rté director general calls for change to cable obligations

The director-general of Rte called on the government to allow rte to start charging cable operators for its channels.
At present, rte is obliged to provide its channels to any wired network free of charge.
Dee Forbes told the British Congressional Committee on Communications, Climate Action and the environment that rte wanted to change the broadcasting law.
The Commission received an rte survey showing that 50% of Sky customers would leave the platform if it was freeto-
Air channels are no longer available.
The number in the Virgin audience is 60-70%.
Allowing rte to charge for its content will \"create a level playing field\", not equal to \"alms or double taxation\", Forbes MS said \".
\"If Facebook or Google wants to launch a platform here, they can simply ask about our channels, which we are obliged to provide for free. . .
\"Is it really reasonable for this to continue? \" she asked ? \".
Forbes MS also called for reforms to TV licensing fees, saying that rte could not plan for next year, not to mention the next five years, because of the lack of TV licensing fees.
She said that the current license fee of 160 euros has not increased in ten years.
Stamps, newspapers, pay TV, hospital fees, bus fees, and broadband fees have all increased, she said, \"almost everything you can think of has increased, so why not add a TV licence
If TV licensing fees keep pace with inflation, each household will now reach 175 euros a year, or 47 cents a day --
\"This is only a quarter of the cost of national newspapers,\" she said . \"
Such growth, she said, \"will bring more than 15 million euros in revenue to public service broadcasts in rte and the independent production sector that relies heavily on this revenue \".
Forbes MS also said Freedom to evade licenses was the highest in Europe, at 15%, resulting in losses of more than 40 euros in public service broadcasting and the independent sector.
She said that the failure to reform and modernize licensing fees is now unfair to those who pay licensing fees, and to those who do not pay licensing fees.
\"Informed and achievable reforms can change Ireland\'s economic sector and help ensure the long-term viability of the sector \".
Earlier, the Irish broadcasting authority raised concerns about a proposal to allocate funds from licensing fees.
White Chief Executive Michael O\'Keefe said he welcomed the principle of reducing the burden on the business sector, but warned that if funds were withdrawn from licensing fees, rt
He said chairman Bai suggested increasing funding for rte.
He said that measures to increase the license fee or solve the evasion problem should be implemented before the license fee is used to fund White.
Forbessaid MS she was surprised by the offer to fund Bai from the licence fee and warned that such an offer would result in a shortage of funds.
It could cause losses of about 1 euro, she said.
If the proposal becomes law, 6 metres from rte.
The Irish language obligations were also discussed at a meeting of the Irish Language Council, Galta and the islands.
The chairman of the committee, Catherine Connolly, said that because the rte representative was not clear, she was not pleased that the organization\'s statutory obligations had been fulfilled.
She also said that at this committee meeting there were no RT É administrators, which she considered to be a sign of the marginalisation of Irish language services within RT É.
It was noted that another committee meeting on the management of regional trade agreements was being held earlier in the afternoon, which might be related to who could attend.
The head of the Irish language group at rón Mac Con Iomaire said that rte spent 24 euros a year to fulfill their Irish language commitments.
Senator Trevor o clochartaig asked how many people in the executive committee spoke Irish, and Mr. mac Con Iomaire confirmed that one person spoke fluently while others knew something about the language.
23% of the group speak fluent Irish.
The management structure of RT É raidióna Gaeltachta is currently under review and it is hoped that a new head will be appointed by the end of the year.
It was pointed out that due to lack of resources, ténuacht could only provide online content from Monday to Friday, and in 2009, 7 of the 44 employees in the department were lost.