‘First Dates’ firm Coco Television calls for new TV licence fee system

The boss of the production company behind the reality TV show First Dates Ireland has called for a replacement of the TV licence with a ‘household media charge’ in order to have the independent production sector here properly funded.

Speaking yesterday, Coco Television’s managing director Stuart Switzer blamed a 65% drop in profits last year at his firm on RTÉ’s budget for independent production being slashed.

Newly filed accounts for Coco Television Ltd show that it generated profits of €119,874 last year, down from a profit of €212,192 in 2014.