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RTÉ has come under fire for buying the Irish rights to show Harry and Meghan’s much-talked-about interview despite insiders revealing that they bought it for a bargain price of less than € 10,000.
The national broadcaster will screen the two-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey on RTÉ Two at 9.30pm on Monday night, which is half an hour after it begins airing on ITV in the UK.
This comes almost 24 hours after the controversial chat first aired in the United States on CBS.
The British rights sparked a bidding war and the BBC withdrew when it exceeded £ 1 million (€ 1,160,000).
Spokespersons for Labor and Sinn Féin told Sunday World last night that they will ask questions in Dáil to Communications Minister Catherine Martin and will also write to the RTÉ board to find out how much the broadcaster paid for the show, and also they questioned why they are showing it. First of all.
An insider in the television industry revealed that the show would have been purchased for as little as 10,000 euros or even less.
“It’s called an acquisition and since it was already screened in the US, and it was shown earlier on Monday night on a UK channel that is easily accessible in Ireland, then we are talking about less than € 10,000. and it might even be half of that. “
RTÉ has declined to confirm how much they spent on it, with an insider there stating: “RTÉ acquired the show at acquisition rates that are a small fraction of what Irish programming costs. The fees are based on a very small market size. , so this has reached the same level as any other purchased program. “
But the screening has met the fury of Labor Communications and Media spokeswoman Marie Sherlock.
“The RTÉ highlights program in the League of Ireland has been removed on Monday nights, making the decision to buy the rights to Oprah’s interview even more frustrating,” Sherlock said.
“I doubt that the Highlights game will cost a lot to produce and now it is necessary to ask serious questions about how money is being spent on commissioning Irish content, in general, to support Irish football.”
Sherlock said he will write to the RTÉ board to find out how much they paid for the show and its rationale.
“Given that the vast majority of houses have Saorview or subscriptions have access to UK channels, it seems remarkable that RTÉ would buy the rights to broadcast the interview, particularly at a time when RTÉ is considering its own costs and has to cut them. , “she added.
“Even if it’s less than € 10,000, there should still be a national interest in why they should spend so much money, and I don’t think royalty will.”
Ms. Sherlock said she would not have time to watch the show herself as she has three young children and usually only watches the news.
“Of course there is some interest in this and some Irish people are curious about royalty and (they) are a source of fascination and do a good job, but in terms of their private life I am not interested in them,” she said. saying.
Sinn Féin Communications spokeswoman Imelda Munster said she will also not be watching and will present a question in the Dáil to the minister on the matter.
“RTÉ is continuously crying poverty and the big question is how much they paid for it,” he emphasized.
“They may think there will be interest in it, but why buy the rights when it’s going to be on other channels like ITV and also on social media apps? So was it wise to spend money on British royal family gossip?”
CBS has already confirmed that the “eye-opening” interview will focus on Meghan’s experience in the public eye.
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