Best way to Improve RTE and get Value from the licence fee

Wompa1 · 12-10-2011 04:55PM

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Chuck's swinging sword plan.

Slim it down.

2 TV stations. RTE(1) (RED rutton for sports) and TG4
2 Radio Stations. RTE Radio (1) RTE Irish speaking.

Sell the rest and make what's left operate without advertising like the BBC.

Nobody who gets paid from the public purse should be on a wage more that say 5x the Average industrial wage.

Do away with public responsibility for any pension in the PS/CS.

Pay the last 30% of PS/CS wages in the form of a retractable bonus which would be retracted in the event of economic downturns, poor performance and bad attendance rates.

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charlemont · 12-10-2011 04:59PM

The best value you can get from the TV License is not to pay it !!!
RTÉ are a biased corporation and they wont be getting a cent of me. absolutely woeful news reporting, UTV NewsLine is actually way better.

mcmoustache · 12-10-2011 05:09PM

4leto wrote: »

I think TG4 is a serious waste of Turbity tax.

???

With their tiny budget, they manage to produce some very good TV. I'm nopt a fan of Ros na Rún but tg4s documentaries are impressive. Mobs Mheiriceá would be a good example.

The people down in Baile ne hAbhann seem to be ambitious and quite creative and without the sense of entitlement of RTE staff.

If RTE were as effective as tg4 are with their limited funds, we'd have a national broadcaster which could give the beeb a good run for their money.

General General · 12-10-2011 09:37PM

mcmoustache wrote: »

???

With their tiny budget, they manage to produce some very good TV. I'm nopt a fan of Ros na Rún but tg4s documentaries are impressive. Mobs Mheiriceá would be a good example.

The people down in Baile ne hAbhann seem to be ambitious and quite creative and without the sense of entitlement of RTE staff.

If RTE were as effective as tg4 are with their limited funds, we'd have a national broadcaster which could give the beeb a good run for their money.

...as opposed to giving you the runs if you watch more than thirty consecutive minutes of it.

Ash.J.Williams · 18-10-2011 11:02AM

By Mark O'Regan and Peter Flanagan

Tuesday October 18 2011

RTE'S top-earning stars were bluntly told last night: take salary cuts or go elsewhere for work.
The stark ultimatum was delivered by Director General Noel Curran to star presenters such as Pat Kenny, Ryan Tubridy, Joe Duffy and Marian Finucane.
In one of the most strongly worded statements to date, Mr Curran said the economic reality at the station was so grave that RTE's stars had to accept the cuts in their lucrative salaries.
Speaking at Dublin City University, Mr Curran, who earns €250,000 a year, conceded that many of the national broadcaster's top talents may decide to jump ship.
But it was a price he was willing to pay so that the national broadcaster could return to a sound economic footing.
He emphasised that the highest paid presenters would have taken an overall 30pc pay cut by 2013 based on their 2008 salaries.
"We may, during this process of renegotiation lose some of our most talented and loved presenters to our competitors. That would be very regrettable, but if some choose to leave, we will adjust, find new voices and new ways to deliver services and programmes," he added.
By 2008 pay levels, a cut of 30pc in Pat Kenny's would mean a drop from €950,976 to €665,683. The 2008 figure includes his pay from 'The Late Late Show', however. Under the plan, Marian Finucane's €570,000 pay cheque in 2008 would fall to €399,000.
Ryan Tubridy is believed to make significantly more than the €533,333 he earned in 2008, given he now presents the 'Late Late Show'. The scheme would cut Joe Duffy's €408,889 salary to some €286,000.
RTE has long justified paying its top performers what were perceived to be exorbitant salaries on the basis that it had to pay its talent competitive rates.
While Mr Curran has previously indicated significant pay cuts were coming for its highest earners, this is the first time he has admitted that losing talent to rival broadcasters would be inevitable.
Mr Curran added that by the end of the year RTE would have some 300 fewer staff than in 2008 and as a result "service levels will be impacted and most likely reduced".
Given those restrictions, RTE will have six key priorities in programming services over the next three years, with renewed emphasis on investigative journalism, arts & culture, innovation, children and young people, 24-hour news on demand, and national events including sport.
Obligations
"The key message here is that we will meet our public service obligations, but we will do so by doing things differently, by being more efficient and by being more focused. Key in all of this is having very clear priorities, for it is only by having priorities can we make consistent decisions, particularly when scaling back some activities."
He also admitted that while RTE had "not always been as transparent as it should have been", it "is now one of the most transparent media organisations operating".
In what seemed to be a reference to a Competition Authority decision last week, Mr Curran said that while "we haven't always balanced our competitive and non-competitive imperatives properly, we are dependent on commercial income to provide the range of output we offer. We are also legally constituted to pursue that income and we will continue to do so".
- Mark O'Regan and Peter Flanagan

