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

She can't be fired now sure the LC results will be posted soon, and then she had to do her report on the new Junior Infant in the school around the corner from RTÉ, and then she will look at CAO and how its hard to find accommodation for students in UCD, then its the JC results. I mean that's a lot of news to cover over then next few weeks. I notice she was absent from the Election counts!

It is small but it is where the crisis began, you have to remember RTÉ honestly believe that they provide a strong service to the Irish Audience.

Lets look at 2 aspects that affect content

1. The increase in funding to the independent sector from 40m (the statutory amount) to 85m on average, it is the on average part you want to look at, RTÉ won't achieve 85m in 2025, this is due to the fact that RTÉ no long have the resources or experience in their independent production unit, so this average will be spread out over the next 4 years, an increase of 10m in 2025 to 50m, then to 60m and in the final 2 years they'd hope to have 90m in each year, this unfortunately will mean saving money up in 2025 and 2026 for 2027 and 2028. So the audience won't see any effect, if there is any effect.
2. Drama they are doubling their drama from 30 hours to 60 hours, much of this will be co-productions, some from Screen Ireland and the Sound and Vision fund, but little to nothing from RTÉ commissioning/IPU, again as I have stated before RTÉ still has an Acting head of Drama, for the last 3 years at least. They would hope that international co-productions will continue to be available to them over the next few years, but if co-pros become less of a thing for producers, RTÉ will lose out, there is no figure for the amount of money they are spending on Drama, just an increase in hours.

I have only just scanned the document but will read it fully when I get a chance. If you plan to read it fully please post up anything about content that you see.

George Lee not featuring much these days, as busy as Emma?

He was on tonight about Uisce Éireann's plan to bring water from the Shannon to Dublin.

But you are right, while you don't expect them to be on every night, you think at least once a week.

And also absent from the Election Counts.

So got chatGPT to read the intros from the DG and the Chair.

DG: The strategy for RTÉ from 2025-2029 aims to ensure the organization's future and relevance by transforming it into a strong, independent public service. Key goals include providing trusted news, fostering creative ambition, supporting Irish culture, and uniting audiences. This plan follows a period of organizational turmoil and relies on the commitment of staff and partners, as well as funding reform. RTÉ aspires to be transparent, accountable, and deliver value for money, building a modern service that enriches Irish life and garners national pride.

Chair: Public Service media, including RTÉ, faces fundamental challenges due to technological advances, social media, and changing consumption habits. RTÉ's strategy, endorsed by its Board, outlines a realistic roadmap for radical evolution to continue serving Irish society. The plan emphasizes financial sustainability, improved governance, and cultural reform. It aims to restore public trust, bring RTÉ activities closer to its audience, and support the independent audio and video sector. The Board commits to supporting the Director General and the team in implementing this strategy.

Folks, "JUST DONT PAY THE LICENCE FEE", I havent paid it since last August 2023, the letters have stopped arriving into my letterbox since March 2024. Do not engage with them.

Im sure the non -payments/ renewals is very high, hence they cant take thousands to court in an already overloaded district court system and a prison system which is at full capacity.

Fook them, rte as a business model is flawed and rotten to the core.

Heard Bakhurst on earlier. 'Changes' to the LLS and Fair City featured prominently. You'd be shaking your head - if RTE still sees it's future in terms of long past their sell date shows like these. Can only be headed one way, one foot firmly planted in the grave.

They sold it to pay off the executives !

There is a twitter battle between viewers and writers of the show.

You'd think both shows were being axed.

What they should be annoyed about is that FC will move set yet again and TLLS will be produced off site, and maybe at some point they might both be given to the private sector!

I saw this elsewhere in boards and feel I have to post it here.

Might also describe RTEs use of barter account!

I can see moving the Fair City set offsite as freeing up valuable land to sell. However, I can only assume the reason for moving the LLS is due to excessive in-house staffing costs. Otherwise it makes no sense, unless the owners of the new site are 'well connected'...

But RTÉ don't have the money for a new set. They just re-did that set a few years ago.

I think that is the main part of the new direction.

1. RTÉ good
2. RTÉ Player needs to be improved
3. RTÉ will move FC and TLLC to Indo Sector
4. RTÉ governance and other business type stuff to be better
5. RTÉ to remain the same
6. RTÉ good

McGrath said the cabinet would look at the funding model in the next few weeks. Which means they won't look at it until the recess.

