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

Baba Yaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122842309#Comment_122842309

definitly not the BBC…how bout marty morrissey? :D

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122842341#Comment_122842341

Marty Morrissey has a car and he's going under cover as Mooney narrates a new Documentary "TV Lience Inspectors: Extinction", while George Lee examines how other countries waste money in "80 days around the world on 1250 TV Licence Fees"

Hotblack Desiato

Ministerial delays in approving a voluntary redundancy scheme at RTÉ are “incredibly frustrating” and have added several million euro to the broadcaster’s operating costs this year, director general Kevin Bakhurst told staff on Wednesday.

A recruitment freeze at RTÉ introduced in September 2023 has been lifted, the RTÉ boss also said at the town hall meeting.

Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?

It is obvious that the money is once again flowing. It will probably remain flowing until the Corporate Tax windfall dries up, forcing the government to make hard decisions. Tighten out belts as CJH would tell us.

Shan Doras

It seems to me that they only pencilled in closing the 4 digital radio services, and the plus 1 TV services to make it look on paper that they were making an effort to downsize. I would also be highly skeptical if the outsourcing of TLLS & Fair city will ever actually happen.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122850507#Comment_122850507

I'd say they are way off on the TLLS/FC plan. You might see FC move but its a huge undertaking. If you go by what RTÉ are suggesting, building works on the land they sold will make it difficult to record FC due to the noise pollution, but … RTÉ built a brand new outdoor set for FC, which would need to be replicated should FC have to move off site, this is a big undertaking for an independent producer, and it would most likely have to be owned and paid for by RTÉ.

RTÉ have put themselves into this position by selling the land in the first place.

As for the digital stations and the +1 channels, the digital stations are due to close at the end of this year, while I think the new direction has the +1 stations down for 2028.

Digital stations to remain on the air into 2025, at this point RTÉ would have to put out a press release to suggest closure of the stations at this point, so unlikely to happen.

RoTelly

So what should we really be expecting from RTÉ in the new year? Well one journalist from the Irish Times as already said that RTÉ won't be able to produce mass amounts of content for the new year and likely we won't see the return on our investment until early if not late 2026. IMO there are a few things that RTÉ should be working on now: -

1. In-house news programming to increase, return of News On 2, with that window on the new News App/RTÉ online service, do we even expect that RTÉ will have their sign on for the RTÉ player read, a new audio app and a new news app ready for the new year, again I suspect the Irish times might say wait until 2026.
2. News output to continue through August.
3. By this stage commissions should have been signed across the board for new programming for 2025. But it is likely that the commission editors are lost and are waiting until 2025 to start their round of funding even though the Government signed off on the bail out a few month back.
4. Closure of their Digital Radio station or even a date for the closure of their digital radio stations, even to have a proposal into the department ready for the new minister to make a decision on the proposal. Again expect this closure around the end of the year with an extension until the launch of the app in mid-2026.
5. Nationwide to run 5 nights a week
6. Today to continue airing through the summer months

These are simple things that won't change under the current management. And the excuse: -

To get these programmes up and running takes time.

RoTelly

And I will leave it at this,

Most political parties want the following : -

1. RTÉ to be funded by the exchequer
2. Increase funding to TG4 with an independent news room
3. With the loss of the license fee that An Post be funded for the exchequer to do other public functions

This is a crazy waste of money

TG4 will now have an expesive News Room, currently at least there is some Economy of Scale having the news room run by RTÉ, secondly RTÉ will continue to have a News Room for RnaG.

RTÉ needs massive reform and it needs to be split up TBH

While An Post over the course of its existence (1986) could never collect the licence fee fully.

We are just paying for nothing.

Shan Doras

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861686#Comment_122861686

Merging RNAG and TG4 and them sharing a HQ in connemara would be an no branier, but it won't happen due to too many vested interests.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122861954#Comment_122861954

Also RnaG have studios along the west of Ireland, great opportunity for the broadcaster and the west.

It also pushes the plans of RTÉ

By moving RnaG over to TG4, RnaG's funding is from the exchequer making RTÉ a saving of 10m

By moving the NCO over to the NCH funding is also from the exchequer make RTÉ a saving of 7m

jippo nolan

jasus, Tommy Mescal didn’t last long in London!

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122862682#Comment_122862682

I think he is just over for the election no?

Brendan Bendar

George is still over in Baku!!

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122864547#Comment_122864547

He's making his way back via Australia

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122864547#Comment_122864547

hasnt that been going at least a fortnight now?

So him and his crew, which must total at least another 2 people, have been there for 2 weeks, all hotel and food bills picked up by the licence payers. For him to do a 2min report every few days?

Brendan Bendar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122864855#Comment_122864855

Thats the way it seems NM

RoTelly

They will now spend a million euro a year in governance and auditing because they were unable to do this themselves.

While, breaking their New Direction 2024, RTÉ have made The Young Offenders available on the player, basically mirroring the BBC iPlayer with the show. So any cost savings for 2024 are out the window, mainly I'd say because they are now in profit for the year.

Baba Yaga

id say the enshittification of rte has reached saturation point…

saabsaab

RTE had published details of a reform and new direction a while ago. What has actually been completed since?

z80CPU

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122930439#Comment_122930439

A rhetorical question.

