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

fritzelly

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Is everyone excited for the new Katheryn Thomas show where she shows us how awesome Ireland can be for holidaying???

You're hilarious - ever thought of auditioning for Funny Friday?

fritzelly

kalych wrote: »

The obvious issue is that this turns into the race to the bottom very quickly and within 5 years we'll be served by only media from BBC and the likes of FOX. Looking at how the media in the UK basically caused Brexit I'd rather not. Please and thank you.

Not everyone wants the race to the bottom like you just cause you're unhappy with how your life turned out.

Have you ever watched RTE?

AllForIt

kalych wrote: »

The obvious issue is that this turns into the race to the bottom very quickly and within 5 years we'll be served by only media from BBC and the likes of FOX. Looking at how the media in the UK basically caused Brexit I'd rather not. Please and thank you.

Not everyone wants the race to the bottom like you just cause you're unhappy with how your life turned out.

The UK media BBC, Sky did everything they could to promote staying in the EU.

The wonderful thing is that despite those influential broadcasters, they didn't manage to swing it.

Atlantic Dawn

Is all the land sale money gone now?

fritzelly

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Is all the land sale money gone now?

It was gone before it even landed in their bank account

RabbleRouser2k

fritzelly wrote: »

You're hilarious - ever thought of auditioning for Funny Friday?

I'd say if they did, they'd be turned away for being too funny.

Can't be funny on RTE--it'll give Doirreann Garrihy a complex.

AndyBoBandy

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Is everyone excited for the new Katheryn Thomas show where she shows us how awesome Ireland can be for holidaying???

It’s simply a vehicle (geddit?) for Kathryn and, now, Ellie.

RabbleRouser2k

Deleted User wrote: »

It’s simply a vehicle (geddit?) for Kathryn and, now, Ellie.

I notice she couldn't even rope in her husband to be in that show.

da_miser

kalych wrote: »

The obvious issue is that this turns into the race to the bottom very quickly and within 5 years we'll be served by only media from BBC and the likes of FOX. Looking at how the media in the UK basically caused Brexit I'd rather not. Please and thank you.

Not everyone wants the race to the bottom like you just cause you're unhappy with how your life turned out.

My life is good, but thanks for your concern, but i know it could be better if the amount of tax i paid was reduced, and that could be done by cancelling grants and bursaries to talentless members of cliques.
As your concern about a race to the bottom, have you ever watched RTE, how much lower could it go?
Regarding the news, i believe that is all RTE should be doing, get a vastly reduced budget and just do a news report at 1, 6, and 9 o'clock.
We are all getting our much better entertainment elsewhere and are willing to pay for it , Netflix and Prime video are perfect examples.
RTE is just a burden on the tax payers, filled with artists that could not make it in the real world on their own, if they are so talented, Virgin media, UK media and the rest of the private broadcasters will snap them up.

kalych

da_miser wrote: »

My life is good, but thanks for your concern, but i know it could be better if the amount of tax i paid was reduced, and that could be done by cancelling grants and bursaries to talentless members of cliques.
As your concern about a race to the bottom, have you ever watched RTE, how much lower could it go?
Regarding the news, i believe that is all RTE should be doing, get a vastly reduced budget and just do a news report at 1, 6, and 9 o'clock.
We are all getting our much better entertainment elsewhere and are willing to pay for it , Netflix and Prime video are perfect examples.
RTE is just a burden on the tax payers, filled with artists that could not make it in the real world on their own, if they are so talented, Virgin media, UK media and the rest of the private broadcasters will snap them up.

Sure, let's get rid of Failte Ireland while we're at it. No point since holidaying abroad is so much better and cheaper. Also no point in IDA investing in indigenous companies, right? Your inability to see that investing into Ireland benefits us all is astounding. Oh and Netflix are currently shooting 2 shows in Ireland with our local actors involved...but don't let that distract you from there it rant. Carry on!

Elmo

kalych wrote: »

Sure, let's get rid of Failte Ireland while we're at it. No point since holidaying abroad is so much better and cheaper. Also no point in IDA investing in indigenous companies, right? Your inability to see that investing into Ireland benefits us all is astounding. Oh and Netflix are currently shooting 2 shows in Ireland with our local actors involved...but don't let that distract you from there it rant. Carry on!

