RTÉ Authority Chairman announces ‘a year of major progress’

RTÉ’s Annual Report 2003, recently submitted to the Irish government, has indicated that the financial situation of the national broadcaster is improving.
RTÉ Authority Chairman, Patrick J. Wright, said: “2003 was a very significant year for us, the first year since 1999 that we have reported a budget surplus – while at the same time we have implemented a very wide range of commitments we made to our audience following the welcome Licence Fee increase.”
Among the highlights of the Report, identified by the Chairman, are a significant financial turnaround with a surplus of €2.3m for 2003 (as against a net deficit of €56m in 2002), additional spend, in excess of €16 million, on home-produced television programming during 2003 and restructuring of the organisation, resulting in employment trends significantly down to 1,712 from 2,186 in 1999.
Expressing the Authority’s pride in RTÉ’s role as Ireland’s public service broadcaster, the Chairman stated that the one constant facing the organisation was that of change and he stressed that RTÉ is now a very efficient and flexible organisation in a position to respond to the challenges ahead.
(GB)