upforit101 · 18-10-2011 11:10AM

Privatise it - though I doubt anyone would pay much for it.
No licence fee
The free market is good enough for TV3, it'll be good enough for RTE.

voz es · 18-10-2011 11:14AM

I'm not a fan of protests, but this aparent license fee is a total farce.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 18-10-2011 11:19AM

30% is a good start. Let's hope the cuts rise to about.... ohhhhh... say, 75%. And fire Marian Finucane. She's irrelevant. Gay Byrne too. Take them out to pasture.

readyletsgo · 18-10-2011 11:23AM

Hope they all dont take the pay cut and leave, then it will leave RTE open for YOUNG NEW FRESH TALLENT that will gladly take a decent wage like €60,000pa.
Ugh, just fire them all! RTE will have very tallented presenters applying and on air by the next morning to take over.

Galtee · 18-10-2011 11:24AM

Curran said that he can see RTE talent going to competitors because of the paycuts? Does that mean that competitors can afford to pay them the higher rates even though the competitors don't get any of the TV Licence? Hmmmmmmmmm.

markesmith · 18-10-2011 12:21PM

I would sooner it be privatised and ended up evolving into a totally tabloid channel, than retain it in its current guise.

All of the above presenters are way overpaid, and appear complacent in a time where everybody is 'tightening their belts'.

Something needs to be done about RTE. It's long gone beyond a joke.

I for one won't be paying the license fee - and if they think they've heard every excuse, wait 'til they hear my one.

yermanoffthetv · 18-10-2011 01:29PM

I say have RTE1 and TG4 recieve direct funding through the licence payer for public service obligations only. The rest of the licence fee should go into a central pool and all the channels can apply for funding for home grown productions/HD infastructure. US and Brit shows would be ineligible for funding and would have to be paid for by ad revenue from those channels.

That way it would be much harder to justify ridiculous wages. Vincent Brown earns about 60k a year from TV3 and does a better job than Kenny on his 900k. If they dont like it, tough. Some new faces would be no harm for RTE anyway.

Ash.J.Williams · 18-10-2011 01:37PM

I'm against privatisation, as a country of this size needs proper public service broadcasting. However the days of Joe Duffy, Kenny, Tubridy, o'callaghan, and finucane are over and should take their rediculous salaries and f** off for good. We don't need them and who cares if they go abroad. They certainly won't get the cash RTE pay them...Us the viewer breaking our balls trying to pay the TV license to those over paid useless people is sickening to be totally honest..

flutered · 18-10-2011 01:38PM

Nathaniel Agreeable Quake wrote: »

30% is a good start. Let's hope the cuts rise to about.... ohhhhh... say, 75%. And fire Marian Finucane. She's irrelevant. Gay Byrne too. Take them out to pasture.

breakingnews.ie are running with a story saying gb is getting deaf and will lose his hearing, a damm go reason for termination of a presenters contract of if not having one ever reciveing work again.

