RTE has announced that there was a decline in commercial revenue in 2019 of €4.2m due to Brexit uncertainty and changes in media consumption habits. In 2018 the deficit was €13 million.
Licence fee income increased by a net €7.2m to €196.3m per year due to an additional €8.9m increase in public funding by the Irish Government in Budget 2019.
According to the State funded broadcaster, there was a decline in commercial revenue in 2019 of €4.2m due to Brexit uncertainty and changes in media consumption habits.
Operating costs, including the costs of special events, were reduced by €2m while there was an increase in total revenue of €342.1m.
“Despite some truly great achievements highlighted in our annual report, RTÉ cannot run deficits indefinitely”, the Chair of the RTÉ board Moya Doherty said.
“The current funding model is broken, and RTÉ will face a material uncertainty about its capacity to provide the same level of services in the medium term if it is not resolved quickly and definitively,” Ms Doherty said.
Readers can sign the recent online petition to calling to have the licence a voluntary option for Irish residents who object to paying the RTE license fee on grounds of conscientious objection.
If you’d like to sign the petition to stop people from having to pay the licence fee, you can do so here.
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