I agree but RTÉ aren’t investing properly into Ireland.

da_miser

kalych wrote: »

Sure, let's get rid of Failte Ireland while we're at it. No point since holidaying abroad is so much better and cheaper. Also no point in IDA investing in indigenous companies, right? Your inability to see that investing into Ireland benefits us all is astounding. Oh and Netflix are currently shooting 2 shows in Ireland with our local actors involved...but don't let that distract you from there it rant. Carry on!

What has Failte Ireland, IDA and Netflix got to do with the waste of tax payers money RTE that produces rubbish that only benefits the high paid "stars" in the clique?
Failte Ireland, IDA bring money into the country, Netflix are spending external money here, RTE are a parasite on the Irish tax payer that would not be missed, as i have posted i have no means to receive RTE in my house and i dont miss it one bit.

lawrencesummers

kalych wrote: »

The obvious issue is that this turns into the race to the bottom very quickly and within 5 years we'll be served by only media from BBC and the likes of FOX. Looking at how the media in the UK basically caused Brexit I'd rather not. Please and thank you.

Not everyone wants the race to the bottom like you just cause you're unhappy with how your life turned out.

What a load of shyte.

ShamNNspace

lawrencesummers wrote: »

What a load of shyte.

True, Brexit happened" in spite of" not" because of" the British msm imo

PieOhMy

https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/5755973/figures-rte-paid-122-staff-members-basic-salary-last-year/amp/

CASH-strapped RTE paid 122 staff members more than €100,000 in basic salary last year.

New figures show of the 122, 24 earned between €150,000 and €250,000 with the remaining 98 in the €100,000 to €150,000 bracket.

Bear in mind that the contractors on the even bigger money are not included in this. Is it know how many staff are employed by rte?

Edit: Against the background of mounting losses at the broadcaster, numbers employed at RTE actually increased last year from 1,822 to 1,831

garrettod

Hi,

One article after another and yet, no sign of any of our politicans tacking this madness ...

RTÉ aware of 'growing urgency' to publish list of top salaries, yet public is still waiting ...Broadcaster has failed to publish figures since 2018

As I sit at home tonight, I continue to hear the world's smallest violin playing, somewhere in the vicinity of Dublin 4.

Pa ElGrande

garrettod wrote: »

Hi,

One article after another and yet, no sign of any of our politicans tacking this madness ...

RTÉ aware of 'growing urgency' to publish list of top salaries, yet public is still waiting ...Broadcaster has failed to publish figures since 2018

As I sit at home tonight, I continue to hear the world's smallest violin playing, somewhere in the vicinity of Dublin 4.

What salaries are paid by RTE is mis-direction, the issue at hand is how directors of a government sponsored enterprise (GSE) manage their expenditure over the income they make from advertising, program sales (magazines, DVDs etc), transmission services, grants and mandatory taxation of TV ownership per household. The minister for communications is Mr. Eamon Ryan, in theory the buck stops with him, in practice Irish Ministers are seldom held accountable and the buck stops nowhere. He needs to explain to the Dáil and ultimately the tax payer why the GSE he oversees is incapable of managing the substantial resources it receives year after year and direct that it scale it's operations to balance its income. Like a prisoner and his hostage, ministers like the oxygen of free publicity that RTE provides them so nothing ever gets done and so the terminal decline of RTE drags on with the excuses for lack of reform and innovation hidden behind the mantra of culture (i.e. the orchestra) and public service (i.e. one who is served by the public).


The orchestra can be offloaded to the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.

The RTE organisation can be made accountable by being converted to a national trust structure where it's members (i.e. subscribers) have a say in the running of the organisation.

The service can be tiered to RTE basic and RTE premium. (We already have this with the public health system, it's why you need insurance alternatively sit on a waiting list)

Elmo

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

What salaries are paid by RTE is mis-direction, the issue at hand is how directors of a government sponsored enterprise (GSE) manage their expenditure over the income they make from advertising, program sales (magazines, DVDs etc), transmission services, grants and mandatory taxation of TV ownership per household. The minister for communications is Mr. Eamon Ryan, in theory the buck stops with him, in practice Irish Ministers are seldom held accountable and the buck stops nowhere. He needs to explain to the Dáil and ultimately the tax payer why the GSE he oversees is incapable of managing the substantial resources it receives year after year and direct that it scale it's operations to balance its income. Like a prisoner and his hostage, ministers like the oxygen of free publicity that RTE provides them so nothing ever gets done and so the terminal decline of RTE drags on with the excuses for lack of reform and innovation hidden behind the mantra of culture (i.e. the orchestra) and public service (i.e. one who is served by the public).