Venom · 18-10-2011 01:40PM

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

By Mark O'Regan and Peter Flanagan

Tuesday October 18 2011

RTE'S top-earning stars were bluntly told last night: take salary cuts or go elsewhere for work.
The stark ultimatum was delivered by Director General Noel Curran to star presenters such as Pat Kenny, Ryan Tubridy, Joe Duffy and Marian Finucane.
In one of the most strongly worded statements to date, Mr Curran said the economic reality at the station was so grave that RTE's stars had to accept the cuts in their lucrative salaries.
Speaking at Dublin City University, Mr Curran, who earns €250,000 a year, conceded that many of the national broadcaster's top talents may decide to jump ship.
But it was a price he was willing to pay so that the national broadcaster could return to a sound economic footing.
He emphasised that the highest paid presenters would have taken an overall 30pc pay cut by 2013 based on their 2008 salaries.
"We may, during this process of renegotiation lose some of our most talented and loved presenters to our competitors. That would be very regrettable, but if some choose to leave, we will adjust, find new voices and new ways to deliver services and programmes," he added.
By 2008 pay levels, a cut of 30pc in Pat Kenny's would mean a drop from €950,976 to €665,683. The 2008 figure includes his pay from 'The Late Late Show', however. Under the plan, Marian Finucane's €570,000 pay cheque in 2008 would fall to €399,000.
Ryan Tubridy is believed to make significantly more than the €533,333 he earned in 2008, given he now presents the 'Late Late Show'. The scheme would cut Joe Duffy's €408,889 salary to some €286,000.
RTE has long justified paying its top performers what were perceived to be exorbitant salaries on the basis that it had to pay its talent competitive rates.
While Mr Curran has previously indicated significant pay cuts were coming for its highest earners, this is the first time he has admitted that losing talent to rival broadcasters would be inevitable.
Mr Curran added that by the end of the year RTE would have some 300 fewer staff than in 2008 and as a result "service levels will be impacted and most likely reduced".
Given those restrictions, RTE will have six key priorities in programming services over the next three years, with renewed emphasis on investigative journalism, arts & culture, innovation, children and young people, 24-hour news on demand, and national events including sport.
Obligations
"The key message here is that we will meet our public service obligations, but we will do so by doing things differently, by being more efficient and by being more focused. Key in all of this is having very clear priorities, for it is only by having priorities can we make consistent decisions, particularly when scaling back some activities."
He also admitted that while RTE had "not always been as transparent as it should have been", it "is now one of the most transparent media organisations operating".
In what seemed to be a reference to a Competition Authority decision last week, Mr Curran said that while "we haven't always balanced our competitive and non-competitive imperatives properly, we are dependent on commercial income to provide the range of output we offer. We are also legally constituted to pursue that income and we will continue to do so".
- Mark O'Regan and Peter Flanagan

Even with a cut of 30pc the likes of Pat Kenny on €665,683 is still a crazy amount of money to be paid by a failing station running at a loss not to mention Marian Finucane earning €399,000 is nothing more than complete farce for the amount of broadcast hours she does.

The licence fee should be split evenly between all of the TV stations and such a move might even encourage the setting up of new ones which creates jobs, competition and value for money for the tax payer.

RichieC · 18-10-2011 01:40PM

Cut RTE down to just the news and the oireachtas report and sell the rest of their airtime over to a private company.

starbelgrade · 18-10-2011 01:41PM

The best way to improve RTE is simple;

1. Sack everybody
2. Use the money to buy up the TV rights to football matches
3. Show football 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. (the 7th day could be used for documentaries about football).

You may not agree with this, but it's what I would do.

Oh_Noes · 18-10-2011 01:44PM

upforit101 wrote: »

Privatise it - though I doubt anyone would pay much for it.
No licence fee
The free market is good enough for TV3, it'll be good enough for RTE.

At least then we would be able to establish what the market is in terms of wages for "talent". The idea that the competitors are going to lure Tubs, Kenny, Duffy et all unless you pay them fractions of millions is laughable.

Who's going to lure them with six figure salaries? TV3? Setanta? Maybe Channel South? It's just stupid.

Public service broadcasting is a relic of media history and is completely uneccessary as well as being anti-competitive.

Son Of A Vidic · 18-10-2011 01:46PM

Amazing how we pay the salaries of these talentless kunts and I don't even watch RTE and its televisual faeces.

flutered · 18-10-2011 01:46PM

if things are so bad then why the hell has byrne and murphy been given work because they could not hack it outside of rte, which in byrnes case is a case of twice been bitten, that announcement made last night by the dg is only a smoke screen if he was serious the above two would be depending on their pensions or relatives like a lot of us who are of pensionable age.

