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

kneemos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092695#Comment_121092695

Not really. We all pay tax for services we never use. An independent broadcaster is for the greater good in theory at least,though other TV and Radio stations do a better or similar job.

thomas 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092708#Comment_121092708

And?

Why do we need it genuinely?

Even leave a news agency there - why do we need any of the rest?

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092192#Comment_121092192

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092152#Comment_121092152

😝😆😋

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092745#Comment_121092745

The scenario that I illustrated would not be a good look for us.

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092715#Comment_121092715

The difference is that all taxpayers need to seek help from the police or the fire brigade or from the public health service or have children who they send to school. TV and radio are not as necessary to people as the public services that I've just listed. After all, people who choose not to be connected to the national electricity grid don't receive electricity bills.

Rubberchikken

Why pay for something if a household doesn't receive it?

We don't have rte on our tv. All we watch.is.netflix Disney and DVDs. Ive literally no interest in rte and would never choose to watch it.

We pay for the streaming services, and for the broadband.

Let those who want to watch the pay for it and leave those who can't alone.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092822#Comment_121092822

Yeah but our taxes also subsidise niche cultural activities like opera and ballet and nobody seems to mind.

kneemos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092822#Comment_121092822

They do get the benefit of an electricity supply though. Weather it be street lights,a cold beer,chilled food I'm the supermarket etc.

RTE supposedly benefits everyone in the form of independent debate.

thomas 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092808#Comment_121092808

It’s not a scenario it’s like wanting to keep up with the jones’ … no need for the money we put into our public service broadcasting. They (RTE) have proven:

• - they cannot produce quality content for their own home market key alone sell it internationally(some exceptions of course)
• - they cannot manage and operate within their very generous budget.
• - they have many arms of revenue generation yet focus primarily on the criminalization of the small minority(pre tubs drama) of people who do not “comply”, going as far as to run harsh ads on tele that’s sole purpose is to put the fear of god into the vunrable of Irish society(elderly etx). One would assume that time would be much better spent being sold to advertisers.
• - The same old drab “talent” day in day out. as we know now it appears this was due to an internal mandate to only use one agency to provide the talent.
• - Shows like the “today show” which are Essentially long format fashion advertising have no place on public service broadcasting.

I could go on …

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092931#Comment_121092931

Street lights are funded by taxes that are already paid by the public. People already pay for cold beer and chilled food in supermarkets and in pubs and restaurants. As for debating, people could already do that long before TV was invented.

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092845#Comment_121092845

That argument doesn't wash with the BBC in the UK. So why should it wash with RTÉ here, regardless of the barter scandal?!

What about those people who don't have home access to broadband - even if they could afford it - due to it not being available in their area? Therefore, your point about streaming services is a lazy argument.

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092933#Comment_121092933

What's wrong with wanting to be like other democratic European countries?

Viscount Aggro

I cant see the same level of protests as with water charges.

They will spin it as, its only fair that everyone must pay the new media levy.

It will be a done deal with Revenue collecting... no way to avoid it.

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092856#Comment_121092856

Presumably, it's a very small percentage of the government's budget that funds those activities - the arts are part of a country's identity.

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093152#Comment_121093152

The difference is that media access is much less necessary than access to the water system.

Loafing Oaf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093172#Comment_121093172

Arts Council gets €130 million a year from the taxpayer. If you combine that with the various other channels for public subsidy of the arts, it's probably in the same ballpark as what RTE gets through the licence fee. In reality both are drops in the ocean when set against the overall tax take. And this is a large part of why I don't anticipate much of a backlash when the new funding model for RTE funding is announced. Even if it was scrapped and the money given back to the taxpayer, the impact would barely be discernible at the level of the individual's monthly salary...

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093248#Comment_121093248

160 euro a year might be significant in some households.

thomas 123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093149#Comment_121093149

Nothing really wrong with it - it’s not exactly something I’d consider important. Maybe they are all doing it wrong.

If we look at the BBC as an example. A lot less ads and content produced is generally purchased outside of the UK and played in other countries - massively on RTE for example. Our “stars” are paid in line with the BBCs stars who earn their and Justify their payment - Louis Theroux for example.

if we really want to do the whole let’s be like our European neighbors we should be looking at countries with a similar size audience to ours not GDP. I would hazard a guess that no other European country with 5 million people has 3 tv stations(excluding news now, dail TV and the + ones) and however many radio stations we have. And on the off chance such a country exists you can be damn sure they are not paying their “stars” anywhere near ours because our crowd will always use the UK as their bench.

^ anyone know a country similar to ours with as many tv stations?

thomas 123

Greece with twice our population has 4 national TV stations - all which seem to be private somehow now at a quick glance

https://amp.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/02/greece-tv-channels-licence-auction

portugal has 4 - again twice our population

https://www.portugalvisitor.com/portugal-resources/tv-stations#:~:text=Portugal%20has%20four%20terrestrial%20TV,private%20channels%20from%20the%201990s.

political analyst

What are the chances that RTÉ will collapse next year - or maybe even before the end of this year?!

AndyBoBandy

RTÉ must be losing loads of advertising revenue lately…..