Catherine Martin is actually getting this portfiolo as it moves to the Dept of Media.

I am not going to be soft on RTÉ but there are a number of things that Eamonn Ryan did when he was previously the at the Department Of Comms. He and his predecessors and successors failed to take into account the cost of Digital Broadcast. They were all unwilling for the department to take responsibility for the failure of DTT and the cost of it to RTÉ, the same goes for DAB, largely left to RTÉ. Along with the decision to force RTÉ to sell their share in cablelink (though that goes back to the late 1990s). Eamon Ryan's decision to increase the Licence fee but also to reduce funding to TG4 and then make up the difference from the Licence Fee (something that could have easily been rectified by his successors). Along with the Sound and Vision Fund that goes to the BAI.

In saying that RTÉ as an organisation have also dragged their feet. They implemented cuts to areas that should not have had cuts, while supporting areas that saw their commercial fall dramatically (Children's Content and 2FM are the best examples of this).

The orchestra can be offloaded to the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.

But how do you fund them? From the Arts? Reducing funding to the Arts by funding them. The NSO was supposed to merge with the NCH this year, on the insistence of an "independent" report carried out by ... RTÉ.

The RTE organisation can be made accountable by being converted to a national trust structure where it's members (i.e. subscribers) have a say in the running of the organisation.

Under the act both RTÉ and TG4 are supposed to be accountable to the BAI. Who have no interest in being an authority.

The service can be tiered to RTE basic and RTE premium. (We already have this with the public health system, it's why you need insurance alternatively sit on a waiting list)

RTÉ could provide some tiered programming. They have done largely with GAAgo and now WatchLOI. They could move boxsets to RTÉ Player + while continuing to provide a free catch up service.

I don't like the idea of a universal tax being applied to a pay service.

But watch Virgin Media and Sky complain.

Simply put Irish content needs to improve and both RTÉ and Virgin Media need to step up.

end of the road

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

RTÉ's finances 'not sustainable' and are 'undermining its capacity to stay relevant'


It's August and we that article is an RTE pre-budget submission and the figure is €50 million.





How about people who no longer consume RTE broadcasts or streaming services? If you want to change for streaming services then make your online content subscription only and stop trying to rope in internet users who want nothing to do with you.

because as already explained hundreds of times, the tv license is not to watch rte, but is for having a television capable of receiving a terrestrial signal.
whether rte exists or not doesn't and won't change that, the money would just go into the general pot, it just so happens that currently it goes to rte.
rte is not going to become a subscription model, you and anyone else who keeps suggesting it will need to just deal with this reality.

da_miser wrote: »

To hell with them, people dont want to go see what they have to offer.
So us hard pressed tax payers are forking out top dollar for these unwanted , unwatched artists to enjoy the life that they wish to live.
What about the rest of us to get up at crack of dawn to go to a job we do out of necessity to pay the bills?
I want to write a book/play/poetry, paint landscapes and write music, i have to do all this in my time off work, where are my grants or bursaries? None for me or the millions of tax payer not in the clique, we dont get paid by the state/tax payers to do our hobby, so why should these chancers be? if their work is good it will find a audience and make money.
RTE is the final destination of all these useless artists stealing a living with grants and bursaries, a job at RTE is like winning the lotto.
For the cost a a TV licence you can get a FreeSat Satellite and receiver set up and have access to a hundred channels, this is what i have , ZERO capability to receive RTE the last 5 years , and i dont miss its one bit.
Make it a internet pay service and watch it disappear, no one is interested in it.
The government should just fund a news broadcast 1, 6 and 9 oclock, and scrap RTE.

what you mean to say is that you don't want to go and see what they have to offer.
that's fine, but you don't speak for others, who clearly do want to, and who in normal times, would go to see what they have to offer.
us tax payers are forking out for all sorts, i would certainly prefer my tax money to go to help genuinely struggling workers within the arts then to say, bailing out the pubs.
either way, it won't be my decision what happens.
what about the rest of us yada yada you say?
well at least we either have jobs to go to, don't we? or if not then you will be on the relevant payments.
because you don't get something you don't qualify for because you don't meet the criteria does not mean that those who do meet the criteria get what it has been deemed they can get, i'm afraid, you will just have to get over it, it's no different to any other form of government support.
if their work is good it will find an audience does not automatically translate to commercially viable, and guess what? some things won't be commercially viable but will contribute to the country, which plenty of the arts and the non-chancers within it do.
the government funding 3 news broadcasts is not viable, it will not cover the public service content and current affairs output that needs to be provided.