4leto · 18-10-2011 01:56PM

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

By Mark O'Regan and Peter Flanagan

Tuesday October 18 2011

RTE'S top-earning stars were bluntly told last night: take salary cuts or go elsewhere for work.
The stark ultimatum was delivered by Director General Noel Curran to star presenters such as Pat Kenny, Ryan Tubridy, Joe Duffy and Marian Finucane.
In one of the most strongly worded statements to date, Mr Curran said the economic reality at the station was so grave that RTE's stars had to accept the cuts in their lucrative salaries.
Speaking at Dublin City University, Mr Curran, who earns €250,000 a year, conceded that many of the national broadcaster's top talents may decide to jump ship.
But it was a price he was willing to pay so that the national broadcaster could return to a sound economic footing.
He emphasised that the highest paid presenters would have taken an overall 30pc pay cut by 2013 based on their 2008 salaries.
"We may, during this process of renegotiation lose some of our most talented and loved presenters to our competitors. That would be very regrettable, but if some choose to leave, we will adjust, find new voices and new ways to deliver services and programmes," he added.
By 2008 pay levels, a cut of 30pc in Pat Kenny's would mean a drop from €950,976 to €665,683. The 2008 figure includes his pay from 'The Late Late Show', however. Under the plan, Marian Finucane's €570,000 pay cheque in 2008 would fall to €399,000.
Ryan Tubridy is believed to make significantly more than the €533,333 he earned in 2008, given he now presents the 'Late Late Show'. The scheme would cut Joe Duffy's €408,889 salary to some €286,000.
RTE has long justified paying its top performers what were perceived to be exorbitant salaries on the basis that it had to pay its talent competitive rates.
While Mr Curran has previously indicated significant pay cuts were coming for its highest earners, this is the first time he has admitted that losing talent to rival broadcasters would be inevitable.
Mr Curran added that by the end of the year RTE would have some 300 fewer staff than in 2008 and as a result "service levels will be impacted and most likely reduced".
Given those restrictions, RTE will have six key priorities in programming services over the next three years, with renewed emphasis on investigative journalism, arts & culture, innovation, children and young people, 24-hour news on demand, and national events including sport.
Obligations
"The key message here is that we will meet our public service obligations, but we will do so by doing things differently, by being more efficient and by being more focused. Key in all of this is having very clear priorities, for it is only by having priorities can we make consistent decisions, particularly when scaling back some activities."
He also admitted that while RTE had "not always been as transparent as it should have been", it "is now one of the most transparent media organisations operating".
In what seemed to be a reference to a Competition Authority decision last week, Mr Curran said that while "we haven't always balanced our competitive and non-competitive imperatives properly, we are dependent on commercial income to provide the range of output we offer. We are also legally constituted to pursue that income and we will continue to do so".
- Mark O'Regan and Peter Flanagan

Some of those wages mentioned are absolutely shocking, I like RTE and the service it provides, if I was to my own Nielsen rating survey I know I watch and listen to RTE substantially more then any other station.

So if some of this "talent" jumps ship I really don't think any other private broadcaster could offer even the reduced wages. So I don't think Noel Curran would have to worry to much on loosing the "talent".

RTE really is on its knees, you can't increase the licence fee, that would be politically impossible and because of the recession you can't increase ad revenue. Something has to give, if it was a private company it would be in receivership.

cock robin · 18-10-2011 03:00PM

RTE is now and always has been a pile of sh1te. The same old tired assholes are trotted out on most of their shows throughout the year. I've an idea. Stop showing imported tripe tv shows and make some decent productions using local (unconnected to present telly Eirean "stars" past or present) talent. Give the younger generation access to the state broadcaster which their parents and grandparents have funded for years. Stop paying Turbity, Duffy and Kenny vast sums of money to attract what in real terms are paltry audiences.

Oh_Noes · 18-10-2011 03:07PM

flutered wrote: »

if things are so bad then why the hell has byrne and murphy been given work because they could not hack it outside of rte

I'm amazed at the cheek of them constantly rehashing this not very original "interview with...", "sit down with..." "one to one with..." format. Always rotating people from in-house in RTE to be interviewed by someone else from RTE. Failing that, an Irish actor who's been successful in Hollywood at some point.

