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

elperello · 11-12-2019 11:36PM

Deleted User wrote: »

RTE are not selling the RTE Guide after a half hearted attempt to sell it for two weeks. And now they aren't selling the Limerick studio.

So, what are they going to do for money?

They don't own the Limerick studio and the lease is up.

I don't think they should sell anything until this new Commission reports.

They are guaranteed €10m pa extra from Government for 5 years.

Nevin Parsnipp · 11-12-2019 11:40PM

elperello wrote: »

I'm awake thanks, but not for much longer , bed beckons, early start in AM

I don't care what he is paid. The contract was negotiated and will be again on renewal.Let the chips fall where they may.

I only listen to the radio, which by the way is free at point of use, I don't expect to micro manage the staff.

You don't care ? That is what the whole debate is about ???

Let the chips fall as they may ??? the same chips that some somnolent arsehole in senior management decides to pay him from OUR taxes ?

Micro manage ?? The whole point is that these Dudes are paid wedges waaay above what is reasonable and are the focal point of public vitriol.

Jeeze mate ...

mgn · 11-12-2019 11:43PM

Deleted User wrote: »

RTE are not selling the RTE Guide after a half hearted attempt to sell it for two weeks. And now they aren't selling the Limerick studio.

So, what are they going to do for money?

Same as usual, mugs of taxpayer will foot the bill.

fritzelly · 11-12-2019 11:46PM

The new commission is a farce - why is it needed to tell RTE how to spend the money, RTE should be spending it wisely itself and not having to be told what to do. It's laughable. The only good that could come out of the commission is a pay ceiling, limit on foreign programmes etc which is what RTE should have been doing to begin with

Now they've got another 10 million a year plus the 7 million saved from the orchestra (weren't they told not so long ago no more money?). In the news quarter of a million on new cars (what's wrong with what they were using and forgive me if I don't understand but 2rn is a private company so why can they not stand on their own for purchases?)
Their cost cutting plan is being rescinded - where will it end.

end of the road · 11-12-2019 11:46PM

Expunge wrote: »

Yes, of course a lot (sadly not all) of Lyric's output is pure public service and merits support. Once a commitment was made to keep lyric on air, really there was little more to be said. Then the staff based locally made it about keeping lyric in Limerick City. This seems to have been a purely selfish campaign about preserving their terms and conditions and lifestyles with some guff about being embedded in that city.

even if that is the case, so what?
it's generally normal for people who have pride at least, to want to preserve their terms and conditions.
not to mention that the public service broadcaster simply pulling out of a city rather then looking to cheaper options such as sharing a building probably isn't really the best look.

Expunge wrote: »

It's nonsense. They should have been supported for the move or helped out the door.
That's what has happened recently in An Post, Bord na Mona and ESB. These RTE staffers see themselves as exceptional when the vast majority of them are anything but.

this is just soundbitest territory if i'm honest.
what happens in bnm and the ESB isn't going to be relevant to rte workers.

kenmc wrote: »

Unfortunately, we all know there's not a hope that any station in the world would even consider taking on tubridy, Darcy, Joe etc. We're bloody stuck with them. And yet they are paid rediculous amounts of our money in case they're poached.

Pay them 40k a year each. It's not like they've got many other options of employment, can't see any of them being able to do anything else.

thankfully they aren't going to be paid 40 k a year.
while rte is expected to be commercial as well as public service, then quite rightly they pay what they feel the broadcaster is worth.
so there will be no 40 ks or 150ks or whatever one pulls out of wherever because it sounds good to them.
if people want the broadcasters to be paid whatever figure they pull out of wherever because it sounds good to them, but which probably isn't based in reality, then call for the government to change rte's remit to ps only and for wages to be along normal public sector scales.

elperello · 11-12-2019 11:48PM

Nevin Parsnipp wrote: »

You don't care ? That is what the whole debate is about ???

Let the chips fall as they may ??? the same chips that some somnolent arsehole in senior management decides to pay him from OUR taxes ?

Micro manage ?? The whole point is that these Dudes are paid wedges waaay above what is reasonable and are the focal point of public vitriol.

