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

Gen.Zhukov · 22-01-2021 03:24PM

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Now, that's an idea for this years Toy Show....

Problem being, RTE would probably then hire the monkey and give it a quarter of a million euro salary.

Where would they get such an animal I wonder...

[IMG][/img]

6o9fv7jpreb180 · 22-01-2021 06:52PM

RTE seem to find the concept of "living within your means" as alien.

I understand the big presenters bring in more advertising, but when the organsiation as a whole is losing millions, costs (and wages) should reflect that.

Is it not scandalous that a public/semi-state body, is losing millions annually even though they have a relatively large revenue coming in?? And then to be pay obscene wages on top of that?? Absolutely mental stuff.

And to top it off, i assume most if the big earners are paying **** all tax as they set up as contractors!

Scotty # · 22-01-2021 10:26PM

Braylen Harsh Cave wrote: »

Is it not scandalous that a public/semi-state body, is losing millions annually even though they have a relatively large revenue coming in?? And then to be pay obscene wages on top of that?? Absolutely mental stuff.

RTE took in more than it spent both last year and the year before. The 'losses' were incurred due to the depreciation and amortisation of assets and the hosting of special events that as a public service, they are obliged to cover.

Their deficit last year was less than 2.5% of gross revenue. They're not exactly losing money hand over fist.

fritzelly · 22-01-2021 11:06PM

Are you forgetting all the extra money they get when they go begging to the government?

https://www.newstalk.com/news/government-announces-e50-million-extra-funding-rte-five-years-936110

They are losing money hand over fist and not doing a damn thing about it

Elmo · 23-01-2021 12:23AM

Scotty # wrote: »

RTE took in more than it spent both last year and the year before. The 'losses' were incurred due to the depreciation and amortisation of assets and the hosting of special events that as a public service, they are obliged to cover.

Their deficit last year was less than 2.5% of gross revenue. They're not exactly losing money hand over fist.

Special events? Which ones?

Scotty # · 23-01-2021 01:10AM

Elmo wrote: »

Special events? Which ones?

Last year, local and European elections, Rugby world cup. 2018, - the Popes visit, presidential election and the FIFA World Cup.

I doubt every special event loses money but as a whole, they are a liability.

fritzelly · 23-01-2021 01:20AM

Scotty # wrote: »

Last year, local and European elections, Rugby world cup. 2018, - the Popes visit, presidential election and the FIFA World Cup.

I doubt every special event loses money but as a whole, they are a liability.

Yeah all those things happening were a shock to everyone - some advance notice would have been nice

Wonder how much they lost on the Pope visit when everyone one and their dog knew it wasn't gonne be a John Paul event except RTE

RabbleRouser2k · 23-01-2021 01:41AM

fritzelly wrote: »

Yeah all those things happening were a shock to everyone - some advance notice would have been nice

Wonder how much they lost on the Pope visit when everyone one and their dog knew it wasn't gonne be a John Paul event except RTE

Literal empty streets.

It went down far better than Leo's 'Love the Black and Tans' commemoration would have... but not much.
Apparently Pope Francis was none too happy.

RTE is so mired in nostalgia, right now... (everything from paying Ray D'arcy almost half a million euro to host The Den) that it shows you how clearly out of touch they are with the demands of modern Irish audiences.

They could go back to being a one channel broadcaster, and nobody would notice. It's not like anyone watches RTE2 anymore.

fritzelly · 23-01-2021 02:21AM

There's an RTE2 still?

Didn't used to be that bad when it was Net2

RabbleRouser2k · 23-01-2021 03:22AM

fritzelly wrote: »

There's an RTE2 still?

Didn't used to be that bad when it was Net2

It's honestly useless. What's even more frustrating is how it was once a great place to test out talent.
If the fell flat on their face, no harm done-cut your losses and move on to the next emerging talent.
Easy as pie, sorted.

There's no testing ground anymore. New talent havent' a hope of getting hired. Instead it's who you know, or who you're related to.
Or open diversity hires, who don't have 'it'.

23-01-2021 03:44AM

Scotty # wrote: »

I wouldn't fully agree. If Joe Duffy went to Q102 tomorrow he'd bring a large portion of listeners (and advertisers) with him. And if you got some unknow in to replace him I'm not sure the format would still work. It's a bit naïve to think the presenter adds no value.

I'm going to disagree there. An awful lot of people tune into RTE radio one at one pm to get the news. The radio news program is superior to the TV version. Liveline happens to come next and people continue to listen. I really don't see a large portion of people tuning into joe at 1.45 on a different station. liveline, same time different presenter(Marian Finucane) brought in similar figures as currently but was quite a different show.

23-01-2021 03:50AM

Scotty # wrote: »

Last year, local and European elections, Rugby world cup. 2018, - the Popes visit, presidential election and the FIFA World Cup.

I doubt every special event loses money but as a whole, they are a liability.

Tomorrow, Munster v Leinster in a rugby friendly. Basically half the Irish squad pitted against the other half. Where's it being shown? Eircom Sport 1, with highlights shown later on TG4.

