RADIO TELEFÍS ÉIREANN Operational Review RTÉ Publishing RTÉ.ie RTÉ.ie remains Ireland’s leading media portal, currently delivering some 36m page impressions and 1.6m unique users per month. This is an increase of 65% year-onyear in traffic. Access to RTÉ.ie via mobiles is driving new audiences and over 2% of traffic comes from mobiles. 2007 was a dynamic year fuelled by innovative developments across the website. The year commenced with a redesign of RTÉ.ie resulting in improved navigation and layout of content. Commercial revenue almost doubled year-on-year, driven by increased industry spend on Online advertising and better display positions on RTÉ.ie, in addition to sponsorship of events and content categories. Video ads around video clips were launched on the website in June. A number of new sites were also launched in 2007 including RTÉGuide.ie, RTÉ.ie/ jobs, RTÉ.ie/food and a Six Nations rugby website. Other developments included enhancements to existing services such as the launch of live streaming of all RTÉ News and Current Affairs programmes on RTÉ.ie; live streaming of Eircom League matches. A number of dedicated event-driven websites, covering significant events, included the General Election (5.2m page impressions), the 2007 GAA Championship (6m page impressions) and the Rugby World Cup, complete with Fantasy Rugby league (over 1m page impressions). Finally in December there was a dedicated website for Budget 2008. Content Podcasts became more popular in 2007, from approximately 40 podcasts achieving 70,000 downloads in January to 77 podcasts achieving 880,000 downloads in December. A number of podcasts became regular features in the Top 10 on the iTunes charts. RTÉ SMS alerts were launched in May covering Breaking News, Business and Entertainment in addition to Racing Tips, Weather and Lotto alerts. Event specific alerts were set up to bring up-to-the minute news and results from the General Election, Rugby World Cup and 2008 Budget. During 2007 RTÉ launched two Mobile TV channels. RTÉ Entertainment, was launched in May giving customers of the mobile network 3 the opportunity to catch-up on highlights from a selection of RTÉ Entertainment programmes such as The Late Late Show, Tubridy Tonight and No Frontiers, on their mobile phones. In September, an RTÉ News Mobile TV Channel was launched featuring the 1, 6 and 9 O’Clock bulletins live and looped. RTÉ Aertel In 2007 RTÉ Aertel was extended to a multi-platform information service available on Television, Online and on mobile. The service now provides comprehensive and up-to-date information covering news, sports, business, entertainment, travel, weather, airports, listings and much more so that users can access the information they want, when and where they want it. RTÉ Aertel has 1.76m analogue users (Amarach Research Feb 2007), while RTÉ Aertel Online remains the second most popular section of RTÉ.ie with almost 4.5 m page impressions and 200,000 users per month (ABCs October 2007). Page impressions for RTÉ Aertel mobile are currently some 250k per month, and RTÉ Aertel Mobile won the Mobile Internet category at the 2007 Net Visionary Awards. Source: AGB Nielsen Media Research, Establishment Surveys, 2006 & 2007 RTÉ Guide The RTÉ Guide is Ireland’s biggestselling and best-known magazine brand; independent research shows it has a weekly circulation of 107,236 copies (ABC July- Dec 2006). Each weekly issue delivers a mix of premium listings, informative and lifestyle based content and articles from ‘the inside track’ in the entertainment world. The RTÉ Guide is positioned in the premium sector as a quality TV weekly magazine and is unique in its position as a family magazine. Since the launch of RTÉGuide.ie in July 2007, the site has attracted a new audience worldwide introducing them to the brand and the content of the magazine, allowing them to interact and respond Online. A clear lifestyle focus and a 10-day lifecycle per issue allows the RTÉ Guide to offer advertisers a relevant and effective vehicle in which to advertise. In addition to the core magazine, the RTÉ Guide published additional lifestyle magazines in the Food, Home and Fashion genres as well as added value products such as the interactive Dawn Chorus CD-ROM, the Christmas CD featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Cor na nÓg and the RTÉ Weather Calendar and Weather wallchart, all of which were circulated with the magazine. Source: RTÉ In December 2007 RTÉ Aertel Digital began playing out live on the DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) trial, and initial user feedback reports a faster, more intuitive and better-designed service. The service loads in 3 seconds and pages load in 3-5 seconds; the user can view their favourite television programmes while reading RTÉ Aertel data. 22
ANNUAL REPORT & GROUP FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2007 During 2007 RTÉ.ie, the largest media website in Ireland, delivered some 36 million page impressions and 1.6 million unique users per month; and during the four-day General Election and results period there were over 10 million page impressions! 23
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