RTÉ need to get with the programme in a rapidly changing TV landscape

In a rapidly changing TV landscape, RTÉ’s only realistic options are to reduce its costs as a TV platform and increase the commercial income it earns as a producer, writes Roddy Flynn

IT HAS been an interesting fortnight for RTÉ. Last week, director general Dee Forbes addressed the troops with the news that the station needed to lose another 200 staff through voluntary redundancies, and would have to sell nine acres of from the western end of the Montrose campus in order to raise €75m to invest in RTÉ’s ongoing transition to its version of a digital-first strategy.

Ms Forbes also advocated for an increase in the licence fee. This appears to have been nixed by Communications Minister Denis Naughten, who has instead rhetorically emphasised the need to cut down on evasion (currently running about 15%, or €30m in revenue).