It's becoming ever more common to see an eye-catching logo at the end of the credits of popular RTE television shows. They often belong to independent production companies like Tyrone Productions, Loopline Films and Radius Television. Indeed, popular programmes like Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Wanderlust, Open House, Imprint, True Lives, Rebel Hearts and Ballykissangel are all made by independents.
Under current legislation RTE must spend 20 per cent of its TV budget on the independent production sector, which amounts to around £18 million. All this money is not "lost" : many Irish independent producers have to rent RTE facilities (studios, editing suites etc) to make their shows. E claw back some of the money spent on the independent sector.
But why should licence fee money be spent on independent productions? E? "We would argue that RTE is getting its best programmes from the independent sector," says Tanya Banotti, director of Film Makers Ireland.
The EU directive on independent TV production quotas states that public service broadcasters should not have the monopoly on good ideas and that the independent sector can produce programmes more cost effectively, Banotti says.
However, the Broadcasting Bill contains an amendment by Minister , Sile De Valera, that would cap RTE's contribution to the sector at £20 million and link any increases in this sum to inflation. The amendment is (not surprisingly) supported by RTE, but not by independents.
Banotti, believes that the independent sector would be worse off with this arrangement and would prefer a more flexible approach.
"We would like to rise and fall with RTE's fortunes. We feel that a percentage of whatever they spend on television is better than a fixed cap, which is a very blunt and unwieldy instrument, given that broadcasting changes a lot."
She makes the point that if RTE went through a crisis and TV3 attracted huge amounts of advertising, RTE's revenue would be sharply reduced and £20 million would be a much higher burden for the station.
However, RTE public affairs manager Deirdre Henchy says that a fixed cap is fair and reasonable. She argues that under the 20 per cent rule if the station were to increase its TV budget, for example, because it had to host Eurovision again one year, the independent sector would benefit unconditionally from this.
Michael Foley, of the Dublin Institute of Technology, says the debate the ratio of independent to in-house production is possibly irrelevant because RTE's role is about maintaining standards.
"We should be saying to RTE to function more as a programme publisher than a programme maker. It will always make programmes, but it should conceive itself as having a public service role to the industry as well as to the viewers."