With a general absence of sport on at the moment, RTE has I think Little Women on instead.

Tomorrow evening Eircom will be getting my money, and my share of the ad consumption.

fritzelly · 23-01-2021 04:06AM

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm going to disagree there. An awful lot of people tune into RTE radio one at one pm to get the news. The radio news program is superior to the TV version. Liveline happens to come next and people continue to listen. I really don't see a large portion of people tuning into joe at 1.45 on a different station. liveline, same time different presenter(Marian Finucane) brought in similar figures as currently but was quite a different show.

Totally true - when Katie filled in for Joe while doing his death series it was some of the best episodes of LL
Going on two weeks now JD has been obsessed with the mother and babies homes because he wants to cover it completely ignoring the essence of the show.
An incompetent presenter who can barely speak, uses Google while broadcasting to make himself look intelligent and whose hatred of certain elements, parties etc shines thru very evidently in the show. How many times has RTE been sued because of things he has said...

Scotty # · 23-01-2021 08:24AM

RabbleRouser2k wrote: »

They could go back to being a one channel broadcaster, and nobody would notice. It's not like anyone watches RTE2 anymore.

Please, for the purpose of debate, can we please use facts and not just made up gibberish?

RTE 2 is the 3rd most watched channel in Ireland after RTE 1 and Virgin 1 and that includes UK & Sky channels.

RTE account for 25% of ALL TV watched in Ireland.

Scotty # · 23-01-2021 08:26AM

fritzelly wrote: »

Yeah all those things happening were a shock to everyone - some advance notice would have been nice

Can't tell if you're trying to make a point or just posting nonsense?

Scotty # · 23-01-2021 08:34AM

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm going to disagree there. An awful lot of people tune into RTE radio one at one pm to get the news. The radio news program is superior to the TV version. Liveline happens to come next and people continue to listen. I really don't see a large portion of people tuning into joe at 1.45 on a different station. liveline, same time different presenter(Marian Finucane) brought in similar figures as currently but was quite a different show.

OK. I was just giving an example. I've never actually listened to Liveline. But the I still think presenters add a value. Replace Joe with some unknown amateur for a couple of weeks and see how the figures go.

23-01-2021 08:40AM

Scotty # wrote: »

OK. I was just giving an example. I've never actually listened to Liveline. But the I still think presenters add a value. Replace Joe with some unknown amateur for a couple of weeks and see how the figures go.

Change the topic for a couple of weeks and numbers will go up. Its been two weeks of the mother and baby homes and even regular listeners like my self have switched off.

Bring on an unknown presenter and a different topic, maybe make the programme more about current topics and lots of listeners would return.

bigroad · 23-01-2021 08:45AM

Scotty # wrote: »

OK. I was just giving an example. I've never actually listened to Liveline. But the I still think presenters add a value. Replace Joe with some unknown amateur for a couple of weeks and see how the figures go.

No need to get anymore amateurs.

Elmo · 23-01-2021 09:42AM

Scotty # wrote: »

Last year, local and European elections, Rugby world cup. 2018, - the Popes visit, presidential election and the FIFA World Cup.

I doubt every special event loses money but as a whole, they are a liability.

RTÉ were late in publishing there annual report. It was the year before last.

They are accounted for in every sub genre on page 109 of the annual report. News for example saw a cut in funding.

Irish government have largely stayed the course since 1981, with elections ever 4 to 5 years. RWC happen every 4 year RTÉ do not have to buy this special event with virgin media television, eir and TG4 all having some or all rights in the past.

Special events are just 1% of RTÉ over all budget and to put that in context...

Scotty # · 23-01-2021 10:02AM

Elmo wrote: »

Special events are just 1% of RTÉ over all budget and to put that in context...

Special events lost €4.1m in 2019
Net deficit for the year was €7.2m

Therefor... special events accounted for 57% of the deficit.

The top presenters accounted for 0% of the deficit, but lets get rid of them first!

Elmo · 23-01-2021 10:06AM

Scotty # wrote: »

Special events lost €4.1m in 2019
Net deficit for the year was €7.2m

Therefor... special events accounted for 57% of the deficit.

Pope visited in 2018 might just have been an example but thought I'd mention it.

So special events and their top stars represent their total loss!

Also special event are accounted for in there segment account by genre type. General Elections are not special events in democracies.

Elmo · 23-01-2021 10:22AM

Scotty # wrote: »

Please, for the purpose of debate, can we please use facts and not just made up gibberish?

RTE 2 is the 3rd most watched channel in Ireland after RTE 1 and Virgin 1 and that includes UK & Sky channels.

RTE account for 25% of ALL TV watched in Ireland.

RTÉ2 in 2020 has dropped below 5% only pecking above 7% in Nov and Dec last year. There is no news on the channel and it's prime time consists of 55% of repeats, it own content has been bottom of the barrel stuff since 2004, when it re-branded to RTÉ TWO, all the while RTÉ spend 25m on imports!

