Under-reporting of Tubridy's salary just the latest episode in the tale of RTÉ's financial woes
Collins Picture: Director Forbes Keegan, Dee Colin Ryan General Dublin Rté Outgoing Tubridy And
Just weeks before a routine audit of RTÉ in late March discovered issues in its finances, the organisation's outgoing director-general Dee Forbes was speaking publicly of measures taken to trim costs.
As the salaries of high earners were revealed in February, Ms Forbes spoke about reductions in pay of more than 15% for 2020 and 2021.
"Our presenters play an important role in RTÉ’s provision of vital news, information, and entertainment to audiences right across the country, and enable us to generate commercial revenue which is essential to fund RTÉ’s public services," she said.
"We are aware that the fees of high-profile presenters attract considerable public interest. Over the past 15 years, RTÉ has reduced these fees by circa 40%. We continue to keep them under review."
That day in February, it was reported that Ryan Tubridy, presenter of and a weekday radio show, earned €440,000 in 2021, a fall from his 2020 total of €466,250, and his 2019 earnings of €495,000.
host Joe Duffy was second, with a 2021 annual earning of €351,000, down from €360,650 in 2020, and €392,494 in 2019.
Claire Byrne earned €350,000 in 2021, an increase of €100,000 on her 2019 total. Ms Byrne hosts RTÉ Radio 1's and, up until May of last year, she hosted the .
Ray D'Arcy was in fourth in the top 10 list, dropping from his 2019 earnings of €450,000 down to €305,000 for both 2020 and 2021.
The broadcaster said that the presenters are classed as "independent contractors who have a direct relationship with RTÉ", noting that they do not earn salaries from the company and their earnings represent fees payable excluding Vat.
In 2019, RTÉ paid its top 10 earners just over €3.2m. That figure dropped to €2.71m in 2020 before a minor rise to €2.72m in 2021.
Ms Forbes and others have publicly sounded the warning on RTÉ's finances repeatedly in recent years.
Speaking at the Cork People of the Year Awards in January, Ms Forbes said support for public service media “has remained under threat for the entirety of my [seven-year] tenure” as the head of RTÉ.
"RTÉ certainly is not perfect," she said. "It is the sum total of hundreds of editorial and creative decisions made every day. It is a living, human, and therefore imperfect idea — but at our best, RTÉ can be a powerful force for good, a public or merit good, as the Future of Media Commission described public service media.
"I was determined to ensure continuity of this special and cherished role for RTÉ in national life, and also to ensure that I left RTÉ fit to take on the challenges ahead.
"It’s for others to decide on that particular legacy. But it’s perhaps truest to say that, before I arrived at RTÉ, little did I know the extent to which I and my colleagues would have to fight for its very future — day in, day out."
In the same month, RTÉ director of strategy Rory Coveney told the Oireachtas media committee that the future of the organisation is not sustainable without public funding reform.
"The current licence fee system loses in excess of €65m a year and is continuing to get worse as technology evolves," he said. "There is not a sustainable future for RTÉ — and for many other of our key partners that rely on our capacity to invest — without a reformed public funding model.
"The public funding system, by common consent, is not working. Not only is it losing substantial amounts of money every year, it could be going into a lot of businesses here today in order to support content generation, journalism, and all of the other things we want to talk about and do.
Streaming, which is causing untold headaches for broadcasters all over the world as they grapple with transformation from traditional means to online, is also a conundrum for RTÉ, Mr Coveney said.
"People accessing our services exclusively through the RTÉ Player are not obliged to pay the fee," he said. "It is an existential question."
The latest revelations about RTÉ's finances means new director-general Kevin Bakhurst will be thrust straight into crisis mode.
He will replace Ms Forbes in the role when her term comes to an end on July 11 this year.
Mr Bakhurst was previously managing director of news and current affairs at RTÉ and was deputy director-general from September 2012 to October 2016.
He was also a member of the RTÉ executive throughout this period and served as acting director-general for a six-month period.
Prior to rejoining RTÉ, Mr Bakhurst was group director, broadcasting and online, at Ofcom, where he was a member of the UK regulator’s board.