Dee Forbes banging the RTE TV licence drum again 60m uncollected fee *poll not working - pl ignore*

greens aren’t helping themselves. A car crash party.

If making the TV Licence optional would lead to a collapse in revenue to a point that it's no longer viable, then I would see the as a public expression that it isn't needed anymore.

I think a "true, comprehensive public service broadcasting service" has had it's day and isn't needed anymore.

All that's needed is to cover programming that isn't commercially viable but is important to the state from a cultural point of view.

If you're looking for Dancing with the Stars, Friends re-runs or Ireland fittest family then you need to pay for it yourself.

From an old-school Reithian approach to broadcasting, the problem with remodeling RTE as an Irish BBC4, or BBC4 meets CNN, is that a huge chunk of the population would tune out completely, or almost completely, and that undermines the public service mission. Part of the point of the current 'broad church/channel' model, from that perspective, is that people come for the Fair City and stay for the Upfront or whatever.

Agghhhhheeeeur!

You have to have balance of programming but RTÉ don't really understand this themselves.

Take a viewer interested in DWTS or Ireland's Fittest Family, RTÉ pump millions into both show, this is fair enough because their maybe a return (both from a money perspective but also to bring audiences into other programming) ... however those shows are not balanced with cheaper programming of the same kind. I keep going back to the quiz / game show, neither are expensive to produce but neither are replacing DWTS and Fittest Family nor are they doing daytime quiz programming, which could lead to giving people in the industry experience. You might consider these to be commercial but considering that our commercial TV station doesn't produce this time of programming !!!! But that is also down to competition and how both RTÉ and Virgin Media have have competed across programming (largely competition in the sports sphere).

TV production is expensive even at the cheaper end, I am listening to a podcast with Richard Ormond, I didn't realize he'd been involved in Deal or No Deal, but he said that the average prize pot was 16.5k for the show, where they produced 10 eps a day giving C4 (at the time) 200 episodes for the year. But this is a big money prize programme (ITV are so rich he said that he produced a programme were on the first game the top prize was won, causing huge problems for the producers and another show that failed to get aired even though lots of people won big money from it).

But then you have something like pointless or countdown where the prize money is small or non-existent.

The rest is entertainment https://www.youtube.com/@TheRestIsEntertainment

We've been in the death throws of RTÉ for the last 2 decades, David is just noticing this now! This thread pretty much outlines as much. Do we really need Columnist to point out the bleeding obvious?

I know no-one under 30 who would choose to watch or listen to anything from rte unless absolutely forced to. I.e. someone with a kid and they want to see the Toyshow. Then it's under sufferance.

I'm wrong I realise to expect that we could have an rte solely paid for by subscription but I don't see change happening anytime soon.

I also think that nobody at management or board level should have any connections with politicians.

The connections between these people means that all sorts of shenanigans is allowed and acceptable with no reprocussions.

What's the point in commentators speculating about something they know isn't going to happen? All significant political parties are four-square behind RTE in its current form. None I know of has floated breaking it up or anything like that. The big imminent call is for a funding model to replace, or part-replace the licence fee. Once that's decided it'll be pretty much carry on trucking...

I haven't seen this until today

RTE just keeps giving

70K a year crazy

Was there nobody in the finance/HR dept's that could do this work?

I hope the Paul Reid thing is joke… surely it is?

I really hope it is too.

We have heard all about transparency needed in RTE but considering the former boss of the HSE, an organisation not really known for transparency or keeping within budget.

But given the toxic nature of this role, would need someone with the hide of a rhino so maybe he has some suitability.

RTE were quite flush with cash up until the downturn, when advertising revenues collapsed. The stuff that went on then would likely put what went on in Dees time in the ha'penny place.

Is €70,000 a lot for running a fund that returns over €120,000,000, more than RTE gets from advertisements and sponsorship?

Would RTE get better value elsewhere?

My understanding is that 1% of fund value and 20% of profit are typical fund management fees.

Here is quite a good article about the RTE pension scheme.

While Conor Hayes did a great job as chair of the trustees. I believe that he would have received remuneration for this. Perhaps the 70K was to act as the administrator in RTE?

The fund is managed externally

“The investment managers engaged by the RTÉ [Superannuation Scheme] include: Irish Life Investment Managers Limited; The Blackstone Group LP; Morgan Stanley; IPUT PLC and Atlantic Bridge, the trustees reported in their latest annual report to the end of 2020;

Mercer Ireland was its actuary;

Northern Trust was the custodian of the scheme;

RTÉ itself provides day-to-day administrative support but the RTÉ Superannuation

Scheme is an independent entity."

Maybe the surplus generated could be

used to fund RTE.