Ryan Tubridy top as RTÉ releases list of highest-earning presenters for 2017 to 2019

Wed, 20 Jan, 2021 - 15:48

Steve Neville

RTÉ has published the list of the highest-earning presenters for 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Ryan Tubridy was the highest-paid presenter in each of the three years followed by Ray D’Arcy and Joe Duffy.

All three are contracted to work for RTÉ.

The top seven highest-paid presenters were the same in each of the three years.

Sean O’Rourke, Marian Finucane, Miriam O’Callaghan, and Claire Byrne are all in the top seven.

A statement revealed that “total fees paid to RTÉ's highest-earning presenters represent less than 1% of RTÉ's total operating costs”.

RTÉ also confirmed that “as part of a range of cost-cutting measures announced last year, the total fees paid to its highest-paid presenters has been reduced by 15% in 2020”.

RTÉ’s Director-General said that the presenters “have been crucial to RTÉ’s output throughout this pandemic, as audiences turned to their national public media in record numbers for vital news, information, entertainment and companionship.”

Dee Forbes said: “They continue to make a significant contribution to public media in Ireland and enable RTÉ to optimise important commercial revenue, which is essential to support our public services.

“RTÉ has reduced overall annual operating costs by over €100m since 2008, and last year targeted additional savings of €60m over three years, which we are on course to deliver.

“In that context, we continue to keep the fees of our highest-paid presenters under constant review.”

Only four people on the lists over the three years — Sean O’Rourke, Darragh Maloney, Bryan Dobson and Mary Wilson — are employees of RTÉ.

The full top 10 list of the highest-paid presenters “on an earnings basis” for each of the three years is below.

2017