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

And looking at both they year and monthly trends the licence fee will be come close to making the 2023 figure.

Yearly would put it at 770,898

Monthly would put it at 777,122

or €27m about the figuring of the government in their bail out.

Fair City returns to 4 nights a week from Sept 20th, just shows that the programme has no reach beyond a week.

https://extra.ie/2024/09/08/news/rte-wants-audience-reaction

A spokesman for RTE stressed that it is a ‘recurring contract’, adding: ‘RTÉ has been running this Audience Reaction Panel since 2007 and that ensuring we receive regular feedback from audiences is an important

Almost all of these are recurring contracts, so over the next 5 years: -

1. 1.2m
2. 1.9m
3. 0.6m
4. 0.3m
5. 1.8m

Total - 5.8m over 5 years

While "ensuring we receive regular feedback from audiences is an important… element in RTÉ continuing to serve our audiences."

Is the funniest thing I have heard in a while.

https://extra.ie/2024/09/12/news/irish-news/george-hamilton-new-channel

He was once one of the top earners, yeah there is a reason he isn't getting paid as much, and Nugent AFAIK took up one of those nice exit packages (but I could be wrong on that).

recurring contracts, so over the next 5 years: -

1. 1.2m
2. 1.9m
3. 0.6m
4. 0.3m
5. 1.8m
6. 1m (for travel)

total 840K over 4 years for travel. (6.8m over the next 5 years or 1.36m per year).

https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/cash-strapped-rte-spend-up-29935246

RTÉ excuse is: we have contractual obligations to provide coverage to certain news and sporting events. RTÉ have no contractual obligations to cover news from abroad and they have no contractual obligations to send anyone to a sporting event. That is an editorial decision.

Let's break it down: -

210,000 per year will be spend on this agency for travel (currently holders are club travel).

RTÉ could with this money employ 4 people at €45K each to run a travel booking department at RTÉ.

Or

For every employee in RTÉ they are spending automatically €116 on travel per year. (1800 employees).

Or

If just 10% of their employees need to travel (180) once a year for a work, they could spend €1,166 on travel on average for that employee, just with this contract alone.

Overall if you look at these rolling contracts : -

In terms of content 1.36m could provide you with 1 film per year, which you could repeat. Image if RTÉ back in 2000 had invested this money in feature films over the years. They'd have a back catalogue of 25 films, and likely more depending on their budgets.

Or

Drama programming potential one six part long running drama that again could be repeated much like Heartbeat and the like.

With potential sales of those products.

Ultimately RTÉ are making excuses for these contracts and giving the two fingers to the public: -

https://about.rte.ie/2023/09/14/rte-statement-fair-city-photography/

This tender is a repeat tender and these services and/or products have been purchased previously under other contracts.

or to fix this

RTÉ have no intention on examining miscellaneous wasteful tenders that reoccur on a fix term basis. RTÉ have always run its business in this way. RTÉ will continue to do so. RTÉ knows what is best and has years of experience in managing the national broadcaster. Now away with you peasants.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/individuals-were-unfairly-treated-former-rte-board-chair-siun-ni-raghallaigh-describes-oireachtas-hearings-as-vicious/a1642903126.html

They haven't a notion

Former RTÉ chairwoman on grillings by TDs, a missed opportunity to fund the national broadcaster and life after being in the public glare of the Montrose psychodrama

We fucked up but you should fund us, does she see what happened?

Ní Raghallaigh was new to this milieu. After decades on the business side of media, she knew people in RTÉ. But she was “definitely an outsider” in the station, albeit one seized of its mission. “My heart is in public service broadcasting,” she says. “Like everybody on the outside, you have your assumptions and you think you know things. I was very open but I had my own sense of things I thought could be done better.”

She was chair of TG4 for many years, and work in Tyrone productions which is owned by Moya Doherty and her husband, she is no more an outsider than anyone in that circle.

She became head of finance at the Sunday Tribune

She went on to join TG4 in a finance role when Teilifís na Gaeilge

If you don't know TnaG was set up by RTÉ in its early years, until 2006 when it became completely independent.

She was chief of Ardmore film studios … founding chief Troy studios in Dell’s former factory in Limerick and managing director with Tyrone Productions, the TV company cofounded by her RTÉ predecessor, Moya Doherty.

OUTSIDER MY **** ARSE.

By the way I wasn’t shouted at in any huge way but other people were

Interesting largely there was only one altercation and it came from RTÉ's Robert Shortt, and a few soundbites might have been thrown around, having been in the room, it was very quite, a few gasps etc but shouted down? I don't think so.

and on to more money because she doesn't understand

Ní Raghallaigh says this is no more than a “fudge” that she sees as a microcosm of blinkered short-termism in politics.

while I do agree

She.. served a purpose….did a lot of the heavy lifting and not just me, all of the team, all of the board. It was a point in time.

I can't agree

That aspect of it is over now because the organisation must get on with it. It must be let get on with it. As I’ve said there’s good people there, there’s a strong board.”

I am not sure about half the board who where there for 10 years and did **** all. and the board is even worse now from what I can see.

The pressure needs to be kept on Dee Forbes to get her to answer questions in front of public accounts committee. She cant still be "sick" 2 years later and she should not be just left off the hook. At the very least she needs to be kept in the public eye

Annual Report published last night. Flicking through it 2 things pop out.

10m on news and current affairs for online, I'd love to know where that money is going.