da_miser wrote: »

My life is good, but thanks for your concern, but i know it could be better if the amount of tax i paid was reduced, and that could be done by cancelling grants and bursaries to talentless members of cliques.
As your concern about a race to the bottom, have you ever watched RTE, how much lower could it go?
Regarding the news, i believe that is all RTE should be doing, get a vastly reduced budget and just do a news report at 1, 6, and 9 o'clock.
We are all getting our much better entertainment elsewhere and are willing to pay for it , Netflix and Prime video are perfect examples.
RTE is just a burden on the tax payers, filled with artists that could not make it in the real world on their own, if they are so talented, Virgin media, UK media and the rest of the private broadcasters will snap them up.

the amount of tax you pay is actually low, it would and will not be reducing no matter what, so you will need to get over it, canceling whatever won't change your tax bill.
i have watched rte's current affairs output yes, it's really good actually, i don't watch entertainment fluff anyway from anywhere so i would expect rte's is as bad as that from all other channels.
rte is no more a burdin on the tax payer then any other public service, if you want public services you will have to pay for them.

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

What salaries are paid by RTE is mis-direction, the issue at hand is how directors of a government sponsored enterprise (GSE) manage their expenditure over the income they make from advertising, program sales (magazines, DVDs etc), transmission services, grants and mandatory taxation of TV ownership per household. The minister for communications is Mr. Eamon Ryan, in theory the buck stops with him, in practice Irish Ministers are seldom held accountable and the buck stops nowhere. He needs to explain to the Dáil and ultimately the tax payer why the GSE he oversees is incapable of managing the substantial resources it receives year after year and direct that it scale it's operations to balance its income. Like a prisoner and his hostage, ministers like the oxygen of free publicity that RTE provides them so nothing ever gets done and so the terminal decline of RTE drags on with the excuses for lack of reform and innovation hidden behind the mantra of culture (i.e. the orchestra) and public service (i.e. one who is served by the public).


The orchestra can be offloaded to the Department of Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.

The RTE organisation can be made accountable by being converted to a national trust structure where it's members (i.e. subscribers) have a say in the running of the organisation.

The service can be tiered to RTE basic and RTE premium. (We already have this with the public health system, it's why you need insurance alternatively sit on a waiting list)

there is no case to allow the public who have little knowledge on how an organisation works, to have a say in it's running.
they can express views, something they can already do, but it is on qualified people who know how an organisation works, to run it.
if you want a 2 tier rte then only the commercial fluff should be payed for with everything else free.

Pa ElGrande

end of the road wrote: »

because as already explained hundreds of times, the tv license is not to watch rte, but is for having a television capable of receiving a terrestrial signal.
whether rte exists or not doesn't and won't change that, the money would just go into the general pot, it just so happens that currently it goes to rte.
rte is not going to become a subscription model, you and anyone else who keeps suggesting it will need to just deal with this reality.

RTE has for many years been the sole recipient of taxation on TVs and today consumes the bulk of this revenue. I do not consume RTE and I have no TV for many years for several reasons which I have previously outlined. Nor am I alone in switching off RTE. Yet the RTE organisation feels they are entitled to have me work for them for free and has classed me as part 13% of the public who allegedly consume their content and don't pay because they reckon they can squeeze an extra €50 million from us. In pursuit of those ends they have been lobbying successive governments for legislation to seize revenue from property tax, internet service providers and electricity bills. To put it another way RTE wants all the income from a day of my labour based on a typical year (my income is down substantially this year due to the current economic situation) yet they offer me nothing as a potential customer and I have other bills to pay. A person on minimum wage in Ireland must provide all the income earned from two days of their labour after taxation to be allowed watch TV legally in this country even if they don't consume RTE content.