Apparently it was all just a misunderstanding about Lottie Ryan and the gig was only for five weeks.

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/radio/lottie-ryan-speaks-out-after-speculation-she-was-axed-from-new-2fm-show/a338451415.html

At this stage, it is just too difficult to try to understand how RTE is "managed".

Regards…jmcc

It is a convenient explanation though and she still, as expected, stays with 2FM.

Regards…jmcc

Forgive me my two cents worth.

I work with (amongst other things) a multinational company, people working in different locations all across the globe at this stage.

Each person is responsible for their "output", each person is responsible for the decisions that they make for the company. Board meetings are held weekly. Outcomes and current trends analyzed. Decisions are made by the CEO (ahem) and if those decisions are bad, he/she is removed. Yearly analysis of all aspects of income are delved into, results of decisions taken have verifiable and tangible results. Costs to deliverability are discussed and all aspects of costing is negotiated and agreed before production/implementation is given the go ahead.

Yes we have a yearly budget to work with. This is not an arbitrary figure. It is a fixed budget. All running costs and strategies are worked into this budget.

RTE is a fixed location, fixed budget, fixed personnel (for the most part) organization.

I FAIL to see how this semi-state cannot be run properly. It's not exactly rocket science. Obviously years of mismanagement, incompetence and corruption, have made RTE what it is today. A MESS. Do I have faith that proper management will ever exist in this organization? Nope. It's a culture within Irish Semi-States/Tax funded Quangos that budgets are to be blown, management is to be rewarded for stupidity, incompetence and waste.

It is RTE. The main problem is that it is a semi-state trying to be a commercial organisation while being supported with a licence fee and taxpayer bailouts. It has skewed the commercial broadcast market (Radio and TV) in Ireland for decades and the government has always stepped in to protect its friends in RTE. With RTE, there's no penalty for failure.

Regards…jmcc

Could be face-saving or the left hand not knowing what the right is doing. It is a station in search of a market while experiencing a mid-life crisis. RTE could be trying out presenters to see who would work best much like what happened before Oliver Callan was selected for the 09:00 slot on RTE1.

Regards…jmcc

I laughed me bollix off when you posted the blurb about the 'kitchen table' market.I never heard this term before but it says it all. The literal kitchen table market must be on average 80 years old now. The term reminds me of school mornings in 1983 when I was 9 years old and coming down to the breakfast table with a head on me. The father would have a transistor radio on and I would despair when I heard the ridiculous jingle of whatever show (maybe Derek Davies) they would listen to. It's burned into my memory in a hilarious way. It might be p^ssing down outside in mid November and this summer jingle would suddenly come on followed by the Nordie accent of Davies which didn't exactly communicate sunshine..

The so called kitchen table market in many parts of the country have been commuter markets for decades now. And that market is competing with pod-casters etc for at least a decade now. The consumer in Ireland has 100% sovereignty over what they listen to but RTE Still gets to charge us with this ridiculous fee on penalty of prison.

When you look at things like the toy show I suddenly wonder who actually watches it? I suspect its main audience could be people in their 40s and 50s. I showed it to my kids here in the Netherlands last Christmas and they were underwhelmed by it. There is just too much choice now.

I like television for the reason that there is a sense that I am interacting with human beings that might be using a camera to record and broadcast a dialogue between other human beings to me. However that element of broadcasting is something younger generations didn't grow up with so much, so won't miss. And what is left of it could be maintained at a fraction of the revenue generated by the license fee.

I spent some time traveling in the Baltic states about 15 years ago.The countries were still rife with corruption. I remember once one of my Lithuanian friends brought me to her brothers place of work where he was a receptionist for this PR type firm. Their equivalent of say Miriam O' Callaghan came along while I was there. She was a nobody who thought she was a somebody. If she had any real talent she would have been working in St. Petersburg or maybe Berlin and It immediately made me think of of RTE. Honest to God, when they are using terms like 'kitchen table' market they are on the verge of bring back 'Going Strong'.

Any word of charges being pressed for the fraudulent accounting of payments and waste of taxpayers money giving golden handshakes etc, the whole thing stinks,,dee must know where the bodies are buried.

And now I recall my late mother listening to harbour hotel in the mid 80's as I had lunch at home in secondary school.

Even then I was thinking wtf? People like this.....

Like fingers Fingleton and Anglo Fitzy, Forbes will balls this out in her locality not giving a pish.