21k in expenses in his first 6 months in the job for Kevin BeeForbes

I don't see a huge difference year to year (in 2022 and 2023 RTÉ saved ~8m due to the loss of the NSO to the NCH, yet expenditure in both years increase??? Are the exits in the special events figure for 2023 :)

It's a mistake to close these channels down. The cost for the radio channels is not even a drop in the RTE ocean, and the +1 TV channels should be able to cover their costs with advertising. Given the continuing state of the RTE Player, they'll be a loss.

Like I've said previously, it's a very public and obvious indicator of "change" at RTE but it's really just window-dressing. The real changes that are needed are very much behind the scenes.

Maybe a 2.5m saving ?

Analogue era

Close FM?

"Other" would also include the support they give to Oireachtas TV on Saorview, the politician though it was free for them eventual RTÉ agree to fund it on Saorview, had to get premission from the minister under section 103.

"Other" includes OTV, RTÉ NEWS NOW, RTÉjr, RTÉ ONE +1, RTÉ2 +1 and the digital radio stations, I wonder if the 4 radio stations include satellite and saorview transmissions.

Also anyone know what happened with the missing pages on this thread?

To be fair to RTE, their executive board originally decided in Spring 2012 to close lw 252, but when it went public a massive amount of hysteria about elderly Irish people living in poverty in the UK took off like a rocket

back then had the minister told RTÉ to make the proposal via section 103, and had he allowed the BAI, stakeholders & the public their say he could have made the decision to close the service, this would have been the simplest approach rather than years of opposition to the closure.

Also RTÉ aren’t known for doing things very quickly

@RabbleRouser2k they are still paying €25m for programming rights including film, you shouldn’t see much difference

He's not convicted, but he has been charged. Either way, don't see his career rebounding. John Leslie had allegations thrown at him that were later proven to be unfounded. His career was done after that.

And Justin Lee Collins was convicted of DV. He'll never darken anyone's TV again.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/man-tells-court-he-is-refusing-to-pay-tv-licence-over-rte-corruption-1675752.html

Well done to James Scanlon, I don't agree RTÉ should be subscription based, though his idea that over 65/70s would get free access is a good add on to that idea.

Like any unjust law if you go back to the rod licence, if there is civil disobedience then it becomes uncollectible and the law is got rid of. If everyone refuses to pay their TV licence then the law will become obsolete.

It is an archaic system and there are modern ways of collecting it. All RTÉ has to do is put everything behind a paywall and if they want to give OAPs a free code to watch RTÉ, technology would allow that

I disagree with the last part, not sure if he is avocating better collection method or subscption?

Anyway well done to him for standing up. We should all follow regardless of our views.

I read a interview with their Head of Acquisitions a few years ago, where he said that one of his regrets was not picking up Sex and the City. He'd decided against the show because of the other programming that was offered in the package that the show came in. He said there were a lot of made for TV movies and he didn't know what RTÉ could do with them (though at the time I'd have said: "you air everything after midnight in any case"). If you remember TV3 used to air a TV film every Wednesday Night during that period, the reason was due to Sex and The City.

But it also surprises me how bad the imports have become on RTÉ, there are some good ones but they have a huge number of lifestyle programming which was something they would never have even considered. They were airing First Dates Hotel in prime time on RTÉ2 last night. The last episode of which was made in 2022. This is just something RTÉ would never have contemplated a decade ago.

These morons who say "RTE should be on subscription" don't realise that that would make every Saorview TV and box in the country stop working.

"unjust law" my arse, he's just after a thug's charter same as the threats and intimidation against people doing their legitimate job installing water meters, plenty of thuggery and intimidation around the rod licence too.

So if the likes of him keep getting their way, where does that leave us?

He pointed out: "I don’t have to have a toaster licence - I don’t have to have a fridge licence. Why do I have to have a TV licence? It is a device I can buy in any shop."

Grade A fuckin' moron.

Gay Byrne would let the show go until midnight if he wanted to. RTe wouldn't complain, it was more money for them as they could show more adverts. And folks coming in from the pub would catch the last 30 minutes or so. It was a different time for them, back when the LLS was a license to print money.

With Tubridy, yeah, it felt like a darn slog to get through the show. At least it was a benefit that he'd tell folks who his guests were. Meant you could easily avoid the show.

He gave a valid point that technology is moving on and that if required you could provide free TV subscriptions to the over 65s.

You have to remember that both The Green Party and the opposition agree the that Licence Fee is an unjust charge on those that cannot afford it and archaic.

If the likes of RTÉ keep getting their way where were does it leave us?

RTÉ put themselves in the position that they are in, as he pointed out his wife was only too willing to pay the fee until the revelations in RTÉ came out, he then choose to put his name on the fee and took himself to court.

While I agree with you that a subscription service is not an option, it is still his opinion and whether I or you think he is a "A grade A moron" he is entitled to that opinion considering the Grade A Moron's running RTÉ.

He is taking a stand on a fee that he believes to be unjust, but that sounds like he and his wife have paid since moving into their own home, and were happy to do so because "it's the law".

Do you think that no one should criticize RTÉ, I won't pay my TV licence for 2 reasons: -

1. RTÉ doesn't do its job well
2. An Post doesn't know how to collect the fee

Are you more aggrieved at the Judge for not imposing a heavier fine or Ms. Forbes, Mr. Coveney, Mr. Jennings and Ms. O'Leary?

Why? You never had to put your license fee number into access TV broadcasts.

Why do you think things should improve in terms of people paying the license?

You'd think all the problems that exist in RTÉ are only due to the licence fee, both in terms of the amount that we pay and the people who refuse to pay.

If this is the case bring back Dee Forbes and Moya Doherty. After all it sounds as if they have been proven right.

..

https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0929/1472593-rte-foi/