The future of RTE after Tubsgate.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121672248#Comment_121672248

It doesn't seem any benifit other than some marketing advantage for RTÉ... look at the success of Toy Show the musical etc ... when you think about it RTÉ were probably expecting the show to sell out in the first month.

Completely and utter mismanagement of the national broadcaster.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121674975#Comment_121674975

Maybe but no study waa done beforehand

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121675777#Comment_121675777

I am not defending their decision. First few months of sales would have told them it wasn't going to run.

They should have started the sales "Subject to licensing" but I imagine the idea was ingrained in the organization.

You have to remember this was part of their Strategy 2024 which was published in 2019, every few of the aims of that strategy were rolled out: -

• DAB axed
• AERTEL axed (though they had to get permission for that so it was out of their hands)

And half done

• One unsuccessful live event
• Management pay cut of 10%, reversed

I don't think there is much less in that vague strategy that was actioned. As I say pure mismanagement of the national broadcaster.

Furze99

Pretty clear that little has changed other than a few firm words from Kevin and Siun about learning lessons and blah blah. Expectations are much the same, note that practically every interview with a senior politician these days has to end with a discussion on how great RTE is and the future of funding.

Anyone who made decisions about that show should have been fired yesterday. If they haven't already walked, speaking of which what happened to Coveney?

RoTelly

The absolute mismanagement of the Nation Public Service Broadcaster is an absolute disgrace.

How can the current DG say that the former CFO had nothing to do with her Redundancy package, while at the same time saying that RTÉ take full responsibility.

The CFO was RTÉ, the CFO designed the redundancy package with the rest of the executive board, while it looks like the HR Manager (also a member of the Executive Board) was aware of the CFO exit, how the HR manager was placed on the Leadership team is bizarre.

Meanwhile a former Board member / director of RTÉ is moved in as Company Secretary after he sat on a board that failed to meet its governance requirements.

Compete and utter mismanagement. Time for RTÉ to be split up.

RoTelly

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/sinn-fein-to-table-bill-which-would-see-tv-licence-abolished-1587760.html

He said this would cost €140 million a year with additional investment of €12.5 million to An Post, as it will lose seven per cent of its revenue for administering the licence fee.

195m in 2022 went to RTÉ alone from the license fee in 2022.

Of the €221.5 million licence fee collected in 2022, €195.6 million (88%) was received by RTÉ. The remaining licence fee collected, €25.9 million, was used to pay An Post collection costs and related charges and to provide funding for the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) Sound & Vision Fund. Licence fee income received by RTÉ in 2022 was down €0.5 million compared to 2021, as TV licence sales failed to recover to pre-COVID levels. 

RoTelly

Future of RTÉ seems to be to postpone Dramas but have the BBC air them!

https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2024/the-young-offenders-first-look

lertsnim

The strategy to delay the showing of dramas which are already made to save money makes absolutely no sense.

icdg

It apparently means they don’t have to book the spend until it airs. You’re right, it doesn’t really save money and the cheques still have to be written, it is an accounting rule rather than anything else. They held on to Amber for three whole years during which it had aired in lots of other countries for the same reason.

Bobson Dugnutt

People who don’t pay the TV licence have absolutely no business complaining about this or about any part of how RTÉ operates. They are part of the problem.

The most viable solution is to just include the licence fee on a utility bill. Does away with the licence free gathering process and keeps it well away from being funded by the exchequer.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763215#Comment_121763215

Why? Did they mismanage the national public service broadcaster?

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121763396#Comment_121763396

Funding by the Gov revenue and taxation would invite political interference, or at least the fear or suspicion of it.

Simple solution is to collect €10 per month from every ESB Networks account (with some obvious exceptions like bills for remote pump houses).

There are approx 2 million addresses in Ireland, so such a levy would raise €240 million a year. That is more than the current 'voluntary' licence regime. It could be augmented by a percentage of the sum raised to come from the public purse - that percentage fixed in law, and used for Gov information or other state advertising.

RTE should be required to drop the batter accounts, and sponsors for programmes. [What do they add to programmes that are already made, or are totally irrelevant to the sponsors business?]

RTE needs to consider the BBC values espoused by Lord Reith. "Inform, Educate, and Entertain."

Inform would imply a well respected news channel and well resourced news journalism.

Educate would imply well resourced programmes that provide cultural, historically based, and general nature based programmes.

Entertain would be the programmes that get the viewers wanting to see - like the old hit programmes - the Gay Byrne LLS, the Mike Murphy "Live Mike", or Father Ted, plus many more. More recent have been 'The Young Offenders' or 'Derry Girls' - few and far between. Some dramas like Love/Hate or Kin would qualify.

[Edit: Of course sport is a must - and must be extensively covered.]

They need to start giving the viewers something they want to watch - really want to watch.

saabsaab

'Funding by the Gov revenue and taxation would invite political interference, or at least the fear or suspicion of it.'