Whatever will be will be.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122930439#Comment_122930439

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122930445#Comment_122930445

True. Very little has changed TBH. and I don't see much change happening in 2025.

It's Carry on DG for Kevin Beforbes. Beforbes is basically making sure that RTÉ looks like a Public Service Broadcaster, that it is perceived as a public service broadcaster, rather than actually being a public service broadcaster.

I am still waiting to find out when the plan to close their digital radio station, surely this is a simple enough task and a closure date should have been issued at this point, but nothing so far.

Hotblack Desiato

I don't know why you regard the closure of the Saorview radio stations as a good thing, it's not, like the +1s it's exactly the sort of symbolic "reform" RTE should not be doing, an elimination of useful services that saves next to no money.

RTE have no need now to make the real changes behind the scenes that need to be made, since Catherine Martin gave them a huge wodge of our cash, they can carry on just as before.

Can you believe the total arrogance behind this shít, this little twerp will be back on RTE rubbing our noses in it before we know where we are.

They actually expect people to pay €3.95 for this diarrhoea!

Where's our €150k, Ryan?

z80CPU

^^^ wtf ?

Must try and do more business on principle with the stores that are no longer eason.

saabsaab

Tubridy isn't responsible for RTE's problems.

RoTelly

@Hotblack Desiato

I don't know why you regard the closure of the Saorview radio stations as a good thing, it's not, like the +1s it's exactly the sort of symbolic "reform" RTE should not be doing, an elimination of useful services that saves next to no money.

I don't just to be clear. And I agree with you regarding the +1's (though I prefer part-time RTÉ 3 & 4 channels).

The point I am making is that RTÉ's new direction set in motion the closure of the Radio Stations but RTÉ have failed to make a proposal to the Department, the closures of the Radio stations are due by the end of the year… to me this just proves that RTÉ have no idea how to run the company they are in charge off, and even so called reforms that they have planned haven't come to fruition.

The Young Offenders on the RTÉ Player is a good example of this also, it was due in 2025, to "save" money in 2024!

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122933786#Comment_122933786

Yes and no. I agree who is going to say no to the wages that he was on, at the end of the day it is up to RTÉ to negotiate prices and if they agree to to crazy pay then who is ever going to say no.

However, RTÉ kept saying that they had reduced the cost of the top earners when they had not, and Tubs did agree to his 150k from Renault. I don't necessarily believe he didn't know, or that he didn't know that they under reported his wage in the 3 previous years to that.

However, Tubs and Kenny all knew RTÉ was under financial pressure and as Claire Byrne pointed out "They know their worth" not the worth of the service they broadcast on, or the market they are in.

Kenny at the end of his time at RTÉ took nice exit fee for completion of a 5 year contract, remember the public were lead to believe that these were largely yearly negotiations and for that reason and commercial ones RTÉ could not publish the figures the following year, rather they insisted on a years delay.

Everyone involved at RTÉ is responsible for not saying anything about this crazy situation. Remember this thread pre-dates any of the controversy. If we knew, they knew.

RoTelly

You'd have to wonder what they drink in RTÉ.

Tubs is a new man, he needed a kick. The man has been living in a fantasy land for most of his adult life. I have never read anything so … as he would say … bizarre.

https://evoke.ie/2024/12/10/entertainment/celebrity/ryan-tubridy-reasons-leave-late-late-show

https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/celebs/former-rte-star-ryan-tubridy-30549970

https://www.rsvplive.ie/news/celebs/ryan-tubridy-says-girlfriend-clare-34277671

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/im-starting-to-get-a-few-knocks-on-the-door-about-different-gigs-ryan-tubridy-reflects-on-rte-departure-and-loneliness-in-london/a454182838.html

and on …

regardless of Tubs' own involvement in the RTÉ affair this to me is over the top exposure, the Irish Embassy gig with Mr Murphy over in London is tone deaf, are ambassadors not diplomats?

https://extra.ie/2024/12/09/entertainment/celebrity/miriam-ocallaghan-rte-wedding

Who is sitting behind Miriam? Is that Jim Jennings? It may not be and I hope it is not, but why invite this man to any outing as a Friend, he threw you all under the bus. Sean O'Rourke in one interview had no problem mention his name when it came to his perspectives programme on Oireachtas TV. While Kevin Bakhurst went to Rory Coveneney's 50 b-day party which in itself is a kick in the teeth to TV licence payers but then knowing that Jimbo would also be at the party, are they that deluded?

Idbatterim

34,000 homes are being built this year, 40,000 next year…a huge amount of these will be paying the tv license... so there's their constantly increasing revenue... I believe SF want to increase taxes on those over 140,000 in the private sector, it would be a negative but for rte, the public and civil sector, in most areas, maybe other than health, I'd actually support it, because they are overpaid...

Also depending on the cost of a new studio and relocation, let them get somewhere in west Dublin and the surplus money from selling montrose, can go back to the tax payer...

Baba Yaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122941878#Comment_122941878

yeah they must have some good stuff in the water in rte…to be brutally honest no they dont give one flying shite,they got the bailout,the money is rolling in and they are just working out how fast it can be pissed away,that place will never change…

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122942059#Comment_122942059

Pat "****" Kenny on tubs podcast!