Scotty # · 23-01-2021 10:40AM

Elmo wrote: »

Pope visited in 2018 might just have been an example but thought I'd mention it.

Huh? What has this got to do with what I posted???

Elmo wrote: »

So special events and their top stars represent their total loss!

No, the shows the stars (to use your term) work on generate income and profit. This profit is then used to subsidise other projects. It's really not that hard to understand.

Elmo wrote: »

General Elections are not special events in democracies.

So what? They are in RTE's accounting dept and annual report.

Elmo wrote: »

RTÉ2 in 2020 has dropped below 5% only pecking above 7% in Nov and Dec last year. There is no news on the channel and it's prime time consists of 55% of repeats, it own content has been bottom of the barrel stuff since 2004, when it re-branded to RTÉ TWO, all the while RTÉ spend 25m on imports!

All irrelevant. 6.1% for the whole year making it the 3rd most watched channel in the county which is the point I was making.

I'll bow out here. It's just going in circles now.

Elmo · 23-01-2021 11:07AM

Scotty it's going around in circles because you keep going back to RTÉ's whataboutery and their press releases.

You are not taking into consideration what posters are saying.

If RTÉ were making in roads in TV content, where 2FM was standing on its own two feet and RTÉ were making a loss, I would be totally behind RTÉ. However, over the last 10 years RTÉ have failed to reform and have failed to provide a quality service. IMHO.

During these ten years they have consistently spoken about "Special Events", which by enlarge are known about long in advance and from which funding is taken from the amount given towards the Department that is dealing with that particular special event. The Special Events do not appear in their financial statements before 2016 or 2015 and they are NOT part of page 109's segmented accounts for each channel and genre, they do not have a section called special events, they have one for Arts, Religion, Other factual, Education, Children's, News, Sport and Entertainment and Music. and perhaps one more but nothing for special events, these are part of the subgenre's mentioned.

In terms of presenters wages. RTÉ over the last 5 years have not cut any funding to presenters wages, they have give slight increases at times, but no cut. RTÉ over those 5 years said everything was to be examined in terms of cutting.

In 2016 RTÉ decided to move Children's content to independent producers saying that they were committed to children's content and that they would continue to support it, that year they cut it by 25% to 7m, the following year 50% to 3m and since then it has ranged from 3.5 to 5m per year or.... if you want around 1% of their overall budget, a similar figure to their top stars, but that is pure whataboutery.

The support for 2FM from the licence fee is questionably. RTÉ up to 2008 were always talking about how it support itself, by 2011 or 2012 it was getting funding from the licence fee, again even though cuts were being administered and 2FM had seen a fall in revenue of 50% it didn't take a cut.

RTÉ2 has lost a significant audiences and is only supported by Sport. They have cut back on its original programming, and spend 25million (every year on average with no cuts) on foreign content yet still manage to have 55% repeats on the channel's prime time schedule.

In 2014 RTÉ2 had a 7% share, in 2020 it had a 4.64% share. With the lack of original programming on the channel, the lack of news (particularly in 2020) RTÉ2 audience was down at 3.71% in May 2020. These figures would be fine if in some way RTÉ2 was not as commercial as it is. To compare it to VMT TWO, it had a 3.45% share in 2020, in 2014 2.5%. (I am not defending VMT TWO or 3e, BRING BACK CHANNEL 6!)

IMHO

Elmo · 23-01-2021 11:34AM

From annual reports just to be clear.

political analyst · 25-01-2021 04:36PM

https://gript.ie/three-reasons-why-no-one-will-tackle-rtes-obscene-salaries/

RTÉ ‘stars’ used to justify these lavish salaries by contrasting their wages with those of BBC presenters. This conveniently ignored the fact that the BBC has an audience something like 15 times the size of ours and therefore pulls in a far greater licence fee and much bigger advertising revenues. It’s like expecting the salary of a Regional Director for Tesco when applying to run the local Spar.

So why does RTÉ think it's necessary to pay such high salaries to its presenters? It's not like any of them would move to Virgin Media!

ohnonotgmail · 25-01-2021 04:42PM

political analyst wrote: »

https://gript.ie/three-reasons-why-no-one-will-tackle-rtes-obscene-salaries/

So why does RTÉ think it's necessary to pay such high salaries to its presenters? It's not like any of them would move to Virgin Media!

what advertising revenue does the BBC have?

political analyst · 25-01-2021 05:23PM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

what advertising revenue does the BBC have?

Fair point.

political analyst · 25-01-2021 05:27PM

Given RTÉ's financial predicament, why is it still wasting money on the unadulterated crap 'Pulling with My Parents'?

Not even Virgin Media (the former TV3) bothers with Irish reality shows anymore - the only reality shows it has are imports from the UK.

ohnonotgmail · 25-01-2021 05:34PM

political analyst wrote: »

Given RTÉ's financial predicament, why is it still wasting money on the unadulterated crap 'Pulling with My Parents'?

Not even Virgin Media (the former TV3) bothers with Irish reality shows anymore - the only reality shows it has are imports from the UK.

they're cheap.

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