It’s hardly a surprise for audiences that the controversy surrounding the government’s TV licence fees over the past year has seemingly come to regrettably predictable end. The same system, with RTÉ offering improved communication, will persist. The licence charge remains stagnant at €160 per annum. Despite An Post receiving €6 million for essential improvements to its collection method, it’s probable that only current homeowners listed on its outdated database will continue to pay; that too, only when renewal notices turn intolerably blunt.
Changes to the narrative are minimal, with the government’s subsidy to bridge the gap between licence revenues and the support RTÉ needs to keep its services running, being formalised into a three-year-long agreement. This revised system, although appearing reasonable, won’t cause any significant differences for licence fee contributors. The financial numbers at play, however, will affect the volume of content that RTÉ’s audience will experience.
It’s a grim reflection on the unpredictable nature of public sector entities that Taoiseach Simon Harris labels this three-year financial predictability for RTÉ as an ‘almost unprecedented’ level of surety, despite legal provisions requiring the broadcaster to draft five-year strategy plans.
There is a common trend among European public service broadcasters of preferring multi-year funding agreements. This particular case doesn’t seem to generate much admiration among its counterparts. However, it did reignite demands for financial support from other segments of the Irish media industry. It’s a concerning sign that Virgin Media Television, a subsidiary of multinational telecom behemoth Liberty Global, has even suggested having ‘no alternative but to review all options’.
In a fairly expected move, the public funding that RTÉ is set to receive, which comprises €225 million for 2025, €240 million for 2026, and €260 million for 2027, totals less than the broadcaster had requested. These calculations, which include revenue from the licence fee collected by An Post, seem to lack a clear logic and appear arbitrary, as suggesting by Dr Roddy Flynn from Dublin City University’s School of Communications in his conversation with Morning Ireland.
What remains uncertain is what potential measures the director general of RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst, might be required to implement, given the significant €55 million discrepancy between the funding requested by the broadcaster and the amount settled upon by the government.
RTÉ is on a path to reduce its staff numbers by roughly one fifth, or 400 individuals, through a mix of redundancies and retirements by the year 2028. Bakhurst had flagged in June that some of RTÉ’s main programmes would in time be produced away from Montrose. Moreover, 2024 will see the introduction of further cutbacks in on-screen content. Certain previously discussed strategies, such as a voluntary redundancy plan for this year and a proposal to outsource the production of Fair City, could incur significant immediate expense.
The broadcasting landscape is ever-changing and each instance of government intervention not only occurs in light of falling licence fee income but also set against an uncertain future for commercial revenue. Adding to these troubles, the current year has brought high expenditure for sports rights. The timing of the inevitable general election will add to RTÉ’s special event costs, and could mean that the current multiyear funding agreement is not repeated.
Though the summer brings an end to the prolonged conflict amongst Cabinet members over this matter, the government’s hastily pieced together response has not been considered a major revelation in the television industry’s history. Expect the next episode to be much the same.