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

Vogue and Rory's stories will be shoehorned into it next. Guarantee it. Them, and Joanne McNally.

Naked Camera was fine in the beginning, but the more the show was seen, the more recognised the comedians were. And that made it more difficult to get away with the pranks. I think even PJ Gallagher admitted to that. The more the show went on, the less and less their skits were successful. The Fear mostly wasn't comedians, and so the skits fell flat. Scorchio was just a disaster from the get go. Caught ten minutes, and sat there stony faced the whole time.

Amazing how quickly Doireann dropped Dermot Whelan, after their 'plan' to prank so many Irish celebrities... but of course, that doesn't help Doireann's image, I guess. And they abandoned the 'prank' celebs, and went with ordinary folks.

She is indeed...

Is there literally no other talent agency in the country?

Anyway DG job is being advertised for anyone interested in the role, I am guessing that its mainly a non-job and most people with some work-experience could "run" RTÉ.

But as we come to the end of the 7 years of her tenure, 3 public consultations in that period, the move of the NSO and choirs to the NCH, how do the wait and see people here really think of RTÉ under Dee Forbes? Or should we have another consultation?

Re the Toy show musical - That's it is it?

RTE basically took a couple of pallets of our cash, brought them out to the back of the studios, helped themselves to large wads of the cash for salaries/fees etc, and then burned the remaining cash on an ill contrived vanity project with no follow up, no accountability - that's it, lets just move on.

WTF is this country like?

You'd hope, I would have no problem with this as a film or even as an RTÉjr Christmas special, filmed in RTÉ Studios.

Even the Toy Show studio, while I understand that they have to put money into it, its hard to understand why they never used the studio for children's TV the following year, to get more use out of it. Though now that they have in-house children's TV that cann't be done.

But if everyone pays the same charge, as with current system, isn't that pretty regressive? I suspect RTE would still prefer direct exchequer funding as recommended by the commission and this is next best thing for them...

Regardless just think about signing off on this would work. I don't see any improvement in RTÉ by signing such blank cheques.

RTÉ can't plan. As I have said before the Minister gave the go ahead for the move of the NSO to the NCH in budget 2021, that move did not take place until 2022, even though it had been in planning since 2018. Why were RTÉ not able to successfully move the NSO to the NCH in 2021? costing them €8m.

Secondly RTÉ have received increases from the licence fee, from the return of Licence fee funding that TG4 received in 2018 and increase from the Social Protection department, an increase of €10m per year over 5 years since 2020.

And what about Exchequer funding does it work...?

Well when you consider that from 2011 to 2017 TG4 had a reduction in its exchequer funding and had it replace by TV licence fee funding the answer is NO. (A decision made by a Green Minister, someone who would have no political bias against RTÉ or TG4).

Paywalled but I kinda get the idea - About feckin time.

Catherine also kicked the direct funding to touch as well a good while back -

That bold bit ^ was always why direct Exchequer funding could never be a runner

Well just in the last few months they've blown 80k on the Autumn launch, spent a huge (unknown) amount tarting up the Radio 1 studios and the icing on the cake, the massive amount burnt on the TSTM.

Lets just be grateful the MI crew weren't sent over to Davos for the week

Has RTÉ ever been involved or funded any part of an Irish Oscar success story?

TG4's CINE4 (which has co-funding from the Screen Ireland and the BAI) shows TG4's flexibility, I'd hope that if either of the co-sponsors decide to drop out of the project that TG4 would consider continuing it even if it is in a smaller scale. I am not sure how much each funding partner put into, perhaps TG4 put in little and almost all of the funding comes from SI and the BAI, it is however commission through TG4, so its TG4's team.

Just to rephrase RTÉ's statement on TSTM and relate it to TG4 funding of CINE4: -

Can you imagine what Dee Forbes and RTÉ would be saying all of yesterday had they been involved. It would be wall to wall RTÉ this RTÉ that RTÉ RTÉ RTÉ RTÉ.

This is there stance on a failure image how up their own arses they'd be on a success.

I would disagree with this analysis. I actually believe it is RTÉ who are bullying the government.

Take your Lyric FM example.

1. It starts with Prime Time being used to highlight that RTÉ could close Lyric FM completely (something that the report should have pointed out was unlikely to happen because RTÉ would need to get permission from the Minister, no minister would have agreed)
2. Over the next week, or so, RTÉ downplay it to "well we might have to close the Lyric FM studio" (I was in the Oireachtas as TD and Sentor from Limerick came into tell RTÉ that this cannot happen)
3. Then the government had an emergency meeting and a Dail debate was organized Dec 2019, which lead to Minister Bruton giving RTÉ an extra €10m in funding every year over the next 5 years.
4. In 2020 RTÉ reduced funding to Lyric FM by around €500,000 while increasing funding to an ever declining 2FM (RTÉ have funding 2FM from the licence fee since 2011, or so, previously it was self-sufficient something RTÉ were all to proud to announce).
5. All of this is along with, the return of funding to TG4 from the licence fee in 2019 worth an additional ~€8m to RTÉ per year, the move of the NSO in 2022 worth a saving of €8m per year to RTÉ (which should have happened in 2021 but for some apparent reason didn't happen).
6. That's an additional €26m that RTÉ will have in 2023, because of their strategic Begging Bowl (they also got an their Social Welfare money returned, not sure how much that was worth).
7. And then they go and fund a Theatrical Musical, can you imagine if either Screen Ireland, the BAI or TG4 did this?
8. My point is that RTÉ would be shouting it from the roof tops at their success at the Oscars and they would use it to build the idea for an increase in funding. Something TG4 is doing but its not getting as much air time as poor old ... ikell RTÉ, awh the poor ikle baba can't Plan, it just can't, no,it can't, here's €160 for you, here you go, yes you do.

Saturday night- Lines are now closed….. yeah, that’s because it was originally broadcast in April 2022…..

Pr1cks