The same with Tubs, he was paid with no contract in place.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797030#Comment_120797030

People seem to have more respect for Enoch Burke for sticking to his principles than they do for Ryan Tubridy. They may disagree with Burke but Tubridy is a type all too common in Irish politics and media.

Regards...jmcc

machiavellianme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797308#Comment_120797308

I guess her mental health isn't suffering all that much then, if she has the wherewithal to sue?

What is she going to sue for? Being called out for incompetence or fiduciary diligence? Or for being suspended from a job she was planning on quitting/retiring from anyway?

BattleCorp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120793759#Comment_120793759

The article is a pile of shyte. If you make someone redundant you are making the post redundant. So if the CFO is on +€200k and they won't take a pay cut, you can't make them redundant and get a new CFO on lesser money.

Also, good luck getting public servants unions to agree to pay cuts.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797388#Comment_120797388

No they don’t.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797420#Comment_120797420

A simple solution: Break up RTE and form new companies. Current "talent" would have to reapply.

Regards...jmcc

skimpydoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797316#Comment_120797316

It's not a sob story and my friend ended up in another career but still does DJing. I don't care if you believe me or not. I know others who will believe me and my friend is mentioned a lot on the radio pages on here.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797427#Comment_120797427

Thank you for your contribution to the thread.

Regards...jmcc

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797410#Comment_120797410

Huh?

A person who may be suffering with their mental health can’t function?

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797432#Comment_120797432

Reads like a real sour grapes story

skimpydoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797453#Comment_120797453

Not really, just telling it as at is.

He is happy how things turned out have noticed how bloated RTE has become.

Gen.Zhukov

I see mention of Tubridy being asked to return the €345k - That's a fair enough request. Any calls for the chronically incompetent D.4orbes to return any of the c.€2.5m that she got for filing her nails and lunching with the girls for 7 years, while simultaneously lining the pockets of Noel Kelly with tax payers money?

NKM website update - Dearbhail McDonald (Brendan O'Connor's stand in) and Shane Coleman have recently been removed. Another 10 days of this and there'll only be CB and PK left on it

CGI_Livia_Soprano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797457#Comment_120797457

Yeah I’d say he’s delighted he’s not making half a mil a year instead of spinning records for sandwiches.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797478#Comment_120797478

Some people judge others by the content of their character rather than by their salary.

Regards...jmcc

evolvingtipperary101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797464#Comment_120797464

The thing is... it's going to turn out to be a lot more than 345k though... just depends on far they go back...

CGI_Livia_Soprano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797504#Comment_120797504

Like Enoch Burke?

hamburgham

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120796804#Comment_120796804

Yes, she’s beautiful looking but it didn’t happen for her. Never understood why.

tobefrank321

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120796375#Comment_120796375

Paid it for years and RTE cared sweet FA about my opinion. Its only when you stop paying that they and the government will start to listen.

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797515#Comment_120797515

Don't agree with Burke or his family on many things but greed is not a principle. Your opinion may be different.

Regards...jmcc

LowOdour

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797464#Comment_120797464

Just cause they were removed doesn’t mean they aren't represented by NKM?

What had the likes of Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly have to say about events last week, since they are connected to this through mutual agent

ButtersSuki

Apologies, I had to run earlier but I have a few more things to add to my post from earlier this afternoon. I don't have long as I'm exhausted and do need to come to bed, but I'll add a few short points now and return to this at a later stage. For anyone who read my earlier post, points 10-14 and beyond is new, as is an addendum to point 8.

I'm glad you asked.

One of the biggest issues RTE have is they're a primarily a state/public broadcaster; but also operating as a commercial broadcaster. There's an inherent and obvious conflict in this, and it's the cause of most of the issues that have arisen in the last 10 days. It's been obvious to many on the outside than for far too long the commercial tail has been wagging the RTE dog so to speak.

I want to be clear on this: RTE have done some excellent work over the years, particularly in the realms of news and current affairs. Their other output however leaves an awful lot to be desired. Too often "talent" are given vanity projects designed to either line their pockets or boost their profile with no visible entertainment or public interest in said obscure project.

From an entertainment perspective, I have often said Paths To Freedom is my favourite RTE show. I also liked LOVE/HATE, and recently Kin.

In a similar vein, some of the scheduling on the TV channels in particular over the years has been absolutely "bonkers". RTE will frequently buy the rights to shows like for example, Mad Men, or Damages, or Parks & Recreation (just a few examples as all were multi-award winning US Shows; 2 dramas and a comedy). These shows will be then be subjected to "graveyard scheduling", i.e. a deliberate tactic where the shows are shown at ridiculous time and days (say 01:!5 on a Monday night/Tuesday morning, or 11pm on a Friday night when most of the actual target audience would be out socialising etc.) and effectively doomed to failure from the outset from an audience numbers perspective. Even if you show some episodes at "normal hours", you can then you can mess with any audience you have by showing Episode 1 on Tuesday night at one time, Episode 2 at a different time and on a different night the following week, and so on - all things RTE did with all 3 aforementioned shows. It doesn't take long to kill off an audience with tactics like this.