They will cycle everyone in RTE into this mix as both presenter and guest. It's shameful that we're forced to pay to fund this half-arsed attempt at a television channel.

Mal-Adjusted · 18-10-2011 03:15PM

Snakeblood wrote: »

YOU DON'T FUCK WITH TWINK.

of course not, who the **** would?

4leto · 18-10-2011 03:20PM

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

of course not, who the **** would?

Ehhh I would:(:confused:

Talk and panel shows are cheap and they get a big audience.

What I don't understand is how they can make a mess of other successful shows. I love the Beeb masterchef, but RTE made a complete balls of that.

aidan24326 · 18-10-2011 03:53PM

4leto wrote: »

I love the Beeb masterchef, but RTE made a complete balls of that.

They really did. It was sh1te compared to the BBC version.

Oh_Noes wrote: »

At least then we would be able to establish what the market is in terms of wages for "talent". The idea that the competitors are going to lure Tubs, Kenny, Duffy et all unless you pay them fractions of millions is laughable.

Who's going to lure them with six figure salaries? TV3? Setanta? Maybe Channel South? It's just stupid.

This is what's laughable about it alright. No other station in Ireland could realistically pay their huge wages, and I doubt very much if the likes of Joe Duffy and Marian Fiucane are going to have the big British stations chasing them with juicy contracts, considering most people across the pond have never even heard of them.

And Tubridy has been a disaster on the LLS, he's losing viewership week by week. You really have to wonder at this stage just exactly what his 'talents' are that justify his enormous salary?? I can't think of even one so please do enlighten me.

Galtee · 18-10-2011 04:14PM

aidan24326 wrote: »

They really did. It was sh1te compared to the BBC version.

This is what's laughable about it alright. No other station in Ireland could realistically pay their huge wages, and I doubt very much if the likes of Joe Duffy and Marian Fiucane are going to have the big British stations chasing them with juicy contracts, considering most people across the pond have never even heard of them.

And Tubridy has been a disaster on the LLS, he's losing viewership week by week. You really have to wonder at this stage just exactly what his 'talents' are that justify his enormous salary?? I can't think of even one so please do enlighten me.

RTE thought they were hiring Henry Kelly.

4leto · 18-10-2011 04:19PM

aidan24326 wrote: »

They really did. It was sh1te compared to the BBC version.

This is what's laughable about it alright. No other station in Ireland could realistically pay their huge wages, and I doubt very much if the likes of Joe Duffy and Marian Fiucane are going to have the big British stations chasing them with juicy contracts, considering most people across the pond have never even heard of them.

And Tubridy has been a disaster on the LLS, he's losing viewership week by week. You really have to wonder at this stage just exactly what his 'talents' are that justify his enormous salary?? I can't think of even one so please do enlighten me.

Although I am not a fan, I don't think he is wholly to blame for the mess that has become the LLS.

I just think that type of show has had its day, I am no longer interested in celebrity lives. And the national issues part of the show has moved to Pat Kenny's Frontline and here on the internet.

So I don't think it would matter if they replaced tubs with someone else. I think it will still lose viewers.

Ash.J.Williams · 18-10-2011 04:59PM

http://entertainment.ie/celebrity_gossip/RTE-Finally-Grow-a-Set-Regarding-Pay/88334.htm

aidan24326 · 18-10-2011 05:13PM

4leto wrote: »

Although I am not a fan, I don't think he is wholly to blame for the mess that has become the LLS.

I just think that type of show has had its day, I am no longer interested in celebrity lives. And the national issues part of the show has moved to Pat Kenny's Frontline and here on the internet.

So I don't think it would matter if they replaced tubs with someone else. I think it will still lose viewers.

You do have a point, the LLS format is very outdated for sure. Still though, it has to be said Tubridy has done nothing to revamp the format or make the show in any way interesting or relevant, so he's hardly doing much to justify the massive salary that we're told his 'talent' warrants. At least Pat Kenny is actually a pretty decent broadcaster when he sticks to political and current affairs stuff, though still highly overpaid at that.

Best way to Improve RTE and get Value from the licence fee

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