Fair city weekly episodes to be reduced as RTÉ announces minimum of €10m cuts to content

RTÉ has released a statement announcing a minimum of €10m in cuts to its content spending for 2024.

The statement was released today (Thursday November 30) to staff "in order to address immediate and significant financial challenges".

The statement from the state broadcaster said:

"RTÉ's overall running costs will rise in 2024 due to a number of special events and other inflationary pressures.

"Therefore, with a continued decline in sales of TV Licences and with commercial revenue projected to be broadly level year-on-year, we must implement a range of cuts to planned expenditure."

It was announced that Fair City will cut one of its weekly episodes from four to three and from 2024 its Sunday evening factual programming will not be produced at all, along with its Saturday evening entertainment show next spring.

The budget for acquired programmes will also be reduced in 2024 and additional savings will be delivered through production savings in News and Current Affairs and Sport.

Director General of RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst said: 

"2024 will be a challenging year and one in which we will have to manage our cost base carefully. These deferrals of production and transmission, along with reduced production budgets, are hard choices.

"However, they will not only assist us in achieving the required savings, but allow for pro-active cost and resource management in the delivery of essential special events in 2024. With these temporary reductions and deferrals, we are seeking to maintain and preserve RTÉ’s schedules and public service delivery as much as possible. 

"With the launch of the new direction outline plan, my hope, as I have said before, 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.  

"Those monies, of course, depend upon a decision on the future sustainable funding of public service media in Ireland."