At the same time the RTE organisation complains that the current methods of taxation enforcement are inefficient and represent a substantial subsidy to An Post. I am not sure how many millions they pay for An Posts service and I am sure they have calculated there is more revenue for them by extending the tax net by having other organisation like the revenue, ISPs or electricity providers collect money for free on their behalf even when the end consumer does not actually consume RTE.

end of the road

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

RTE has for many years been the sole recipient of taxation on TVs and today consumes the bulk of this revenue. I do not consume RTE and I have no TV for many years for several reasons which I have previously outlined. Nor am I alone in switching off RTE. Yet the RTE organisation feels they are entitled to have me work for them for free and has classed me as part 13% of the public who allegedly consume their content and don't pay because they reckon they can squeeze an extra €50 million from us. In pursuit of those ends they have been lobbying successive governments for legislation to seize revenue from property tax, internet service providers and electricity bills. To put it another way RTE wants all the income from a day of my labour based on a typical year (my income is down substantially this year due to the current economic situation) yet they offer me nothing as a potential customer and I have other bills to pay. A person on minimum wage in Ireland must provide all the income earned from two days of their labour after taxation to be allowed watch TV legally in this country even if they don't consume RTE content.

At the same time the RTE organisation complains that the current methods of taxation enforcement are inefficient and represent a substantial subsidy to An Post. I am not sure how many millions they pay for An Posts service and I am sure they have calculated there is more revenue for them by extending the tax net by having other organisation like the revenue, ISPs or electricity providers collect money for free on their behalf even when the end consumer does not actually consume RTE.

if you have no tv then you don't need a license, it's that simple.
the rte organisation doesn't think they are entitled to have you working for them for free, as you ultimately don't work for them.
the only way that nonsense point would have validity is if you have been conscripted by law into working for them, which you haven't.
we have to pay extra taxes on all sorts of things, personally i want property tax abolished and rte to be funded from general taxation, but guess what? sometimes we can't get what we want.
if you don't wish to watch rte that's fine, i only have interest in their current affairs output, but the reality is whether rte exists or not has no baring on the fact that if your tv is capable of receiving a terrestrial signal then you require a license.
if you don't like it either don't pay and take what goes with it or get rid of the tv.
the suggestions in relation to potential methods of collection are just that, suggestions, internet service and electricity providers won't be collecting money for rte. revenue doing it is a possibility, but it is unlikely.

Nevin Parsnipp

Break up those walls of text and properly formulate your sentences..use Capitals to begin a sentence.

Will make you posts much more reader friendly ...

Just sayin....

Pa ElGrande

end of the road wrote: »

if you have no tv then you don't need a license, it's that simple.
the rte organisation doesn't think they are entitled to have you working for them for free, as you ultimately don't work for them.
the only way that nonsense point would have validity is if you have been conscripted by law into working for them, which you haven't.
. . .

Back of the envelope calculations let say you are a single earner household with net income after all other taxes are paid is €36,000, you work 39 hours per week and you take 4 weeks holidays over the course of the year including public holidays giving a total of 1,872 hours worked per year, or €19.23 per hour earnings (after all other direct income taxes) which means you have to work 8.5 hours per annum to be legally allowed to watch television in this county, let's say you are fortunate and work 41 years continuously to age 66 (It will be 68 in a few years time) you must work about 348.5 hours over your working lifetime, you don't get a free TV licence until your reach 70, so there are more hours of your life needed to pay for the TV ownership tax. You can work out how many hours you need to work based on your circumstances.

RTE and An Post are the primary beneficiaries of the TV ownership tax. To own a TV legally in this country on average you will need to work one day every year of your working life for them, if you are on minimum wage you will need to work 2 days per annum.

I ditched the TV a decade ago, that's over 80 hours banked.

Slowly people are ditching TV sets and switching to internet streaming devices, the business model of the TV tax is dwindling and RTE wants a new revenue source and have been lobbying for that for several years now.

Today if you consume RTE you can can do the maths how many hours you must work for it and how many hours of RTE content you consume and make your own determination f you are getting value for money - If your household (2 parents + 2 children) watch 3,000 hours RTE content (including advertisements) per annum then 8.5 hours labour seems insignificant. If you have to watch the same thing over and over again I imagine you would get tired of that very quickly, this is probably why news and current affairs is one of the few sources of unique content from that organisation and represents most consumed hours while internet streaming services offer the entertainment content.

garrettod

I wish everyone posting here, would also start sending emails to the Minister demanding action - if enough if us apply pressure, we might get something positive done (or at least, help prevent the Minister from doing something stupid)

Elmo

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

RTE has for many years been the sole recipient of taxation on TVs and today consumes the bulk of this revenue.

