RT today published a ten-point plan setting a new direction for the radical transformation of the organisation. The document launches against the backdrop of an acute funding crisis that threatens the very existence of public service media in Ireland.
The document sets out a vision for a new RT in the form of commitments and actions. In tandem, RT has confirmed that it will implement a series of cuts to planned expenditure in 2024 as part of an immediate cost-control programme.
Developed to respond to the urgent need for transformation and a restoration of trust, the plan is the first step in a consultation with Government, with the audience, and with staff, the creative sector, and other stakeholders. The plan sets out the framework for the eventual strategic plan for 2024 - 2028, which will be provided to Government and the regulator in the new year.
The public are being invited to give their views on the New Direction document at www.rte.ie/newdirection
The New Direction plan details 10 key areas of reform, transformation and change:
A New Vision for Public Service
A New Approach on Value for Money
A New Take on Nationwide Production
A New Organisation
A New Strategy for Sectoral Support
New Digital Products
New Digital Experiences
New Protections for Free-to-Air Access
A New Approach on Financial Management
A New Framework for Better Governance
Among the key commitments in the plan are:
A 50% increase in commissioning spend by 2028, as part of a hybrid-production model, which will see increased investment in independent production to access and support creativity across Ireland.
A new ambition to better reflect Ireland by investing in production centres outside Dublin, including a planned Cork content hub, with renewed commitments to Limerick and Galway. In addition, the plan details a pathway toward digital transformation and personalisation, with increased investment in digital products and skills.
A smaller RT through investment in technology, skills and people, with a 20% net headcount reduction over the period of the 2024-2028 strategy, supported by a voluntary exit scheme.
A range of financial and governance reforms, with the launch of new registers and reporting functions, including
a Register of Commercial Interests
a Register of Commercial Activities
Published Expenses
Salaries of Leadership Team
Anonymised Top 100 Salaries
The setting of a maximum pay cap (no salary will exceed that of the Director-General), and a review of and reduction of allowances, as well as an evaluation of options for the future use of the Donnybrook campus, including reducing the size of the footprint needed for RT 's production and broadcast facilities.
The public are being invited to give their views on the New Direction document at www.rte.ie/newdirection
Targeted Cost Reductions
About 90% of adults in Ireland access RT 's content and services at least once a week. While RT 's broad remit and obligations, set out in the Broadcasting Act, remain in place, total funding has now declined significantly. Longer-term decline due to systemic issues with the funding of the public media system has been overtaken by a widescale breakdown in trust arising from the recent controversy; in the second half of 2023, licence fee sales declined by a further 30%. This trend looks set to continue over 2024, which could result in a 40m decline in TV Licence revenues.
To help close this public funding gap, and to address these immediate and significant financial challenges, RT will implement a minimum of 10m cuts in expenditure planned for 2024. These cuts will include:
Cuts to content, to be confirmed in the coming weeks
An initial and limited Voluntary Exit Programme, to deliver a headcount reduction of 40. This will be funded by the 2017 land sale proceeds
Ongoing freeze on recruitment
Ongoing pause on discretionary spend
Postponement of a range of capital and strategic projects
Kevin Bakhurst, Director-General, RT , says: The document we have published today sets out the strategic direction and vision for a transformed RT , and is the blueprint for RT 's forthcoming Statement of Strategy 2024-2028. RT 's unique public service character, and values, have guided each of the ten points in the outline plan.
As we await a decision on how public media in Ireland will be funded, we recognise the urgent need to restore trust. While RT will become smaller in size across the life of this strategy, the scale of RT 's public service ambition, and our ambition for the role that RT will play in Irish life, will not be diminished.
The destination of this new direction plan is, ultimately, a better RT . RT will deliver high-quality programmes and content and will be more agile so that we can meet evolving audience needs. We will provide better value for money. We will work harder with the independent production sector and diversify outside of Dublin. Over its almost 100-year history, RT has served the public through the talent, integrity and commitment of its staff. Whilst acknowledging that we need to reduce our workforce, we remain committed to supporting and developing the extraordinary people that we have both in RT and across the industry.
2024 will be a challenging year and one in which we will have to manage our cost base carefully. Hard choices will be made. My hope, however, is that we will enter 2025 armed with a robust strategy that makes the best use of the monies available to fund our national media service, monies we will invest as wisely and strategically as possible to improve the invaluable contribution of public service media to life in Ireland.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
RT today published a ten-point plan setting a new direction for the radical transformation of the organisation. The document launches against the backdrop of an acute funding crisis that threatens the very existence of public service media in Ireland.