Ive seen 2 ads today for companies that you’d hardly ever see with ads on RTÉ

1 was for Cairn homes, and another for some solar company!!!

Advertisers must be getting great rates at the moment from RTÉ!!

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121094150#Comment_121094150

Advertisers must be getting great rates at the moment from RTÉ!!

Cough Cough

Topgear on Dave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121094150#Comment_121094150

Iv just heard the RTE guide advertised before the main 8am news on morning ireland. There is some sort of headline about the magazines challenges in the Irish Times business newsletter this morning but I can't read it, subscriber only.

Surely that would be an expensive slot to be using to flog rte guides?

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095506#Comment_121095506

In fairness they’ve been doing a lot of self promotion lately, but these ads stuck out to me as they typically wouldn’t be ads you’d expect to see on RTÉ (especially during half time in a soccer game where you’d imagine there’d be a big audience…)

kneemos

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095506#Comment_121095506

Who needs a guide. There's a seven day EPG on Saorview.

Topgear on Dave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095590#Comment_121095590

The RTE staff in the guide need the guide........

RoTelly

@political analyst

RTÉ has largely failed us as a state in the last 60 years. This is not a statement on politics or a statement of on political pressure that RTÉ may have faced over the last 60 years. It is a statement on the type of programming that RTÉ have provided over those 60 years.

There are times when RTÉ hits above its weight in terms of sports, news, current affairs... even the 5 eurovisions that they produced between 1988 and 1998 I consider to show them to have made eurovision the behemoth that it has become. (I am not sure if that is a complement!).

But largely RTÉ have really provided little, particularly in the last 15 years. Rather they have argued that RTÉ is under-funded and the media landscape is fractured (They have said this since the 1990s). And too some extent this is true. But then there is RTÉ itself.

RTÉ management and staff all live in a bubble of assuming RTÉ is wonderful and something highly important to the state. But I doubt any of them watch the service that they provide.

The news and current affairs looks and sounds professional, bar the RTÉ NEWS channel, I would put their News and Current Affairs output as good as any other European PSB, however the holidays that the service takes in August is a huge question. I mean you can feel that the halls of RTÉ are empty for the month of August. And that doesn't look good when you main competitor is continuing to provide a full news service through out the month.

Again I agree RTÉ do sports well and is on par with other sports organisations, bar the number of ads on Virgin Media TV do you see any real discernible difference between RTÉ's sports coverage and VMTV? I can only see their broadcast of the National Athletics Championships to suggest something PSB in nature for RTÉ. Perhaps Horse racing coverage and the many Outside Broadcasts that they provide.

Then we get to other genres.

Someone mentioned their daytime show "Today". Whatever about having an issue about RTÉ having a daytime TV programme, my question is how much do they spend on the programme? Daytime is certainly not important enough for the amount of money I think RTÉ are spending on it, and certainly not for a part time daytime show. It looks to me like they spending €10m alone for that 8 month programme, this is possibly VMTVs total budget for their daytime schedule and it may even cover their Tonight show as well! If I am correct to suggest the extravagant spend on the programme.

Again I go back to the cutting of funding to children's TV that they insisted they would not cut back in 2016, IMO Dee's first lie in the job as DG.

Drama, more than 5 years ago RTÉ asked and begged for a new TV funding scheme from the Irish Film Board (now Screen Ireland). RTÉ were not saying they would meet this annual €10m with €10m of their own rather they were saying , "we don't want anything to do with drama, fund it by direct exchequer funding please because we can't be arsed", we will happily show that drama and market it as "RTÉ...Great Local Drama". RTÉ Drama outside of Fair City is large co-produced with very little involvement from RTÉ. RTÉ have abdicate their responsibility toward drama and comedy production over the last 15 years. Stating at Oireachtas committee meetings they they could not possibly funding High quality drama like "Normal People" because it cost €1.2m per episode, the TDs should have asked what about smaller dramas like like Pure Mule or Can't Cope, Won't Cope.

Then there is their absolute reduction in service on RTÉ2 while funding 2FM from the licence fee. Their decision on RTÉ2 is that young people have moved online, only they've not produced any really long form content for the player (large short form stuff you could find on youtube), and their excuse on 2FM, well we must provide for all audiences such as young people! An oxymoron if ever you heard one.

Any I won't go into the late move of the NSO to the NCH, which should have happened in 2021 but only happened in 2022, a year when they lost money but saved circa €7m on funding the NSO!

Sorry rant over!

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121092031#Comment_121092031

The government already decides how much the licence fee is, though.

IMO RTE's dependence on commercial income is a much greater threat to its independence.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096831#Comment_121096831

I don't think it is the root cause.

The main cause is neither IMO.

It is due to complete and an absolute corruption of power within RTÉ with no oversight. I believe that these wages and the spending at RTÉ would have been the same had RTÉ been fully funded via either the License Fee or the Exchequer. It just wouldn't be from be coming from the commercial arm of RTÉ.

RTÉ have completely failed as an organisation, it has largely nothing to do with commerical or political pressures, it is fundamentally due to RTÉ's mismanagement over the years.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121093714#Comment_121093714

Those are just the private channels, Greece has 4 PSB channels as well.