RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

Scare Byrne spent 30 mins dragging out news from Gaza but just under 10 mins on this scandal

The GAA and FAI are already subscription based in part as is Rugby.

What money thing?

You need independent non private News and Media.

Thought Experiment.

Imagine Virgin or Newstalk sells out to some fanny goat like Paddy Cosgrove?

and where is the rugby being shown and the FAI sub? Not RTE

the GAA is only an add on to the FTA a side show really and only online, same with the FAI League

how are they going to charge for the like of room to improve and who is going to pay it

that money thing

Anything else? Irish language? Documentaries? Arts Programming? Drama?

You just stated

neither the GAA FAI or IRFU want it

They are all subscription based in the majority.

how are they going to charge for the like of room to improve and 

Bank transfer? Again this isn't really reinventing the wheel here.

who is going to pay it

Me.

I'm already paying for something I don't watch, it would be novel to pay something I do.

oh god you will still have to pay for the FTA, which is 80% of the content

the IRFU GAA FAI are not in the majority sub based, mostly free to air

anything not free to air, RTE doesnt have it

You are suggesting they invest a lot of money into a service no one wants at a price no one will pay with no content on a medium which is dying

how much would you pay to watch room to improve, you are currently paying to not watch it, will you now choose to pay to not watch it when you have the choice not to

The government seem to have folded very quickly with this bailout. Catherine Martin in particular is keeping a low profile.

Every single country in Europe have terrestrial based subscription services with premium content.

But for some reason Ireland can't.

We will just have to stick with paying 20 million to our Postal Service to send a stern looking woman around so.

you wont pay for room to improve, no one will, so I'm all for letting it die

Opinion not based on reality, it is one of the most popular shows in the country.

It's like talking to someone who couldn't see streaming catching on in 2010, but in 2023.

Yes. You know like every other service is right now or going.

Basically an alternative to what will actually happen.

And make no mistake, the government for decades have enabled RTE to become a bloated mess propped up with mediocrity.

The shock and anger at the PAC is just smoke and mirrors. RTE preformed their Sorry not Sorry and are still walking away with 60 odd million with pinkie promises of "reform".

The high ranking civil servants in governance are like accountants, they see the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

This horse and pony show is a precursor to shoe horn the in broadcast charge, whether you watch RTE or not you pay.

They see the reported 60m in evasion costs, 20 million An Post get for doing a terrible job and associated costs with chasing all that through the courts.

Basically they purely see away to claw back that 100 million.

None of that though addresses the core issue.

The quality of programming, just people will now have no choice but to pay for the absolute scutter.

We will be having the same conversation in 5 years.

The idea of introducing a subscription service for RTEs content outside of news and current affairs is both interesting and absurd at the same time. It's an interesting idea in that those that want this kind of content should pay for it, it is also absurd in that no one would actually pay for it.

You could say that sport is the big draw, but most if not all big Irish sporting occasions are mandated to be free to air iirc. What you'd be left with then is rump sport along with imports and the largely shite home made stuff. This kind of service would not survive once the startup capital runs out.

Presumably there must be some kind of EU competition exemption for the likes of RTE as the license fee support gives it a huge advantage over the likes of virgin.

I was once a big supporter of RTE and indeed can remember supporting licence fee compliance here 10-15 years ago - little did I know and rather ironically RTE was at its most profligate at that point. I've been on a long journey since, watching quality diminish and obvious taking of editorial stances. And the quality diminishment in News is not the kind you can attribute to cost cutting, but the acceptance of the seeping of personal views through reports and editing.

My personal belief is that RTE is no longer fit for purpose as a national independent public service broadcaster and that it should be closed. In its place, a national news service (only news, no opinion) consisting of a single radio and TV station should be created instead. Additionally a public service commissioning office should be set up to finance docs, dramas and other minority productions and these would be sold/given to the private licensed TV broadcasters who would be mandated by their license to hold PSB slots in their schedule.

you must have been pretty naive to not realize what RTE was 15 years ago - 20 -25 year ago

the height of gerry ryan, he was being paid a lot more than Tubs and might have started the whole contractor fiasco

Virgin can't even be bothered to broadcast in HD, they or not fit for any purpose

I was fairly green behind the ears back then but I did think that on the whole they did a good job. I was willing to look past Ryan and the others obscene salaries on that basis.

I should have known that the "Talent" salaries were just the visible surface decay of a much deeper penetrating structural rot.

Yesterday's simultaneous announcements of RTE cost saving measures and the Government interim funding clearly show that the Government had input into Backhurst's strategic plan. To me the most striking thing about the plan was the commitment to more regional content, with the expansion of RTE's activities in Cork. None of the recent criticism of RTE on this thread or anywhere else relates to the lack of content produced in the regions. Nobody has withheld their TV license fees this year because RTE Cork was too small. Why does RTE see the need to expand in Cork at this time? This will lead to a duplication of activities and an increase in costs. Why would the Government sanction a measure that would lead to an increase in costs rather than a saving? Who in the ministry for finance, for instance, could possibly see a benefit in RTE expanding its operations in Cork South Central? 

The bailout will only cover the next 12 months and Bakhurst will be back with the begging bowl next year when license fee receipts fall away to nothing. What kind of concessions to politicians will RTE need to make to secure funding for future years?

The Government will not reform the license fee before the next election. That means that the task falls to Sinn Fein. The shinners have often complained about how they're treated by RTE, with the former regularly sending legal letters to the latter. I expect these solicitors will be less active from now on and I anticipate more favourable coverage of Sinn Fein by RTE in the future.