Even putting shows on RTE1 over RTE2 increases manifold the chances of said show "surviving". All of the above were of course shown on RTE2.

So why would they do this?

Well, one reason is to boost home-produced shows and keep the prime time peak viewership slots for them. Example: you could put literally anything on RTE1 on Christmas Day and it will have huge audience figures. So what do RTE do every year? Put on Mrs. Brown's Boys and the say "look at the amazing figures it received!" Shows like "Killinaskully" were given regular slots during peak viewing periods (Sundays at 8pm on RTE1). As were many other RTE Shows - Operation Transformation, DIY SOS/The Big Build Ireland, and many more have been the benefactors of generous scheduling designed to effectively guarantee audiences. Just a coincidence these shows are mostly fronted by NKM clients of course.

Another reason is to keep the content away from your competitors. If RTE buy it, TV3 can't. And if RTE buy Season 1 of a show and then drop it, do you really think TV3 now want Season 2 etc.?

Another way to ensure a show fails is to, for example, show Season 2 of Mad Men at a stupid hour when other stations available in Ireland are already on Season 3 or 4 etc.

Make no mistake, all of the firstly-named shows failures on RTE were as a result of deliberate acts of scheduling.

Anyway, back to your question.

Topline changes I'd make if I was in charge:

1. A complete restructuring of the entity into Public and Commercial (not necessarily those headings but with that at the core). How would this work? Well there would be a Public arm which would cover news, current affairs and would house such entities as TLLS. BOTH arms would be funded by commercial through the sale of advertising, but there would be ZERO cross-pollination of on-air "talent". The Public arm would be for entertainment content only. Sponsorships would only be allowed on the Commercial arm btw.
2. An immediate end to talent being self-employed (bogus in many/most cases btw). If you want to work in RTE, you become a member of staff and you pay PAYE like everyone else. If you don't, no problem - you can move to the fully commercial sector. There is (or was) a prestige and associated fame of being the face of a show on the National Broadcaster, and that dwarfs any that would apply to a commercial station. One should be proud to work for the National Station, not use that position to effectively blackmail them into ensuring you've over-lined your pockets with public money.
3. An immediate end to Agents representing "talent", This would be moot anyway if point 2 is implemented.
4. A cap on salaries throughout the organisation, particularly of on-air talent. No-one - and I mean no-one, from the board to on-air talent - should be earning more than €240,000* (I've picked this figure as its what a Hospital Consultant demands). And no-one can tell me €240,000 isn't an awful lot of money. If for example Presenter X has an offer of €250,000 or more from a rival station, go for it! You may be missed, but you're not irreplaceable. Also on this point - to ensure it evolves any HR Manager will tell you that an organiaztion needs a healthy degree of churn. What churn have we had from a presenter POV in RTE in the last 20 years?
5. An end to the rampant nepotism and cronyism that exists in the place. People should get hired on merit and ability, not surnames. I would be looking at a serious cull if I went in to start things off.
6. Working as I do in the Private Sector and knowing what the organization is like from my dealings with them, I can tell you that while there are some very good and hard-working people in some departments in RTE, there are many who are what I would term "dead wood", and need to go. The last time I was involved in exploratory discussion re. sponsoring a show on RTE (this was pre-Covid), it was nigh on impossible to get anyone in there to commit to a meeting after 2pm. And they would openly say to you on phone/zoom calls etc. that they couldn't commit to that as they had to collect the kids etc. I'd love to collect my son every day from school, but my employer pays me to be at work at that time so I can't. I don't golf myself, but a lot of people in RTE do it seems as that was another excuse. Whatever about doing it, the lack of self-awareness to tell a prospective client that you can't meet them in. the afternoon because you have a tee time is shocking. We would not accept this from any other supplier. We didn't have a choice with RTE. Again, a cull needed here.
7. A closing or selling off of the non-performing elements of the offering, i.e. 2FM. It has long lost its way and is effectively dead in Dublin already where it is outperformed by almost all of the commercial stations in the city. It's supposed to be a Youth station, it's content is clearly aimed at 20-30somethings and it's poor at that - to put it mildly.
8. A reduction in staff where there is a clear overstaffing issue. An example would be the 2FM Breakfast Show, which has 3 presenters - all of whom by coincidence are represented by NKM. ADDED SINCE MY EARLIER POST: there is absolutely no need for example for Ryan Tubridy's 53minute radio show needs 6 researchers - anyone who listens to that show must wonder what these 6 are doing given the output. This staffing largesse and over-staffing is not confined solely to presenters btw, it's rampant throughout the organisation, and not just for on-air departments.
