‘Love/Hate’DVD sales boosts RTÉ profits
According to accounts filed by RTE’s commercial firm, RTE Commercial Enterprises Ltd, “while average sales for merchandising were down compared to 2011, the sales of Love/Hate Series 3 and the box set exceeded expectations and performed very strongly in a declining market”.
Series 4 of the hit TV series is back on RTE screens on Sunday, Oct 6, and last Christmas many shops across were sold out of Series 3 due to unprecedenteddemand.
Sales of the DVDs will go some way towards funding the series that costs around €600,000 per episode to produce.
Yesterday, RTE declined to confirm the number of Love/Hate series 3 DVDs sold or revenues generated “as this could prove prejudicial to its ability to operate within commercial markets”.
The accounts show that revenues at the firm last year decreased marginally from €21.72m to €21.7m.
The firm operates the RTE Player; sells RTE TV shows overseas; produces the RTE Guide along with other commercial activities.
The directors’ report also records that RTE Digital revenues experienced strong growth in 2012 against a weak economic backdrop and now constitute 9% of RTE commercial revenue.
“Online video advertising via RTE player and RTE News Now apps continued to grow strongly throughout 2012. Mobile revenues continue to outperform the average growth in the marketplace.”
The report adds: “Whilst online revenues grew overall, the third and fourth quarters proved to be quite challenging in that there was no uplift from either the Olympics or Euros, and towards the end of the year advertisers cut back on their brand spend considerably. This trend was industry wide.”
The chief factor behind the increased profits was a cutting back in operating costs from €20.4m to €17.7m led by the numbers working for the firm decreasing from 101 to 72.
As a result, staff costs reduced from €7.2m to €5.2m.
Circulation of the RTE Guide fell from 74,382 to 61,881 last year, that was in part due to the removal of 4,200 free copies supplied to hotels.
The report also shows that RTE Digital recorded 1.6 billion page impressed in 2012 — a 16% increase on 2011.
The report states that 45.9m streams were requested on the RTE Player in 2012 — an increase of 43% on 2011.