Jeeze mate ...

Exactly, I don't get worked up over things I can't change.
He is in contract so will be paid as agreed until that ends. Then if they want him another contract will be negotiated. If it's higher or lower I won't be involved in the negotiation.

As you say it's a debate and that is my position.

tayto lover · 11-12-2019 11:49PM

RTÉ should be self financing.
The amount of adverts is unbelievable.
Cut out the huge wages and exist on what you have.
It’s what every family and other business is forced to do.

end of the road · 11-12-2019 11:54PM

fritzelly wrote: »

The new commission is a farce - why is it needed to tell RTE how to spend the money, RTE should be spending it wisely itself and not having to be told what to do. It's laughable. The only good that could come out of the commission is a pay ceiling, limit on foreign programmes etc which is what RTE should have been doing to begin with

Now they've got another 10 million a year plus the 7 million saved from the orchestra (weren't they told not so long ago no more money?). In the news quarter of a million on new cars (what's wrong with what they were using and forgive me if I don't understand but 2rn is a private company so why can they not stand on their own for purchases?)
Their cost cutting plan is being rescinded - where will it end.

2rn is part of rte and not private as i understand.

end of the road · 11-12-2019 11:57PM

tayto lover wrote: »

RTÉ should be self financing.
The amount of adverts is unbelievable.
Cut out the huge wages and exist on what you have.
It’s what every family and other business is forced to do.

it's unlikely to be possible for it to be self financing and provide the amount of ps content it provides as ps content is expensive.
moving away from commercial activities is what it actually should be doing and focusing on the ps content.

fritzelly · 12-12-2019 12:03AM

end of the road wrote: »

2rn is part of rte and not private as i understand.

Don't totally follow the structure but it's a bit of a maze
They own and run the infrastructure - TV/radio etc, 2rn also built and run Saorview but Saorview is owned by RTE.
2rn is a separate company under RTE
It all feels like a rabbit hole of money changing hands and no accountability as it never really leaves the company. VM's refusal to pay the fees charged by 2rn to broadcast in HD for example

The government should hold all those cards and use part of the licence fee money to run it

Atlantic Dawn · 12-12-2019 12:05AM

2RN should should be like ESB, completely independent of the organisations running off it.

fritzelly · 12-12-2019 12:08AM

end of the road wrote: »

it's unlikely to be possible for it to be self financing and provide the amount of ps content it provides as ps content is expensive.
moving away from commercial activities is what it actually should be doing and focusing on the ps content.

PBS America do very well as a non profit station, and have some great programs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS

RTE should take a hint from them.

Expunge · 12-12-2019 10:31AM

end of the road wrote: »

not to mention that the public service broadcaster simply pulling out of a city rather then looking to cheaper options such as sharing a building probably isn't really the best look.

What might be a better look for licence fee payers would be all RTE Radio services operating as efficiently as possible, sharing as many facilities and talent as possible at the most reasonable cost. That is most likely achieved by having them all in the one place.
It really doesn't matter where any national network is located. Anyway, I have heard it said that most of the affected staff live in the 'nice bits' of Limerick..eg. the lake in Killaloe/Ballina, Castleconnell etc. I'm not interested in supporting their nice lifestyles while working for a bust company when there are apparently more efficient options on the table.

FG need cover in Limerick till they hold Michael Noonan's seat. After that, they will give less of a sh*t, I'd imagine.

Loafing Oaf · 12-12-2019 11:05AM

fritzelly wrote: »

PBS America do very well as a non profit station, and have some great programs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS

RTE should take a hint from them.

It wouldn't be RTE's own call if it were to go down that road though

mgn · 12-12-2019 11:20AM

Just caught the first half hour of Morning Ireland on the tv this morning at 7am, normally i just have the radio on so you don't pass much heed of all the different presenters.
So you have 2 main presenters, someone else to read the news headlines, then someone else to read the newspaper headlines, then comes another with the sport headlines, so you have 5 RTE staff doing what 2 people could do easily.
Not surprised RTE are broke.

