New broadcasting plans and licence fee changes need to embrace a fresh approach to public service commitments writes Hugh Linehan
With the notable exception of TV3, most people, it seems, are not too unhappy with the increase in licence fee and new systems of accountability in public service broadcasting announced this week by the Minister for Communications, Dermot Ahern. In itself, that represents quite an achievement, but there is some confusion at the heart of the proposals. Until now, the phrase "public service broadcasting" referred to the provision of an entire service - and not just to specific types of programming.
Certain commentators, economists in particular, are under the impression that any half-decent current affairs programme which they are invited to appear on is therefore, by definition, "public service", and should have parity of esteem when it comes to funding. This is nonsense, and tells us more about these commentators' sense of their own importance than anything else, but the principle appears to have been taken on board in the new proposals. A fund of €8 million has been established from the licence fee for "innovative content from which all free-to-air broadcasters can draw". Given the costs involved in television production, it's not a hugely significant amount, but could be seen in years to come as a landmark in State funding of Irish broadcasting.
It may be that this fund will be used judiciously to support non-profitmaking activities such as community radio around the country. And we may possibly see or hear a few interesting programmes which would not otherwise have been made. But why presume that innovation always requires subsidy? And who decides what is innovative? There is a dangerous implication here that public service programming should be like macrobiotic food - good for you but a bit stodgy and never much fun. This not only flies in the face of reality, it also serves the agenda of certain commercial interests which would be much happier if public service were redefined in such narrow terms.
From The Riordans to Nighthawks to Bachelors Walk, the best of Irish public service television has often come in the "lighter" genres - soap, chat and comedy. RTÉ contributes to this misapprehension when its senior executives talk portentously about the broadcaster's mission to explain the Irish people to themselves, and loads its submissions to government with lists of the types of programming it thinks they want to hear about.
So, it is reported that RTÉ has promised, among other things, "a new Sunday night political programme, a current affairs investigative programme, a business programme, a regional news programme and a programme called Order of Business, concentrating on Taoiseach's question time in the Dáil" (that last one must have gone down particularly well).
All very well and good, and all very much part of the public service brief, but one can't help longing for a bit more fun or pleasure in the overall mix. There's also talk of new drama series on Sunday and Monday nights, but there are dramas on those evenings already, in the shape of On Home Ground and Bachelors Walk, so these may just be replacements for existing slots. And let's hope somebody in Montrose gets sense before they try yet again to mount "a new summer entertainment show". The commitment to increased children's programming is welcome, although RTÉ could perform a real public service by voluntarily getting rid of child-targeted advertising.
If we demand that every household pays €150 for the privilege of owning a television set, then there is a reciprocal duty to provide every household with something it might want to watch, something different from what's on all the other channels. That means more home-produced programming across all genres, but it also means the best of international programming.
As for the private operators, they are granted licences to broadcast by the State on the basis of undertakings that they will meet a set of defined criteria. This is the quid pro quo for being handed a potentially lucrative asset. They have frequently failed to meet those undertakings.
It's a bit rich of them, then, to argue that they should receive licence money for what they define as "public service programming". They accepted the rules of the game when they applied for their franchises in the first place. This is not to say that they may not have legitimate complaints about RTÉ's alleged abuse of its dominant position in the advertising marketplace, or of its past monopoly of the transmission system.
In retrospect, former Minister for the Arts Síle de Valera's refusal to grant the full licence fee increase last year is vindicated by RTÉ's own admission that it didn't have its house in order on crucial questions of transparency and accountability.
And, in the privacy of their own offices, senior RTÉ executives may even reflect that the delay in granting an increase may have saved them from themselves. For example, plans to embark on a potentially disastrous expansion into new digital channels were shelved due to lack of finances. There must still be some concern, though, that the organisation's innate tendencies towards obfuscation and inertia will reassert themselves now that the immediate crisis is over.
Just because the dotcom/digital bubble has burst doesn't mean that the bigger issues have gone away. Proliferation of channels and delivery systems will continue, and the question remains as to whether RTÉ will be able to survive in a meaningful and relevant way as a service. It's quite possible that the model of public service broadcasting which emerged in the second half of the last century, in response to a very different set of social, cultural and technological circumstances, is now becoming hopelessly out of date.
As part of the new regulatory system, Dermot Ahern has announced that a new Public Service Broadcasting Charter will be issued early next year, after public consultation, along with a Code of Fair Trading Practice. These, along with the new Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, will provide the framework for all forms of broadcasting in Ireland into the foreseeable future. Only time will tell whether they are equal to the task.