Sky criticised for poor investment

A senior RTÉ executive has criticised the lack of spending by Sky on television content in Ireland given the large revenues the Rupert Murdoch-owned media group takes from Irish customers.

RTÉ’s managing director of news and current affairs, Kevin Bakhurst, accused Sky of giving little in return for taking “hundreds of millions of euro” out of Ireland each year.

Addressing the annual media conference hosted by the Public Relations Institute of Ireland in Dublin yesterday, Mr Bakhurst said Sky’s revenue from the Irish TV market in 2011 was €157m more than RTÉ’s income. Sky’s revenue of €382m represented 43% of the entire market which was worth €879m, said Mr Bakhurst.