RTÉ: Cuts to content announced by RTÉ over 'financial challenges'

Story from RTÉ:

RTÉ has announced a minimum of €10 million in cuts to expenditure planned for next year.

In an email to staff, Deputy Director General Adrian Lynch said these cuts were necessary in order to address "immediate and significant financial challenges".

As a result, Fair City will be cut from four nights per week to three nights from 4 January.

RTÉ said this was to allow for a pause in production in July and August: "We will continue to produce four episodes per week but will air three."

RTÉ's in-house Sunday evening summer factual programming will not be produced in 2024, neither will its in-house Saturday evening entertainment show in spring.

Production of a third season of The Money List will be deferred until 2025, although a second season, produced in 2023 will air in 2024.

The transmission of Young Offenders will also be deferred until 2025.

Other cuts include a reduction in the budget for acquired programmes next year.

The email to staff said that additional savings will be delivered through production savings in News and Current Affairs and Sport. 10-Despite these cuts, Mr Lynch said RTÉ's overall running costs will rise in 2024 due to a number of special events - including the Olympic Games, the European Football Championships, local and European elections, as well as due to other inflationary pressures.

"These deferrals of production and transmission, along with reduced production budgets, are hard choices," said Director General Kevin Bakhurst.

"However, they will not only assist us in achieving the required savings, but allow for pro-active cost and resource management in the delivery of essential special events in 2024.

"With these temporary reductions and deferrals, we are seeking to maintain and preserve RTÉ's schedules and public service delivery as much as possible."

SIPTU industrial organiser Martin Mannion said more information was needed as to whether the cuts will lead to the redundancies proposed in the strategic document and how they would be carried out.

Under the strategic plan announced earlier this month, there is an initial and limited voluntary exit program which aims to deliver a headcount reduction of 40.

However, Mr Mannion said workers need to know the "who, where, when and how" this will be carried out and "the effect it will have on staff left behind".

By 2028, RTÉ plans to reduce staff numbers by up to 400, which Mr Mannion said SIPTU believes will be "hard to stand over with the current workload" people have there.

He added that if the workload is going to be cut down by reducing the scheduling of programmes such as Fair City, that will have a knock on effect.

"We need to see the detail to see how that’s done," he added.

Shane Cassells, Fianna Fáil Senator and member of the Oireachtas Media Committee said that any reduction in programming is not something people are going to be happy about.

He described today's announcement as the meat on the bones for the process, saying it was going to happen to reduce costs and trying to making the ship viable.

"This is a first step.. I don’t believe there won't be further reductions as this plan evolves"

He welcomed RTÉ's commitment to big sporting events such as the Olympic games and European football championships, but said those things will brings costs in terms of production and broadcast rights.

He added that conversations about media funding will have to be about all media organisations.

"We want to see investment happen in RTÉ and all media organisations, if we don’t have them, we’re going to have a scenario where social media platforms like X are the main places for people to get their news".

He added that X would not engage and were not transparent, and he said that’s where the future of media was going.