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ANNUAL REPORT & GROUP FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2008
Director-General’s
Review
Cathal Goan Director-General
This Annual Report for 2008 reflects the
realities which face Irish Public Service
Broadcasting and Irish Society in general as
a result of the convulsions in economic life
at home and abroad. As the Chairman of
the RTÉ Authority has said 2008 was a year
which started well but ended worryingly; it
was a year when creative and competitive
performance across all activities was
remarkable; it was also a year in which an
economic downturn – the real extent of
which no one had fully anticipated – came
with unprecedented rapidity. In its wake,
RTÉ, in common with all other players in
Irish life, faces new and stark realities.
RTÉ’s stated aim of putting the audience
first in the range of services it offers was
tested and proved resilient despite the
changing circumstances. As will be evident
from the details below, 2008 was a busy
and productive year across all areas of
activity – but let me briefly address the main
output areas.
As a not-for-profit organisation RTÉ has over
the past few years, due to the buoyancy
of the advertising market and increases in
Licence Fee revenue, been able to invest
additional revenue over-and-above that
budgeted for each year in the production
of extra home-produced RTÉ Television
programming. Additional amounts were
spent with independent producers and the
resultant home-produced programming
helped RTÉ Television to not alone maintain
its viewership figures but in some cases to
increase them despite the ever increasing
number of competitive channels. That RTÉ
Television has managed to retain its audience
share, and indeed marginally increase it in
digital homes, is a significant achievement.
Most importantly it proves that Irish homeproduced
programming can compete
favourably with imported (and often better
financed) programming and that Irish viewers
want and now expect programmes that are
made on this island for them.
RTÉ Radio continued to regain lost ground
and RTÉ Radio 1 consolidated its position
as the meeting place for the national
conversation, with a fifth consecutive
quarterly JNLR (Joint National Listenership
Research) showing a positive trend. This
follows a reinvigoration of the schedule
made over the past few years in response
to audience needs. RTÉ News and Current
Affairs is the benchmark for authoritative
and independent news and analysis in
Ireland. RTÉ’s online operations build
audiences at home and abroad in a truly
impressive fashion. RTÉ.ie generated on
average 48 million page impressions per
month during the year and has 2.4 million
unique users representing a growth of
50% year-on-year. As new features and
programming are added and broadband
access increases, RTÉ.ie will continue to
extend its reach in Ireland and beyond. The
challenge into the future will be how to best
use this growing platform to augment RTÉ’s
overall offering.
In these activities, as in all others whether
in Performing Groups, Publishing, Network
or at the Corporate centre, the key
operations could not have worked effectively
without first class administrative support
from dedicated staff in Legal Affairs,
Finance, Human Relations, Marketing,
Communications and General Services.
That sense of cohesion will be required
more than ever as RTÉ faces the stern tests
of 2009 and beyond. I am grateful to all
staff and to our independent suppliers who
have thus far displayed a keen appreciation
of the changing circumstances.
In RTÉ’s Annual Report and Group
Financial Statements 2007, a change
of Authority was anticipated as was the
enactment of new legislation to give effect
to the establishment of a new Broadcasting
Authority of Ireland. In the event, the RTÉ
Authority’s term of office was extended by
six months to the end of 2008. I want to
renew my thanks to the outgoing Authority
members and to the Chairman Mary Finan
for their continued commitment to RTÉ.
The broadcasting legislation had not
completed its course through the Houses
of the Oireachtas by year-end, but some
elements of its provisions have caused
concern for RTÉ – particularly as the
general economic climate worsens.
The BCI completed the competitive
process for the award of licences for three
commercial Digital Terrestrial Television
multiplexes. The award was made in July
2008 to Boxer DTT Limited, a consortium
involving Communicorp Group Limited and
the Swedish company Boxer TV-Access AB.
RTÉ Transmission Network Limited will work
with all the key stakeholders to facilitate the
successful establishment of DTT in Ireland
and will play a full role in preparing for
analogue switch-off in 2012.
The Television Licence Fee was adjusted
to €160 effective from 1 January 2008
arising from an external review of RTÉ’s
fulfilment of its commitments in respect of
2006. In the course of 2008, officials of
the Department of Communications, Energy
and Natural Resources with the assistance
of consultants PwC worked with RTÉ to
provide a new template to facilitate Licence
Fee Adjustment Reviews from 2009
forwards. RTÉ has drawn heavily on this
template in making submissions in respect
of its performance in 2007 and 2008. We
are grateful to the officials for their attention
and supervision of this process and
expect the template will facilitate a wider
appreciation of RTÉ’s performance in both
quantitative and qualitative ways.
RTÉ had planned to launch a new television
broadcast service to Irish people abroad
in the course of 2008 as mandated by
the Broadcasting (Amendment) Act 2007.
However, the quick deterioration in
commercial revenue in the final third of the
year led to a postponement of one year in
this project. The matter will be reviewed
constantly in 2009 with a view to achieving
the desired policy objective in as cost
effective manner as possible.
Clichés abound as to the current state
of global economies. Suffice it to say
that RTÉ must display determination,
resourcefulness and flexibility if we are
to meet the unprecedented financial
challenges of 2009. Putting the audience
first must remain the core objective as we
face difficult choices in allocating resources
which are becoming scarcer to services with
established and growing requirements.
Cathal Goan
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