There has been a lot of commentary (some accurate, some inaccurate) about what is happening with RTÉ. Now perhaps is a good moment to explain to our audience, directly, what the transformation of RTÉ will mean for them.
We are working toward a RTÉ that is financially viable. We are committed to an RTÉ that is properly run, where we spend responsibly and behave with transparency and accountability. But to be sustainable, we need to reduce our overheads. RTÉ needs to be smaller by up to 400 people over the next five years. We have made a good start on that.
Smaller does not mean “hollowed-out”. RTÉ will still be a broadcasting powerhouse, producing – in-house – thousands of hours of news, sport, current affairs, investigations, Irish-language and entertainment on our television, radio and other platforms. RTÉ’s ability to deliver major national moments – whether elections or sporting or cultural moments – will be undiminished. Alongside a refreshed RTÉ Radio 1, we will also have an ambitious podcast production plan. We will maintain and protect the wonder that is the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, our important public events programme and essential schemes such as RTÉ Supporting the Arts. We will still have about 1,400 people on our staff. This is not “hollowed-out”.
But RTÉ will also be commissioning more from Ireland’s independent sector, and this is where some regrettable confusion has emerged. RTÉ is mandated, in law, to support Ireland’s local, independent producers. We do this by commissioning content that is in fulfilment of RTÉ’s public service objects. RTÉ will maintain direct control of what it commissions for audiences – that means our editorial teams will guide not only the type, format and content of programming that is produced, but also the quality of that programming.
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The contention that working with Ireland’s independent documentary makers and film-makers, or with Irish production and animation houses, will result in a reduction in quality or a drop in the scale and quality of Ireland’s public service media is unfounded.
It is also (perhaps unintentionally) insulting to a sector that has made its mark on the world, that has sustained local communities all over Ireland, and which deserves all our support. Indeed, that support from RTÉ was recommended (and the recommendation was adopted by government) in the Future of Media report. RTÉ will fulfil this directive and will spend about 25 per cent of our public funding with independent companies across Ireland.
[ What exactly does the Future of Media Commission report say?Opens in new window ]
Those companies – which are often small, and based entirely in Ireland – already produce great programmes for RTÉ, such as Traitors Ireland (yes, it’ll be back), Room to Improve, First Dates and Dancing with the Stars. They produced about 70 hours of documentaries this year, commissioned and overseen by RTÉ. Aside from our ever popular Fair City, they co-produce all of our drama, from Kin to The Walsh Sisters to the forthcoming These Sacred Vows, and all of our children’s programmes.
So, this isn’t about a hollowing-out at all. It is about securing the future of public service media in Ireland through a RTÉ that employs and produces, but also one that commissions and develops. This is not just about securing a broadcaster but protecting the future of an entire sector. It is about investing in our people, and in Ireland.
The multiyear funding that RTÉ has received has been crucial in allowing us to invest strategically. And I need to correct an error here too. In a recent column by Justine McCarthy in The Irish Times, it was stated that “the State’s purse is €725 million the poorer from the broadcaster’s annualised bailout by the Government”. This is untrue. RTÉ’s funding has been guaranteed at €725 million over three years, inclusive of funds raised by the TV licence. The cost to the exchequer, therefore, will probably be a quarter of that, and this too is in the important context that the annual charge for the TV licence has been unchanged for almost 20 years.
Notwithstanding any misunderstanding of the funding guarantee, it has and will continue to allow RTÉ to make bold, long-term investments in new Irish drama, and in major commissions. It will allow us to expand RTÉ’s presence in Cork and elsewhere outside Dublin. It will allow us to plan for the needs of our audiences as they evolve.
We are not alone in our strategy. Across Europe and in the UK, public service media organisations are investing in digital while aiming to be smaller and more agile. They, like us, are working with the whole of their national creative sector. It is a strategy in line with the vision of the expert Future of Media Commission, strongly backed by public consultation, and supported by our independent regulator. This strategy will build a brilliant and vibrant RTÉ that delivers for you – our audiences – and for Ireland, while continuing to be a great place to work, produce and create for our committed and talented staff. That is a future worth fighting for.
Kevin Bakhurst is the director general of RTÉ
