RTÉ turnaround continues with €7m surplus

RTÉ IS set to announce a surplus of €7 million when it publishes its annual report for 2004 today.

The healthy figures represent the culmination of a dramatic turnaround following several years of financial turmoil.

The national broadcaster has moved from a situation where it recorded a deficit of €46m in 2002 to a strong financial standing. This year shows a near €5m improvement on last years’s surplus of €2.2m.

The report will say that RTÉ increased revenue, audience share and its percentage of home-produced programming last year.

The only disappointing result for the station in an otherwise positive performance was a decline of its audience share in children’s programming, a sector where RTÉ has traditionally dominated. The decrease is noted by director general Cathal Goan in the report.

Communications Minister Noel Dempsey declined to discuss the specifics of the report yesterday, but told the Irish Examiner the figures would show that “RTÉ’s performance, both in terms of finance and programming, has improved considerably over the past four years”.

He said: “The report this year is a very positive one, where it shows it has got its finances right, has increased output, has produced more Irish programming.”

Mr Dempsey said that RTÉ had lived up to the commitments it made 12 months ago in almost all areas, with the exception of its corporate strategy, which has yet to be put in place.

“RTÉ has showed a surplus this year. In the round, the situation is positive,” Mr Dempsey added.

RTÉ is entitled to receive annual licence increases linked to the consumer price index. However, to get the maximum increase each year, it needs to show that it has delivered on agreed targets encompassing output, programming, finances and corporate performance.

The decision on any licence increase is normally made later in the year, after an independent evaluation has been carried out on behalf of the department.

In a briefing in February this year, Mr Goan strongly flagged that the broadcaster had returned to a sound financial footing.

He stressed at the time that it was a public service broadcaster primarily, and, as a not-for-profit organisation, its surplus would be ploughed back into programming.

Following a difficult restructuring, RTÉ showed a surplus last year after five years of deficits.

In an increasing focus on home-produced programmes, it increased its budget for independently-commissioned programmes to €30m last year.

In contrast to Britain, where current affairs has been increasingly marginalised on the schedules, RTÉ has increased its output in this area. Its flagship Prime Time regularly gets 30% of audience share, rising to 40% for its special investigative documentaries.