For the Last 10 years RTÉ has been the main recipiant of the Licence Fee.
As you point out, out of this it pays for 2 Orchestras ~$15m PA

The BAI get about 7% PA of the licence fee

TG4 amount varies depending on how much Exchequer funding the channel receives

TG4 also get an hour of TV a day from RTÉ (mainly news and CA) amounting to €7m PA. (This has been the case since it started broadcasting).

This is on top of cuts from the Government for the "Free Licence Fee Scheme"
You are right to say that RTÉ and the government are targeting you as a one of those who are not paying. And TBH I think there has been too much focus on this particularly when so far no one has changed the law.

RTÉ IMO is badly run. This is from the top down. Rather than focusing on content it insists on paying massive wages, I can probably... without asking.... or providing any real evidence.... categorically say....

" the vast majority of people that are earning over 100,000 in RTÉ are mainly administrators. Not working on and TV or Radio programme directly. "

I can also say that those 122 will not be snapped up by any other Irish broadcaster either Radio or TV because no other broadcaster employees any more than 250 staff members.

However I do think we need a good PSB/PSM but before the government tackle any of the problems that they and the predecessors have caused, RTÉ must reform drastically.

RTÉ have taken the advice of a PR company called Q4 to double down on the mistakes of government and their loss of income, this has been the mantra and I guess by saying something often enough it becomes the main problem.

Rather than focusing on quality content to prove itself, but seems the aul politician of all shapes and sizes are happy

RTÉ | Because ..... Everyone is so f*ing gullible

end of the road

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

Back of the envelope calculations let say you are a single earner household with net income after all other taxes are paid is €36,000, you work 39 hours per week and you take 4 weeks holidays over the course of the year including public holidays giving a total of 1,872 hours worked per year, or €19.23 per hour earnings (after all other direct income taxes) which means you have to work 8.5 hours per annum to be legally allowed to watch television in this county, let's say you are fortunate and work 41 years continuously to age 66 (It will be 68 in a few years time) you must work about 348.5 hours over your working lifetime, you don't get a free TV licence until your reach 70, so there are more hours of your life needed to pay for the TV ownership tax. You can work out how many hours you need to work based on your circumstances.

RTE and An Post are the primary beneficiaries of the TV ownership tax. To own a TV legally in this country on average you will need to work one day every year of your working life for them, if you are on minimum wage you will need to work 2 days per annum.

I ditched the TV a decade ago, that's over 80 hours banked.

Slowly people are ditching TV sets and switching to internet streaming devices, the business model of the TV tax is dwindling and RTE wants a new revenue source and have been lobbying for that for several years now.

Today if you consume RTE you can can do the maths how many hours you must work for it and how many hours of RTE content you consume and make your own determination f you are getting value for money - If your household (2 parents + 2 children) watch 3,000 hours RTE content (including advertisements) per annum then 8.5 hours labour seems insignificant. If you have to watch the same thing over and over again I imagine you would get tired of that very quickly, this is probably why news and current affairs is one of the few sources of unique content from that organisation and represents most consumed hours while internet streaming services offer the entertainment content.

you still aren't working for free for rte, it doesn't matter what figures and calculations and whatever you throw around.
income tax isn't the only tax, everyone of us working are obligated by law to pay relevant taxes.
i am aware people are switching off tv, i have cut back massively on watching it myself apart from current affairs stuff as almost everything else has gone to pot across the spectrum of channels and i am in my backside paying for subscription services.
you are not working to consume rte, when you pay the license you are paying to own a tv for which the revenue raised happens to go to rte rather then the license specifically being a tax to pay for rte.

Pa ElGrande

end of the road wrote: »

y
you are not working to consume rte, when you pay the license you are paying to own a tv for which the revenue raised happens to go to rte rather then the license specifically being a tax to pay for rte.

The TV & Radio licence was introduced in 1960 specifically to fund RTE and given the limitations of the technology the model probably made sense at the time.

If you want to own a TV in this country, you have to pay the annual tax from your after tax income. This means you are working for RTE, An Post and the BAI for free, you are entitled to nothing in return from these organisations. If you consume RTE then you get the benefits of that, if not that is your labour wasted.


From 2024, the government wants to include phones and laptops in your TV licence fee

It’s at the end of this five-year contract for collection that the new funding model, which will include devices like laptops and tablets, will be introduced.

source

There is no justification for taxing internet connected devices computer devices like laptops and phones since RTE and every other media provider can secure their domain and make it subscription only. The only way to collect this tax is by having internet service providers collect it on their behalf most likely as a bandwidth consumption tax.

end of the road

Pa ElGrande wrote: »

The TV & Radio licence was introduced in 1960 specifically to fund RTE and given the limitations of the technology the model probably made sense at the time.

