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RTE Director General
Mr Bob Collins |
RTÉ will cut its budget by up to £15 million this year, with a loss of more than 300 jobs, the station’s director general Mr Bob Collins said on TG4 last night.
The national broadcaster is experiencing record losses, estimated at £2 million a month. RTÉ's public affairs manager Ms Deirdre Henchy told ireland.comthat the comments were made as part of an interview and were not a company statement but that the figures quoted in today's media were accurate.
Advertising revenue is down by £7 million and she said this was because of a slight downturn in the economy. She said programmes like Would You Believeand Léargaswould never be "an advertiser's dream" but as a public service broadcaster the station was committed to giving them primetime slots.
Ms Henchy said RTÉ was 70 per cent dependent on advertising revenue and this was unusual in Europe where governments "supported and defended" public service broadcasting.
The RTÉ Authority is petitioning the government for a 71 per cent increase in licence fees from £70 to £120. The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms Sile de Valera is expected to make a recommendation on the request in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, cuts will be made across the station including the areas of news, radio and programming. But Mr Collins said he was hopeful "nothing would be taken off the air".