Nijmegen · 12-12-2019 11:36AM

Watching the past few weeks play out has been pure public sector, hasn't it? Needs to make cuts. Announces plan to do so. Rows back on a number of elements of the plan after outcry over X and Y. Gets a few million bunged in and a commission to kick the can down the road.

I'd say that was the actual strategic plan of management, rather than trying to have a vision for how to turn it into a properly functioning organization.

end of the road · 12-12-2019 02:02PM

Expunge wrote: »

What might be a better look for licence fee payers would be all RTE Radio services operating as efficiently as possible, sharing as many facilities and talent as possible at the most reasonable cost. That is most likely achieved by having them all in the one place.
It really doesn't matter where any national network is located. Anyway, I have heard it said that most of the affected staff live in the 'nice bits' of Limerick..eg. the lake in Killaloe/Ballina, Castleconnell etc. I'm not interested in supporting their nice lifestyles while working for a bust company when there are apparently more efficient options on the table.

FG need cover in Limerick till they hold Michael Noonan's seat. After that, they will give less of a sh*t, I'd imagine.

ah so this is what your actual issue is, the fact they managed to do well for themselves and live in a nice house? come on lad, seriously, who gives a damn about whether they have a nice house, where they live, etc?
you aren't supporting them, they get payed for doing a job. they just so happen to work for an organisation that receives some tax payer funding, as do a lot of people.
a broadcaster that is national having some sort of presence outside the capital city is generally normal.

James Brown · 12-12-2019 02:09PM

Forbes was using Lyric as a scapegoat. You won't give us enough money? We'll have to give you a direct, easy to follow consequence. It was likely a PR stunt.

Elmo · 12-12-2019 03:03PM

Matt Barrett wrote: »

Forbes was using Lyric as a scapegoat. You won't give us enough money? We'll have to give you a direct, easy to follow consequence. It was likely a PR stunt.

TBH I think it has back fired. The €10m isn't enough according to RTÉ.

It saves the Minister, its not too much but he's showing the government's commitment (knowing that it really won't be a major part of any election campaign).

It's a catch-22 for RTÉ, its so-called plan of cuts will still have to go ahead and you can be guaranteed they will not chop at 2FM's door or the amount of money the spend on imported programmes.

xl500 · 12-12-2019 06:34PM

Just Watching RTE 6-1 News

What in the name of God is Cathtriona Perry doing in London Do we not have our London correspondent there for that

to make matters worse she ended up interviewing him which she could easily have done from the Studio in Dublin

Its this kind of frivilious use of Taxpayer Funds that causes them to have very poor image

There is absolutely no excuse for having her in London how much did this cost

12-12-2019 06:40PM

xl500 wrote: »

Just Watching RTE 6-1 News

What in the name of God is Cathtriona Perry doing in London Do we not have our London correspondent there for that

to make matters worse she ended up interviewing him which she could easily have done from the Studio in Dublin

Its this kind of frivilious use of Taxpayer Funds that causes them to have very poor image

There is absolutely no excuse for having her in London how much did this cost

Said the exact same thing myself, it's crazy at a time when RTE are been seen

in a negative way and crying out for more money they send a reporter to

interview a reporter, there is no justification for this.

Expunge · 12-12-2019 06:43PM

end of the road wrote: »

ah so this is what your actual issue is, the fact they managed to do well for themselves and live in a nice house? come on lad, seriously, who gives a damn about whether they have a nice house, where they live, etc?
you aren't supporting them, they get payed for doing a job. they just so happen to work for an organisation that receives some tax payer funding, as do a lot of people.
a broadcaster that is national having some sort of presence outside the capital city is generally normal.

