RT | A YEAR IN REVIEW | 2019
MODEST INCREASE IN TOTAL REVENUE TOGETHER WITH REDUCED OPERATING COSTS SEES RT RETURN EBIDTA OF 8.4 MILLION, BEFORE SPECIAL EVENTS COSTS, AND AN OVERALL NET DEFICIT OF 7.2M IN 2019
See http://www.rte.ie/annualreport for full the report.
RT is today releasing its Annual Report and Group Consolidated Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2019 (RT submitted its Annual Report and Group Consolidated Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2019 to Government in July 2020.)
RT Annual Report 2019, in summary:
Operating costs, including the costs of special events, of 337.8 million, were reduced by 2 million compared to 2018.
Modest increase in total revenue of 342.1m (2018 339.1m).
Decline in commercial revenue by 4.2 million to 145.8 million due to Brexit uncertainty and changes in media consumption habits.
Licence fee income increased by a net 7.2 million to 196.3 million due to the 8.9 million increase in public funding in Budget 2019 from the DEASP in respect of free' television licences, a part reversal of the public funding cuts made since 2010.
Special events, including the Rugby World Cup and local and European elections, amounted to 4.1 million and were lower than 2018 levels, resulting in a lower Net Deficit before Exceptional Items and Tax for the year of 9.1 million (2018 12.6 million).
Net Deficit after tax and Exceptional Items for the year of 7.2 million (2018 13 million).
The Annual Report also highlights RT 's many achievements in 2019, including:
RT Player saw a growth of 20% in viewing in 2019.
RT television had 42 of the top 50 most-watched programmes of 2019, up from 39 in 2018.
RT Supporting the Arts partnered with more than 140 local, national and community arts events, up from 130 in 2018.
The RT News studio is the busiest television studio in Ireland, broadcasting more than 1,700 news bulletins and programmes each year. It was completely refurbished in 2019.
Demand for audience seats for The Late Late Toy Show 2019 surpassed previous years, withmore than 90,000 applications; 1.7million people watched the show on RT platforms.
The RT Guide bumper Christmas issue continued to be an Irish publishing phenomenon, with almost 270,000 copies sold.
Almost 2 million radio listeners tuned in to RT each week; 51.9% of the adult (15 ) population listened every week in 2019.
In 2019 there were 75 million podcast and clip streams from RT 's on-demand audio catalogue.
In addition:
157 children joined the first RT Youth Assembly on Climate
The 2FM Xmas Ball raised over 3million for the ISPCC since 2015
Almost 1million people tuned in to each of the Dublin v Kerry All-Ireland Football Final and Replay
RT lyric fm celebrated 20 years on air
Ireland bid farewell to broadcasting legend, Gay Byrne.
Dee Forbes, Director-General RT , said: Across the organisation, we worked hard in 2019 to create real value for our audiences by producing more original content on RT Player, diversifying into podcasts and streaming and repurposing our journalism for all platforms to reach people, wherever they are and whenever they like. We also continued to deliver on our commitment to captivating Irish audiences across our news and current affairs, sport, factual and entertainment content, while producing special shared moments, including the GAA Championship and another outstanding The Late Late Toy Showand engaging our younger audiences on a topic of worldwide concern, through the innovative RT on Climate Youth Assembly.
Dee Forbes concluded: While there was a lot to be proud of in 2019, it was a year that ended with sadness as we lost our dear friend and colleague, Gay Byrne.
Moya Doherty, Chair of the RT Board, commented: I said in 2018, that in 2019 we would experience another tough year for the media sector, and that proved to be true. While public-service providers, including RT , made great efforts to continue to adapt and change to retain and remain relevant to audiences, the reality is that we continue to fight for our survival as the need for trusted, independent, quality journalism and programming has never been more important to our societies and democracies. In 2019 we came face to face with how a lack of funding reform and legislative planning is threatening a public-service platform that is central to our sense of selves, our communities, our cultures and our global voice.
Despite some truly great achievements highlighted in our Annual Report, RT cannot run deficits indefinitely. The current funding model is broken, and RT 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. That is why the Future Media Commission is so important and RT is fully engaged with the process.
See http://www.rte.ie/annualreport for more and to download the full report.
Europe Stories
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
15/09/2025
Global K-Pop sensation aespa is redefining what it means to be rich with the r...
15/09/2025
Every day, millions of people around the world turn to Spotify to enjoy the audi...
15/09/2025
After months of intensive planning and implementation, Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic...
15/09/2025
Unique sports content orchestration platform builds momentum among SES's cus...