Well you could argue that's how it is now, since they have to come to Government every year for more and more money to 'run' the place..

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121764248#Comment_121764248

But they never got any more.

So they started all this use of 'batter accounts' to allow all sorts of 'off-books' projects like flip flops and musical extravaganzas. Plus the odd bit of ego massaging. All this huckster shop type deals need to be ended.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121764466#Comment_121764466

I think they did get bail outs..

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121764805#Comment_121764805

I was referring to the licence fee. It has not been increased since 2008, and remains at €160. Perhaps it is this failure to increase the fee that has resulted in RTE getting into commercial enterprises that have caused all these strange stories of mismanagement.

Ash.J.Williams

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/rtes-panic-was-palpable-toy-show-musical-writer-recalls-fear-of-it-ending-up-before-an-oireachtas-committee/a2112159193.html

this is gold, writer called in April to have the show written by the summer 😆😆

Then the bullying begins

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121764248#Comment_121764248

Also the licence fee has been frozen for years because of the bad political optics of increasing it.

saabsaab

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121766195#Comment_121766195

Backs up what I am saying, dependent on direct Government funding as it stands whatever the cause(s).

saabsaab

Would extra funding have improved the total lack of accountability and waste? I doubt it..

Caquas

The failure of any RTÉ former Executives to attend today’s Committee meeting is a challenge to the power of the Oireachtas to hold State agencies to account.

If they are not compelled to attend pronto, these Committees look like toothless talking shops when faced with egregious behaviour.

If they are compelled to attend, they will face hostile questioning from all sides but the politicians must tread carefully- the Courts sided with Angela Kerins of Rehab when she complained about her treatment by a Committee.

https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/02/14/rte-controversy-failure-of-key-figures-to-face-questions-is-a-farce-committee-head-says/

RoTelly

So it looks like many of the Executives that left RTÉ left with some from of "golden handshake".

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/rte-paid-out-26m-in-golden-handshakes-to-executives-during-dee-forbess-reign/a186595968.html

The annual reports show €300,000 being paid in 2022, €0 in 2021, €400,000 in 2020, €600,000 in 2019, €600,000 in 2018 and €700,000 in 2017. The 2017 payments says they were “in accordance with the terms of the Voluntary Exit Package 2017 programme”.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121768197#Comment_121768197

That is what the people voted for in rejecting the proposed 30th Amendment to the Constitution. To keep them as talking shops instead of giving them powers to do what they like. They can still do their grandstanding and electioneering, and get coverage for it on live RTE TV, but they can't become judge, jury and excutioner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirtieth_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_Bill_2011

Caquas

Yes, and now the people will discover how toothless our courts can be.

Perhaps we prefer it that way. Some people certainly do and take full advantage.

icdg

We might keep to the topic of RTE, there are places elsewhere on Boards to discuss the wider constitutional issues.

icdg

RTE chairperson Siún Ní Raghallaigh has resigned this morning.

Acorn 737

If they all knew their jobs as well as they know how to dodge bullets and paid attention to what they were paid to do instead of making sure they secured their golden handshakes maybe none of this would have happened. It needs to be shut down and be a lesson to any other semi state company that thinks it’s too big to fail.

z80CPU

RTE as a whole makes a good subject for the BBC TV documentary series 'Trouble at the Top'. It may not result in any long term change in the organisation.

political analyst

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121765334#Comment_121765334

It's not the government's fault that RTÉ chose to put all its eggs in one basket - or one Tub(s)!

Sam Russell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121846957#Comment_121846957

The fact RTE was moved from the oversight of the C&AG and successive Govs refused to increase the licence fee led to RTE switching the model from largely licence fee funded to pursuing commercial funding as much as they could. This, in my opinion, led the powers that be in RTE to put the emphasis on 'talent' - that is those well known faces - and give in to the greed of their agents to pay them way over the odds for their 'talent'

If the 'talent' pay was reduced, it was thought RTE would lose out. The pay was reduced, and RTE did not lose out.

RTE needs to get back to basics.

Inform - have a respected News Channel that is fully funded with respected journalism, and is respected by the Irish people, and worldwide. This is the standard the BBC used to hold - but no longer thanks to political interference in recent times.

Educate - have programmes that educate Irish people about their history, culture and life style in a way viewers are interested in watching and find it interesting - particular school going students. I suppose the heading would be factual content. Examples of this would be programmes produced by the UK based Open University, and other similar programmes produced by other producers like the USA Public Broadcasting Network.

Entertain - have programmes that the general watching population find entertaining and enjoy watching. This covers dramas, talk shows, quizzes, concerts, sports coverage - in fact any programme that gets viewers satisfied that these programmes are ones they want to watch and would recommend those programmes to others as not to miss. RTE are a long way from that now.

They will not get anywhere if they depend on commercial funding without significant increased state funding. That leads to a race to the bottom.

Just look at USA TV channels to see where this goes.

We need RTE as a broadcaster we are proud of - and not as the first item in the evening news.