Revenues go down with TV boat

ASIDE from the acute embarrassment of the scuppering of Cabin Fever, RTÉ and producers Coco Television face massive losses as earnings sink along with the ill-fated vessel.

These come not just from the €1.5 million cost of mounting the aborted show, but also the loss of revenue from the various commercial tie-ins.

RTÉ spokeswoman Catriona Edwards said yesterday no decision had been taken on whether to resurrect the show.

Next Sunday's and Monday's shows have been cancelled and the imposition of a marine investigation seems set to submerge the entire series.

RTÉ had secured a lucrative sponsorship deal with the Irish Sun, which had put up around €60,000, according to industry estimates, although RTÉ had initially sought €120,000.

The deal was to benefit both parties, with RTÉ pocketing the money and the Irish Sun getting a 'sting', industry terminology for an advertisement, before and after each episode.

With two episodes scheduled weekly for 14 weeks, the Irish Sun was getting mileage for its money and the deal could also contain a quid-pro-quo in terms of the paper guaranteeing coverage of the ups and downs of life at sea.

Ms Edwards said the sponsorship was now "debatable" as the fate of the show is still being discussed

More fallout comes from the cancellation of the premium-rate phone lines set up to allow viewers to vote the contestants off the show, costing 61c per text message and 58c per call.