The five-year review from Coimisiún na Meán of Ireland’s public service media is essentially a historical document, but it offers food for thought about the present and future of Ireland’s two public service broadcasters, RTÉ and TG4.
Covering the years 2018–2024, the review tells a familiar story of radically changing media consumption patterns. Television viewing continues to contract among younger audiences. TV advertising is weakening in response. International streaming services surge ahead while broadcaster streaming has struggled to claim more than a modest foothold.
These trends have long passed the point where incremental adjustment is sufficient. Public service media are required to meet audiences where they already are. That task is difficult enough without legacy structures and governance turmoil to contend with.
The report outlines the familiar pressures on RTÉ in particular in the years under review. Perhaps naively, the organisation’s then management anticipated a significant rise in public funding which did not materialise. The controversies and upheavals of 2023 and the changes in management and governance which followed were accompanied by a government commitment to additional multi-annual funding. But it remains to be seen whether the process of transformation initiated by RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst is sufficiently radical. And the review suggests additional subvention may be required.
RM Block
Minister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan has pointed out that projected public media funding for 2026 and 2027 represents a substantial allocation. That is correct. But his response also highlights a serious structural shift. The previous government opted to freeze the licence fee and make up the shortfall from central funds. This has had the effect of eroding the arm’s length principle that once insulated public media from political influence. Anyone who believes in the importance of that principle should be uneasy at how quickly it has been set aside.
