RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798293#Comment_120798293

How can a show generate revenue without advertisements?

You want a TV then you buy a license. Don't want to pay a TV license then don't buy a TV. It's simple

Floppybits

I tell ya a bigger issue than what Tubridy got is that fact the Brendan O'Connor is on €245k. How can he be on that much money, he is a dose. The sooner all these so called "talent" wages are cut the better.

Montage of Feck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798258#Comment_120798258

In fairness to Gerry since he left 2fm the ratings have gone terminal. Tubridy lost tens of thousands overnight doing the show.

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798355#Comment_120798355

I have no idea how it works but they have the entitlement to broadcast on FM on the channel which is valuable. Apart from that 2FM is a bloated organisations with every few talented individuals and a target audience which is already catered for by other stations and multiple local radio stations.

I don't see RTE selling off 2FM and more or less just letting it die, which should of happened about 20 years ago

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798293#Comment_120798293

Also lots of companies in Ireland depend on RTE to advertise, it is how they get the message to their target audience. By shutting down advertisements on RTE you are also shutting down a vital way for companies to advertise.

You are also shutting down a route for consumers to get information on products which like or not advertisements provide. I doubt Irish companies want Ireland customers only seeing overseas brands been advertised on TV because most people have access to UK television in Ireland.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798498#Comment_120798498

Ah Virgin Media TV channels are on Saorview?

xulon123

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

Move on bro, you're becoming a bore....

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798469#Comment_120798469

Ok perhaps I didn’t explain myself well.

In the scenario I’m talking about there are two entities.

The first is a non profit publicly funded broadcasting service. This would have no adds.

The second is a private TV channel producing shows, selling adds and paying staff and production costs from adds and possibly a subscription fee. However they do it up to them.

And No, if I own a TV I should not have to pay RTE anything. They didn’t make the TV.

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798444#Comment_120798444

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798476#Comment_120798476

Need a better word than "dose" :-)

If they are getting the rating's they should be kept on. In the case of Brendan I think he is, in the case of Lottie she never has and never will. She has been bombed off every program she has been on so left as a filler role between shows so she can't ruin ratings.

Even if they do have ratings the money they are earning is obscene I agree. I would love to know how they work out the wages because as someone said the other day, they are competing with themselves. Nobody else in market pays close to what RTE are paying so whats it based on? pick a number and double it?

Fanirish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798482#Comment_120798482

There is a thread on twitter covering this topic which i can’t find with twitter being broken. But essentially RTE subsidiary 2RN Ie rte networks which operates the radio networks, masts etc owns the licences. Already plans to sell this company off. But 2fm itself basically has no assets to speak of itself apart from intangible asset of the “brand”

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798469#Comment_120798469

or there’s always the option to just buy one and laugh at the tv licence.

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798518#Comment_120798518

Oh you explained and it made no sense and still doesn't.

Nobody will pay for the second because that is already provided by a market flooded with pay per view channel. Which if you look into it a lot of them are due to go bust anytime soon. Having Netflix/Amazon/Disney etc etc etc is not going to work long term as most are running at a loss.

The setup of RTE 1 & RTE 2 with advertisement is ok as far as I am concerned. The setup of RTE in terms of wages for "stars" is not. Plus some of the content should be more home grown and with more attention to young up & coming actors/presenters etc

Advertisements which help companies and also pay for RTE is a must. Even if it is only to get company products to the consumers. RTE set the bar for the advertisement fee's and as Virgin said they are already very low.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798277#Comment_120798277

Clearly she's short a few brain cells to go ahead with that sort of thing, the day after the lid started coming off these shenanigans. Or perhaps all the RTE stars consider themselves above all that.

Agent Coulson

A self professed privileged guy who refused to give up that privilege.

This is a guy who when the Country was on it's knees in 2008/9/10 was on over €500k a year at RTE point blank refused to take a paycut none of this greed is new.

He publicly took a paycut the last time around however he made sure with his agent that, that cut would be paid under the table to him out of the public eye so he wasn't losing any money.

He should not have had his contracted renewed after he refused to take the paycut 13/14/15 years ago instead he has been paid €7/8m in that time by RTE and the tax payer.

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798526#Comment_120798526

If you want to pick and choose which laws you break and don't break then we are in trouble,

Yes I would agree to a mass demonstration from the people of Ireland to get reform of RTE. If that requires mass non payment in a organised fashion then so be it. But long term the license will have to be paid.

GSBellew

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798208#Comment_120798208

It would not be unprecedented for a company or entity that is sited on prime real estate to enter into a agreement with a developer whereby propose built facilities are constructed on a green field site by the developer plus an additional payment in return for the prime real estate.

Yes they wouldn't get the full sale amount, but they would get buildings purpose built and to modern standards along with the inherent cost savings into the future this would bring, could be sited in a location that is more accessible, better infrastructure links and so on.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798544#Comment_120798544

no definitely I agree we shouldn’t pick and choose laws to follow. That said, if I want a tv, but can’t afford €160/y to fund a channel I don’t watch (my tv is a Netflix/Disney/streaming screen only I don’t watch any live TV) then I’m gonna go ahead and buy my tv.

Im not going to be told by RTE I can’t have one. It’s just that simple.

