Licence fee rise helps RTÉ into the black

RTÉ spent over €60 million on news and current affairs last year, it emerged yesterday, as the station posted a surplus for the first time in four years on the back of the €43 licence fee increase in late 2002.

But the station, which lost millions the previous year as its management absorbed €35m in restructuring costs, did not meet its overall surplus target and posted a shortfall in advertising revenue.

RTÉ Authority chairman Paddy Wright described 2003 as a year of major progress. He claimed the station was now an efficient and flexible organisation in a position to respond to the challenges posed by increased competition and new advertising codes, particularly in relation to children and alcohol.