It's not normal when the company is bust. The station is 100 per cent funded by licence fee but has 2 millionaire presenters in it's lineup, neither contributing much to 'arts and culture'. Out of the rest of the lineup of presenters and producers, salaries apparently range from 60 to 90 thousand Euro. They have done really well for themselves alright compared to, say, most of the staff of Live 95fm or anyone else in the independent radio sector. No wonder they are squalking loud and hard.
As a listener to both Classic FM and Radio 3, as well as some other European and US similar radio services, it's very hard to tell where the unique expertise is in Lyric.
The word 'chancer' comes to mind when I hear some of them. And now we're supposed to believe that the world of the arts and serious music will shudder to a halt without 'em?
They might have convinced you, a myriad of vested interest hangers on and some local politicans but I'd prefer the service to get better and become more credible. That actually might happen with some focused cutbacks.

elperello · 12-12-2019 06:45PM

xl500 wrote: »

Just Watching RTE 6-1 News

What in the name of God is Cathtriona Perry doing in London Do we not have our London correspondent there for that

to make matters worse she ended up interviewing him which she could easily have done from the Studio in Dublin

Its this kind of frivilious use of Taxpayer Funds that causes them to have very poor image

There is absolutely no excuse for having her in London how much did this cost

In case you haven't been following the news this election is very important for Ireland as well as being a major turning point for our nearest neighbour.

They are trying, with limited resources, to do it justice.

As for the cost, return fare, couple of days overseas subsistence and a few nights in a hotel. A couple of grand should cover it.

_Kaiser_ · 12-12-2019 06:48PM

Watching the news here and I think I must have imagined this..

Just saw an ad for Toy Story 4 - coming to cinemas June 21??!!

mgn · 12-12-2019 06:51PM

elperello wrote: »

In case you haven't been following the news this election is very important for Ireland as well as being a major turning point for our nearest neighbour.

They are trying, with limited resources, to do it justice.

As for the cost, return fare, couple of days overseas subsistence and a few nights in a hotel. A couple of grand should cover it.

What role do you play in RTE, is it your job to defend them on all social media sites.
As soon as anyone says anything negative about RTE, your out to defend them straight away.

elperello · 12-12-2019 06:54PM

mgn wrote: »

What role do you play in RTE, is it your job to defend them on all social media sites.
As soon as anyone says anything negative about RTE, your out to defend them straight away.

Please try to discuss RTE not me.

xl500 · 12-12-2019 07:00PM

elperello wrote: »

In case you haven't been following the news this election is very important for Ireland as well as being a major turning point for our nearest neighbour.

They are trying, with limited resources, to do it justice.

As for the cost, return fare, couple of days overseas subsistence and a few nights in a hotel. A couple of grand should cover it.

Still absolutely no need to send her there are already plenty of RTE People in London

Kivaro · 12-12-2019 07:05PM

elperello wrote: »

In case you haven't been following the news this election is very important for Ireland as well as being a major turning point for our nearest neighbour.

They are trying, with limited resources, to do it justice.

I chuckled at that one.
RTE behave as if they have unlimited resources.
Exhibit A:

10. Darragh Moloney €188,803 (not in 2014 figures)

9. Bryan Dobson - €195,913 (€195,816 in 2014)

8. Nicky Byrne €200,583 (not in 2014 figures)

7. Claire Byrne €201,500 (not in 2014 figures)

6. Sean O'Rourke - €290,113 (€290,096 in 2014)

5. Marian Finucane - €295,000 (€295,000 in 2014)

4. Miriam O'Callaghan - €299,000 (€280,445 in 2014)

3. Joe Duffy - €389,988 (€416,893 in 2014)

2. Ray D'Arcy €400,000 (not in 2014 figures)

1. Ryan Tubridy €495,000 (€495,000 in 2014)

If there are any decent independent investigative reporters in this country, they should take a look at RTE. The current debacle at the FAI might be an indicator of what could possibly be found.

elperello · 12-12-2019 07:05PM

xl500 wrote: »

Still absolutely no need to send her there are already plenty of RTE People in London

In your opinion.
You will find however that lot's of us politics watchers will appreciate the extra attention to this really big story.

elperello · 12-12-2019 07:10PM

Kivaro wrote: »

I chuckled at that one.
RTE behave as if they have unlimited resources.
Exhibit A:

If there are any decent independent investigative reporters in this country, they should take a look at RTE. The current debacle at the FAI might be an indicator of what could possibly be found.

Obviously I meant limited in contrast to the resources available to UK channels.

I doubt that there is anything approaching the FAI situation to be uncovered at RTE but if any journalist does find anything I'm here to be convinced.

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

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