RTÉ has axed plans for the teen soap that was to form a key part of its home-produced schedule, amid fears that it could cost up to €20 million over the next three years. Barry O'Halloran reports.
The station's managing director of television, Mr Noel Curran, informed staff in an internal mail yesterday that it had decided to drop the project after 12 months of development work.
The proposed twice-weekly programme was due to air this year. The plan formed part of the argument RTÉ put forward for the €36 licence fee increase which the Minister for Communications, Mr Dermot Ahern, granted in December 2002.
Mr Curran told staff the programme would take up to three years to develop an audience and begin paying for itself. His communication said this would leave RTÉ television with "no room to manoeuvre between now and 2007" should it need to cut its drama budget.
One source said last night it would have cost the station an estimated €20 million over the next three years. This would have included initial investment in sets and equipment.
At the same time, it may not have generated a sufficient return during its three-year bedding-down period. It was earmarked for 6.30 p.m. on Network 2, which is not currently a popular slot with advertisers, but which would have appealed to its target audience.
RTÉ was unable to confirm the €20 million estimate last night. A spokeswoman said it had decided it was not the right time to begin producing the soap. She said the development work would not be lost.
The programme was originally expected to employ 100 people. The soap's executive producer was Sheila de Courcy, who worked on its flagship soap, Fair City. One of that show's writers, Sian Quill, was the project's senior story writer. RTÉ also advertised in the Guardian for a script editor. Ms de Courcy told the press last year that the programme would be "very well resourced by European standards".
In an unconnected development, it emerged yesterday that the station has paid bonuses varying between 8 per cent and 20 per cent to some senior executives and managers.
The bonuses are paid every year, and are linked to performance and contracts of employment. It is understood that senior figures from all the broadcaster's business units received them.