Now, if I want to drive a car and can’t afford the licence fee, insurance, tax? Well I won’t drive then.

pjordan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120797561#Comment_120797561

Thanks for your very insightful review of the RTE set up (obviously from someone who has considerable experience of dealing with the organisation), so much so that it seems a little bit close to the truth for some RTE fans/supporters/insiders on here who are very much out to get you for your cutting focus.

Just a couple of observations/queries from your points?

1. Do you think the reform of the agent element for talent within the current RTE setup is even possible (no more than reform of the HSE due to the amount of vested interest involved?). I know you suggest that you move the agency element to an entirely commercial basis whereby that element is dependent on viewer/listenership and advertising revenue and the market decides or dictates how much talent can be affoarded.
2. Wasn't aware of the the career background of Richard Collins and his qualifications (or lack of) for the role of CFO until you drew attention to it. I haven't Googled him but it could help if you gave a synopsis of his career trajectory. Coincidentally I just happened to come across a book on my bookshelf this morning called Voyage of Hope by a certain Rory Coveney, who at the time of it's authorship (1999) was studying for an MA in Interactive studies, which presumably qualifies one (as well as the odd bit of political patronage and pull no doubt) to be the gopher for the DG of RTE.
3. Re off loading the RTE campus in Montrose - As a culchie far removed from D4 I've been listening to various proposals going back 40 years for some sort of effective decentralisation from D4 and the D4 mindset by RTE which has never come. The news coverage of regional events by RTE (beyond the likes of Nationwide!) has always been lacking and governed by a kind of "there be dragons, down the country" mentality whereby it was easier to lift international newstories off press agencies (or even fly one or more RTE reporters to a foreign location) than dispatch a camera crew into the rural wilds for anything other than a major news story (and then which such a major even did occur it was something of an overkill with teams of broadcasters dispatched with frequent patronising or intrusive approach to reportage e.g Most recently the Creeslough tragedy) As far as I can recall, the most recent proposal for regional broadcasting/decentralisation by RTE within the last few years was to utilise/base studio and technical facilities witin IT's/Technological Universities which we were led to believe (like all similar promises over the past 40 years) to an improved form of regional broadcasting. However there is no evidence that this development has come to pass or has been much utilised by RTE. A geographical move from D4 is long overdue, if only to remove the groupthink (referred to in the Prime time investigates Fr Reynolds scandal) and particular mindset inherent in South Dublin privelage that prevades much of the output from the national broadcaster. Whilst Athlone might well be a non runner as you say, a move to a greenfield site outside the M50 might be a good start to changing the insular mindset.
4. Not related entirely to your points, but there is something of a terrible irony in one of the most frequently referenced books mentioned by Ryan Tubridy on his radio shows over the past few years is one called "So you've been publicly shamed" - of which he himself is the living embodiment now. I do feel a certain sympathy for him in this regard, even if he was a considerable author (excuse the pun!) to his own demise. But it also bears comparison to RTE's treatment of Kevin Myers who they dropped like a hot coal and presenters fell over themselves to disassociate themselves with him, over a misplaced accusation of antisemitism - so I guess there is a long overdue reakoning of sorts coming for many in RTE now also.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798569#Comment_120798569

Good points. RTE television seems to be drifting for many years losing money inspite of its prime position. It also is too Dublin focused (not saying that Dublin shouldn't get its share) When do you see Cork mentioned in the news unless it's about flooding?

TG4 could do most of the PSB needed. Other sections could be sold off to private concerns. Include the valuable site at Montrose.

Re Richard Collins, his career trajectory is on LinkedIn, but can’t share link here. I’ll put screenshots instead. He’s a regular chartered accountant.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798535#Comment_120798535

Ok so it makes sense you just don’t like it and are lashing out.

Your argument seems to be we should subsidise tv shows that aren’t good enough to generate enough revenue to justify themselves, and also we should be forced to pay to provide a platform for advertisers to sell things to us. The whole thing is a sham.

You sound like you have a vested interest in this trough.

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798664#Comment_120798664

Hardly lashing out. I am explaining my point of view.

My point was not when you posted. So let agree to disagree as this is just tit for tat nonsense now

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798655#Comment_120798655

Sorry what? O.o he’s worked for companies like Dunnes Stores & Dell (both far bigger than RTE..) so I reckon they have the correct experience to work this role.

Dee hasn’t updated her LinkedIn yet to display she is a former DG. I’m laughing at the panel highlighting that Dee & I have something in common, like we might be having chats in networking 🤣

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798680#Comment_120798680

i imagine it isnt front of her mind in fairness

evolvingtipperary101

Kevin Myers had it coming a long long time. The very embodiment of bad journalism. A toxic columnist.

evolvingtipperary101

Does this mean certain papers are not objective in their polls and takes?

ZookeeperDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798730#Comment_120798730

Said it yesterday the Indo seemed very biased towards Mr Tubridy....I thought it might be the journo was mates with him but it might go higher

They could be on a "repair the rep of Tubs" campaign

Karppi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798177#Comment_120798177

So is Nationwide (even if I never watch it)

Ah, could we bring back Mary? Please??

pjordan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120798724#Comment_120798724

Admittedly a very polarising writer, but I still don't believe he deserved to be cancelled the way he was, especially by RTE (and of course by the vast majority of other media organisations in Ireland too - with the acknowledged exception of Ivan Yeats on Newstalk - admittedly another polarising and controversial figure)

Now if you really want to talk about bad or toxic "journalism" I give you Gemma Doherty and John Waters - Shame they can't seem to be cancelled!