RTÉ boss ‘careful about trampling’ on competitors
Kevin Bakhurst said he was annoyed that ‘unfair criticism’ had been thrown at RTÉ.
There are commercial competitors to RTÉ who do not want to see it succeed, the national broadcaster’s director-general has suggested.
Kevin Bakhurst said the organisation has to be “careful about trampling on other people” when pursuing advertising, but that it had to maximise commercial revenue.
In an interview on Friday, the station chief said he was annoyed that “unfair criticism” has been “thrown at” RTÉ.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News’ own Behind the Story podcast, Mr Bakhurst said: “There’s lots of different agendas out there, people who don’t want to see RTÉ succeed.
“Maybe they’re commercial competitors, maybe they’re people with a political aversion to public service media.
“You know, sometimes people get headlines by attacking RTÉ, and sometimes it’s fair, and sometimes it’s not fair.
“I think, for all the people who work here, that’s what annoys me. By and large, people here are doing a great job, they’re really committed to what they’re doing and we’re trying to work hard to sort that out here, make it a place that is fit for the future.
“And, you know, when you get unfair stuff thrown at you, then that can be a little bit annoying.”
Asked about the concern raised that RTÉ’s expansion in the podcast space may threaten the ability of commercial operators to bring in advertising revenue, Mr Bakhurst said: “We’re not gobbling up everything.
“Look, it’s part of our statutes that we have to maximise our commercial revenue and that’s been also made very clear from the [Culture] Minister [Patrick O’Donovan] and Government that they expect us to do that.
“And it’s a very competitive field out there.
“You know, we’re all facing a lot of competition from the tech giants – they’re taking the vast majority of money in the advertising market in Ireland.
“I think there has to be a public value to what we do, as well as, you know, trying to bring in commercial revenue.”
He added: “We do weigh it up quite carefully. We do need to make commercial income, we need to be careful about trampling on other people.”
Meanwhile, Mr Bakhurst said he was “surprised” that 20 million euro in expected funding for RTÉ was withheld in the Budget.
“The officials called me three hours before the Budget and said ‘not great news, you’re going to get 20 million less than what’s been agreed’.
“So, you know, the chair and I requested to go in and see the Minister, which we got a meeting with him to try and find out exactly what was going on.
“And, you know, look, it was a good meeting actually, and, as I said, it was constructive.
“I was a bit surprised because, no, we didn’t really have a great indication, and you know the board monitors really closely about the strategy and what we’re delivering.”
Asked if the department officials were surprised, Mr Bakhurst said: “I didn’t really give them a chance to say whether they were surprised or not – they realised I was – and disappointed.”