15/09/2025
-- Opens door to growth in renewable energy New Delhi, India - 15th September -- Global business and industry leaders from around the world are joining technol...
13/09/2025
Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Provides Unparalleled Efficiency and Unlocks New Business Models SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 13, 2025 -...
12/09/2025
For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...
12/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...
12/09/2025
Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026
Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...
12/09/2025
Friday 12 September 2025
The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday
Sky today ...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...
12/09/2025
CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need.
Read the full artic...
12/09/2025
The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...
12/09/2025
The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...
12/09/2025
The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player.
Katie Hanno...
11/09/2025
RADAR, Spotify's program for emerging talent, recently hit a major milestone...
11/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden, September 11, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability & analytics for service quality and customer experience, announced today the la...
11/09/2025
Under the USD 89.6 Million award, SES Space & Defense will provide global commer...
11/09/2025
Leading Balkan DTH provider adds capacity to consolidate its m:Sat TV platform at 23.5 degrees East and serve more customers across the region
Luxembourg, 11 S...
11/09/2025
UKTV's free streaming service U launches on Sky Q
Free streaming service U has launched on Sky Q in the UK, UKTV and Sky confirm today, expanding the footp...
11/09/2025
From the discreet 2061 lavaliers to 4099 and 4011 mics, the setup delivered clean, natural sound in one of the most challenging broadcast environments.
Read th...
11/09/2025
From rugged build quality to natural, detailed sound, the verdict is clear: big performance can come in a very small package.
Read the full review here!...
11/09/2025
Tonight on Prime Time
RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
Tonight RT Prime Time...
11/09/2025
RT Statement: 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
At the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in July, a number of EBU members raised concerns ...
10/09/2025
Lossless on Spotify Premium is here.
Lossless audio has been one of the most a...
10/09/2025
The Television Will Be Revolutionised Sep 10, 2025
Written by Sunit Kotecha, Director of Delivery and Operations, YouView
2025 marks a century since the f...
10/09/2025
First of Spains F110 frigates get future-ready with Rohde & Schwarz communicatio...
10/09/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Supports DOCSIS and Fiber, Enabling Midco to Deliver Reliable Multi-Gigabit Connectivity to Subscribers SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 10,...
10/09/2025
RT brings three days of live radio, live entertainment, live news, live weather, personal appearances, and more
Join RT Radio 1: Morning Ireland, The Oliver ...
09/09/2025
Since 2020, Spotify's RADAR program has been a launchpad for emerging talent...
09/09/2025
In 2020, Spotify launched RADAR with a clear mission: to identify, nurture, and ...
09/09/2025
If you're on BookTok, you know the drill. You scroll, you tap, and suddenly your To Be Read list is overflowing with trending must-reads. Not unlike Spoti...
09/09/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
09/09/2025
Harmonic's VOS360 Ad SaaS Enables Personalized Ad Delivery and Seamless Integration with the Ad Tech Ecosystem SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 9, 2025 - Harmonic ...
09/09/2025
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in New Jersey needed audio that truly connects and they found the answer.
Read the full case study here!...
09/09/2025
From AI-driven sound design to adaptable systems and uncompromising audio quality, the discussion highlights how innovation is shaping the future of performance...
09/09/2025
The conversation covers DPA's natural, uncolored sound, how to choose the right mic for any application and the company's latest innovations including C...
09/09/2025
From the origins of CORE to the latest CORE+ upgrade, the article explores how DPA minimizes distortion, expands dynamic range and ensures clarity at every SPL ...
09/09/2025
September 9 2025, 07:22 (PDT) Dolby Revolutionizes Entertainment on Four Wheels...
09/09/2025
The Autumn Schedule has begun on RT Raidi na Gaeltachta, with a feast of music, entertainment, news and current affairs programmes as well as an interesting s...
08/09/2025
The company continues to focus on its own training programs. Recently, 20 new ap...
08/09/2025
How an MVP-first approach helps you move faster, stay flexible, and deliver smarter.
Too often, media technology projects aim to solve everything at once ma...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Resolution of Murdoch Family Trust Matter New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA - September 8, 2025 - Fox Corporation ( FOX or the Comp...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Secondary Offering of Class B Common Stock New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA - September 8, 2025 - Fox Corporation ( FOX or the Co...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Pricing of Secondary Offering of Class B Common Stock New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA, September 8, 2025 Fox Corporation ( FOX ...
08/09/2025
PantoneLIVE Adds New Color Libraries to Meet Growing Demand for Two-Piece Alumin...
RT | A YEAR IN REVIEW | 2019 
