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The “ROTO” television licensing system costs around € 50 million in lost revenue each year, RTÉ’s television controller has said.
Adrian Lynch said there were more than a quarter of a million people avoiding the license fee and 140,000 more households without television.
RTÉ’s director of audiences, channels and marketing added that the broadcaster was not seeking to increase the license fee, but rather wanted the licensing system to be reviewed.
“We are not looking to increase the license fee, we are just looking to reform and fix it,” he said.
You have about 140,000 households without a television and then you have about 250,000 who don’t pay the license fee.
“If you put all that together, you get 50 million euros and we would have a very different conversation in this room.”
He made the comments at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Art, Sport, Culture and Gaeltacht.
It met today to discuss public service broadcasting and the impact of Covid-19 on the media sector.
Lynch said that Covid-19 had caused an immediate “sharp drop” in license fee revenue and a decline in advertising revenue. That drop was more than 30%.
He said commercial revenue in the fourth quarter of the year had “stabilized to some extent,” as had television license revenue, but the outlook for 2021 remained “uncertain.”
“The cost of Brexit on the national economy and trade performance is unknowable, he said.
The combination of a broken television licensing system and a precarious business environment exposes undeniable vulnerabilities for the national public service media.
Despite these difficulties, he told the committee that RTÉ would deliver its cost reduction plans of 60 million euros planned for three years, as proposed by CEO Dee Forbes last year.
He said cost reduction would be achieved through cost management, schedule changes, and large sporting events that would be postponed to next year.
He said the broadcaster had revised the number of layoffs it was seeking from staff down from 200 to 140 due to Covid-19.
He said that 73 people should leave the National Symphony Orchestra and that in January a voluntary departure package will be opened that will seek that 60 to 70 people leave at that time.
“Part of this is because we’ve been getting such great results and we’ve significantly changed the way we work. There is so much remote work and we really see that we need to keep these essential services in the air. “
Lynch told the committee that RTÉ showed a “clear public purpose” during this crisis and had also been a source of “companionship, fun and connection for millions of people.”
Troubled union
Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Seamus Dooley, told the committee that the union was “very concerned” about the future of public service broadcasting in Ireland.
Dooley said Media Minister Catherine Martin had provided “very little clarity” on how the department intended to help address the financial situation at RTÉ.
“There was no real recognition of the tsunami, which is engulfing the newspaper industry, particularly the regional press,” he said.
The focus on independent production within broadcasting ignores the existence of freelancers: writers, photographers, and videographers.
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He said the union welcomed that the Future Media Commission had started its work, but warned: “If we don’t see immediate action, there will be no future for many media workers.”
At the start of the pandemic, Dooley said NUJ had convened a forum on the crisis facing the media industry.
“While initiatives were taken regarding tourism, hospitality and the arts, no immediate and substantial steps were taken to assist the media, apart from the welcome initiative regarding independent commercial radio,” he said.
“While employment in the print, broadcast and digital sectors is not comparable to tourism, the implications for democracy of a diminished media sector should be of concern to this committee.”
John Purcell, Chairman of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland, called for an emergency task force to be established during the pandemic to assist media workers.
Purcell welcomed the establishment of the Future of Media Commission, but cautioned that actions in support of the sector cannot wait until the completion of the process.
“We need to act now to allow our services to survive through the protracted Covid crisis, which has intensified the already serious threats facing our broadcasters,” he told the committee.
The government and minister cannot wait for the Media Commission process to conclude to take action to ensure the survival of Irish broadcasting. If it does, it will be too late for many. “
He added: “The situation is very urgent, time is of the essence and action speaks louder than words.”
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