Editor’s Note
Terence O’Rourke, the new chair of the RTÉ board, has an interesting decision to make when he takes up the part-time position. Does he sign up to the organisation’s agenda that the licence fee public funding model should be replaced, or does he tell the Montrose whingers to put away the begging bowl and learn to live within their means?
Those means are considerable. Between licence fee and commercial revenue, RTÉ’s income in 2022 was €348m, sufficient to pay 1,735 staff average annual pay of €71,000. This represented a 25% premium on the €57,000 average paid to employees at non-subsidised broadcaster Virgin Media Television. Even with the inflated payroll, RTÉ booked an Ebitda profit of €15m in 2022 while Virgin just about broke even.
Moya Doherty, an O’Rourke predecessor in the role, claimed there is a “consensus” that the traditional licence fee model for funding public service media in Ireland is “fundamentally broken”. Whatever about the groupthink in Arthur Mayne’s pub, the evidence suggests otherwise. In 2022, An Post collected €221.5m in licence fees, equivalent to 1,384,000 households paying the €160 annual levy. By any standards, that’s an impressive recurring revenue stream, underpinned by prosecution for households that don’t cough up.
Licence fees are due from anyone who owns a TV set – it doesn’t matter if they only use the screen for Netflix or video games. They are remitted to Catherine Martin’s media department, which passes on c.€200m to RTÉ. The balance goes to An Post collection costs and funding for independent programme producers.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin favours the licence fee model because it means that most everyone in the country has a stake in the national broadcaster’s output. He is correct on that, but RTÉ wants the licence fee replaced with a ‘household charge’, not because it would be less regressive but because they see a larger public subsidy heading their way.
RTÉ’s annual revenue is a quarter less than it was at the peak. The same applies across all ‘traditional media’ due to advertising spend migration to digital platforms. Other media have introduced efficiencies, and reduced output, salaries, and headcount. As an accountant who once headed up KPMG in Ireland, O’Rourke (69) won’t be unaware that adapting is what good commercial organisations do all the time.
RTÉ’s obsession with campaigning to replace the licence fee has been a huge distraction for the State-owned enterprise. The annual charge has not increased since 2016, and adjusting it for inflation would bring it up to €180. That’s what O’Rourke should focus on achieving, while instructing executives to run the business to budgets.