If you want to own a TV in this country, you have to pay the annual tax from your after tax income. This means you are working for RTE, An Post and the BAI for free, you are entitled to nothing in return from these organisations. If you consume RTE then you get the benefits of that, if not that is your labour wasted.


From 2024, the government wants to include phones and laptops in your TV licence fee




There is no justification for taxing internet connected devices computer devices like laptops and phones since RTE and every other media provider can secure their domain and make it subscription only. The only way to collect this tax is by having internet service providers collect it on their behalf most likely as a bandwidth consumption tax.

no, it does not mean you are working for rte or any other organisation for free.
it doesn't matter how much you keep making this claim, paying an extra tax does not make it that you are working for the organisation which the tax goes to, for free or otherwise.
you get the service rte provides, whether you choose to take it up or not is your choice but it is incorrect to state you get nothing in return, you clearly do.
i am already aware of the proposed gadget fee, personally i do not see it happening.
there is plenty of methods available to collect money to replace the tv license fee, including funding from general taxation which would be my prefered option, or revenue taking the relevant tax.

Pa ElGrande

RTɒs multiple lobbying meetings with politicians
Jan 24, 2020

Later that month, Ms Doherty and Mr Kehoe held three separate meetings with Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin, Mr Ryan and Mr Cullinane, “to raise awareness of the challenges facing public-service broadcasting”. Martin Mackin, a director with public relations company Q4PR and a former senator, was also present.

Ms Doherty had previously employed Q4PR to release a statement on her behalf after the RTÉ strategy was leaked to The Irish Times.

In mid-December, the Minister announced that the Government would raise broadcasting funding by €10 million a year, with about €9 million of this going to RTÉ to help it implement its new plan under close monitoring from State agency NewERA.

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Commission on the Future of Irish Public Service Broadcasting to be Established, Government respond to RTÉ Revised Strategy
Published at: 10 December 2019
Last updated 3 July 2020

Massive transformation is challenging the existing model. Today, the main source of news for 52% of over 65 year olds is TV, with 18% being from radio. In sharp contrast, of 18-24 year olds, it is 18% who rely on TV, with 6% sourcing their news from radio and 71% from social media and other online sources

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T.V. licence fee

In 2017 the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications Climate Action and Environment made a total of 10 recommendations in respect of the Future Funding of Public Service Broadcasting including that the existing charging regime be expanded to capture every household consuming media regardless of the technology used i.e. a non-device dependent, household-based, public service broadcasting charge.

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The TV tax also lines the pockets of a public relations agencies directors and newERA newQuango.



Working Group on the Future Funding of Public Service BroadcastingFinal Report (Redacted)
April 2019

The preferred medium term approach is the replacement of the licence fee with a device independent Broadcasting Charge as this will future-proof public funding as technology changes. However, it is recognised that this approach would require significant legislative change and the resolution of a number of challenges. It is therefore recommended that preparatory work for the introduction of a Broadcasting Charge be undertaken during the 5 year period of the TV licence tender. This would include an assessment of the relative merits of TV licence collection by tender –based on actual implementation –against the potential benefits and challenges of moving to a Broadcasting Charge.

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RTE is dying with its audience, this is clear based on how the younger generation sources their news and information, however, there is no intention to reform RTE the government are instead pursuing the retrograde step of shoehorning a broken model onto another platform.

The media organisations that existed pre-2000 really did not understand the the internet and tried to use it to extend their existing business models and franchises. As a consequence an entire generation bypassed them but rather than go back to the drawing board and redefine their service they lobbied governments to change the law and mandate the audience that bypassed them start paying them.

I completely agree with this ^^^

It also seems to me that the entire business model that RTÉ uses, and has used for years, is now essentially defunct, especially the funding mechanism. It must have worked thirty or more years ago, but began to unravel when independent, commercial broadcasters started and had to rely on advertising income. The along came the internet, and all the plethora of subscription offerings - Sky, Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Disney and so on.

RTÉ has to change, and change completely, its direction. They are behaving like (the popular but erroneous view of an arrogant) King Canute, or should I say Cnut. Neither he, nor RTÉ, could stop the tide coming in.