9. Corporate Entertainment Budgets to be dramatically cut. I won't lie, I've received concert tickets from RTE in the past, but never directly - always through the Media Agency I buy media slots from. It wasn't a regular thing but I did receive them. I also received them from other TV and Radio Stations. I was invited a few times to go to golf events, but I don't golf so it wasn't applicable to me. I also got rugby and soccer tickets but only on a very small number of occasions. I was never at pre or post event hospitality at such events though, that I can confirm - nor was I in Japan on RTE's ticket. Corporate Entertainment exists in most companies and sectors, there's nothing unusual in that. What I will say is there's an enormous difference in being given a free ticket to a concert (all concerts have free tickets btw) and a week long junket to Japan costing circa €20,000 a head.
10. Montrose - this has to be sold as a revenue-generating piece of real estate. RTE are (by chance) sitting on a piece of land worth in the hundreds of millions of euro. It's incredibly hard to take them seriously when they cry the poor mouth when they reside in one of the most, if not the most prestigious and expensive post codes in the country. There is no reason for them to be there either, it's neither strategic nor necessary. The site - which is enormous btw - should be sold to the highest bidder - and the entire operation moved to a cheaper location in some Corporate Park on the outskirts of the city. TV3 operate the most modern studios in the country from an industrial estate in Ballymount. I know there are many vacant sites that could comfortably house the operation in places such as the Airport industrial area, Blanchardstown/Ballycoolin, and many other places around the M50 that would be significantly cheaper than the current site. I genuinely don't believe somewhere like Athlone (which I have seen mentioned) is either feasible or practical as the HQ needs to be in the capital - from a practical perspective from a staffing viewpoint.
11. As per point 10, RTE has not insignificant sites in Cork, Limerick, and Galway amongst others. All 3 of those are in prime city centre locations - again, completely unnecessary in this day and age. Again, these should be sold ASAP and a move to cheaper premises on the outskirts of the cities sought.
12. I don't want to sound like this is a personal attack on Richard Collins because he was by no means the only bad performer at the PAC meetings last week but I cannot understand how anyone's first job as a CFO can be with a company with as big as RTE. Normally for roles at that level you hire serious, senior, experienced people with impressive CVs, experience at that level, and in total command of their brief and their department - his performance last week did not indicate anything of the sort. Whilst every CFO has a first time in that kind of role, it's normally at a much smaller company where you learn the trade and then graduate to a bigger company performing the same role. I have never in my life seen someone take a career leap like that into such a big role and with such huge responsibility being granted to a novice. That this is his first CFO role beggars belief - I simply do not believe he was the best candidate for the job as there had to have been other people with actual CFO experience who applied for that role - it's not like the package wasn't attractive.
13. Communications Department - what on earth are these people doing and/or being paid for if they have to call in Q4 to help them? I know the MD of Q4 personally, and I can tell you they are not cheap. I'm going to once again be very blunt here - if the head of this department has to hire in an outside agency at a time like this it's P45 time - this is exactly what your job is supposed to be. If you cannot do the job you are paid handsomely for and need an outside agency to do that work for you then I have to ask what on earth are you doing and why are we paying you? And this extends to the whole department there, most of whom are there 10+ years.
14. Culture - obviously there is huge change required here. This encompasses everything I've touched on above, and more - too much to list at almost midnight with an early start tomorrow.

*to clarify this point, only a handful of people in the organization should be on this kind of package btw. When I hear the number of people in. RTE on over €100,000 and over €200,000 etc., I am genuinely shocked. There is a huge overpayment culture in RTE. Now you could perhaps justify this if the organization was making millions in profit every year and delivering exceptional performance (let's call it shareholder value for arguments sake), but this level of remuneration comes with huge demands on performance and results - neither of which given the poor mouth and begging bowls associated with RTE are being delivered. Pay as a whole throughout the organization needs to be looked at and examined very closely.

In order to regain some element of the trust lost in recent weeks, these changes can't be done over a period of years. Were this a private organization in order to ensure its survival these would happen quickly, and bluntly. That needs to happen here, and quickly.

saabsaab

What is the value of the site in Montrose? Over 20 acres in a prime location must be over 500M?

evolvingtipperary101

edit

Bulmers

maybe Tubs and Forbes had a thing going on??...

everything is in game at the moment to explain this cluster.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120796806#Comment_120796806

I've no idea why I would not want to control the game and leave it wide open.

My talent.

My message.

I'm in control.