RTE - Time for Change / Time for Better Value ?

garrettod

Hi,

I was wondering, what are peoples thoughts on RTE .. is it time for change, time for better value for money (from the point of view of the licence fee payers) etc ?

TV Stations
Why do we need two state owned stations, when there's endless competition, catering for all markets and some of the more expensive bought in programming can be seen elsewhere ?

What if we sold one of the tv stations ?

The recent sale of UTV & UTV Ireland fetched over €100m per press reports, is that money we should raise by selling one of the tv stations and use better elsewhere (within RTE or elsewhere in the State) ?


Radio Stations
Again, why do we need a number of state owned national broadcasters, given the level of competition ?

Again, why not sell some of them ?

There are few recent radio station sales in Ireland, but if we look at when TodayFM was sold (national broadcasting licence) or FM104, both changed hands for notable sums above €50m from what I've seen reported in the press. Again, if we sold some of the radio stations, what could be done with the funds (within RTE or elsewhere within the State) ?


Donnybrook
Extremely valuable property and not specifically required to facilitate either broadcasting or tv production.

Why not sell it and relocate RTE to a cheaper location ?

Agian, what to do with the cash, reinvest it within RTE or elsewhere in the State ?


RTE's Strategic Plan
Click here to review it. It runs from 2012 to 2017, so the next period of time must be under review. What do you think or it, what would you like to see changed etc ?


Personally, I do want Ireland to have a level of state owned broadcasting assets, to protect public broadcasting, help promote the Irish language (so TG4 would remain as is, for example), cover Irish news and current affairs etc. In principal, I am happy to pay for a quality service with my payment suplemented by tv advertising revenue (within reason).

However, notwithstanding the above, I believe that we have excessive levels of TV and Radio Stations held by RTE which could be sold for signifciant sums and that money put to use better elsewhere in the State (not within RTE). If we achieved similar sale prices for a national TV station and Radio station to the prices referenced above (excluding any potential sale of Donnybrook), we could realise circa €200m. - which could be used to help fund the new childrens hospital, social housing etc.

Obviously, the sale of certain RTE assets would result in a significant change in the level of income and overheads. Thats before we move on to looking at the level of pay for many of the higher profile broadcasters at RTE etc.

Ultimately, what impact might all of this have on the cost of the licence fee an the future level of service from RTE, or the overall level of service available on tv and radio to the nation ?

RTE is our asset, no more than Irish Water, so isn't it time we had a real say in whats done with it, how we pay for it and what we pay for etc. ?

All views welcome, needless to say

icdg

You'll see a good example over the next few weeks of why RTE needs RTE2. During events like the Euros, RTE2 enables RTE1 to provide a complimentary schedule. If it didn't, you'd almost certainly see certain programmes have to be binned (the news would have to be relegated to a late night slot, and who would be the one to choose what got lost/relegated to highlights if, say, a key Republic of Ireland game at the Euros was scheduled for the same time as the Munster Hurling Semi-final? You're on a no-win situation at that one).

As for the radio stations, there's certainly an argument to be had re 2FM. But where is the commercial classical music or Irish language service (not Radio na Life, it's a non-profit community service in one area and wouldn't be able to afford to broadcast nationwide on that basis like RnaG can). And the politicans will not touch Radio 1.

Atlantic Dawn

A ban on the rampant and blatant nepotism within the organisation would help and allow new talent to come through.