RTE Cutbacks The Plan

Are they cutting the licence fee too?

Dee Forbes repeatedly quoted whinging about the need for these cuts, given the government's failure to extract enough licence revenue from the taxpayer -- although this is comical from someone with a total remuneration package of €338,000.

Pat? Which Pat? Expensive Pat is at Newstalk for years now.

SPDUB wrote: »

Main Points are

200 jobs lost

Indefinite pay freeze for all staff

10pc pay cut for senior executives

15 per cent pay cut for its highest earning presenters

Lyric will not closed but will “much reduced” and operate out of Dublin and Cork

Other cuts include the closure of RTɒs digital radio stations and the closure of Aertel.

All major sporting events will be moved to RTÉ One.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/rt%C3%A9-planning-200-job-cuts-and-15-per-cent-pay-reduction-for-top-presenters-1.4074889

So there goes the attempt by RTE to broaden and diversify it's listening base
meanwhile RTE 2FM continues, surely it would have made sense to sell the pop music channel rather than save pennies by closing all the DAB/soarview stations.

(oh yes this means effectively the death of DAB in Ireland, not that it ever developed beyond the first stage)

Not sure how moving "major" sport to RTE 1 helps financially - also what's major? Come the next Euros or World Cup does that mean all games on 1 or just the Irish matches? If the big sport events are moved surely that weakens RTE Two in the market, RTE One is strong as it is so that feels like a shooting yourself in the foot strategy.

RTÉ says it will continue to provide “a mid-west news service” in Limerick

why? The South East and the North West do not have such luxury!

No mention of the dreaded orchestras which cost several millions a year

Why is 2FM not being affected by these cuts? It's a station that's losing money and is providing nothing different to the umpteen other youth stations that exist now. Harking back to its heyday in the 1980s (when it only had some pirates as competition) is an exercise in futility.

According to RTÉ's numbers, 2FM produced a deficit of €342,000 in 2017, which was down on the loss of €778,000 in the previous year. On the face of it, that looks like a great improvement - but analysis of RTÉ's annual report suggests that station's performance worsened in 2017. Net commercial revenues went from €5.8m in 2018 to €4.4m. Public funding plugged the gap, with licence fee attribution going from just over €5m in 2016 to €6.7m a year later.

Last year was a tough year for radio advertising and despite RTÉ's efforts to return 2FM back to its 'hugely profitable' glory days when the station was a cash cow for the group, the youth station continues to be challenged.

(Source Here)