RTE sale of Montrose land

[Leo]

Having done a quick search I stand corrected on the sale price (thank you for that, not sure why I had £150m in mind but clearly it was incorrect).

A lot of the reporting carried the value in Euro, some may have rounded the €136M...

Point to note though is that RTE2 would have coverage over a potentially much larger viewing audience than UTV so that would assist in raising a higher price in the event of a sale.

True, and belive me, I'm no fan of RTE and feel any windfall should revert to the state. I just don't see what tangible assets you could strip out of RTE to make the sale of RTE 2 on its own viable. As I noted, UTV owned physical property including prime Belfast space and broadcasting infrastructure. If you sell RTE 2 on its own, there's no property, no infrastructure. If someone was interested in setting up a new TV channel, why would they not just apply for a new licence from the BAI as effectively that's all that that a sale of RTE 2 could include?

All the top-rating shows on RTE 2 are GAA and soccer coverage, all top earners in terms of advertising. I don't see RTE letting any of that go.

 

[Purple]

True, and belive me, I'm no fan of RTE and feel any windfall should revert to the state. I just don't see what tangible assets you could strip out of RTE to make the sale of RTE 2 on its own viable. As I noted, UTV owned physical property including prime Belfast space and broadcasting infrastructure. If you sell RTE 2 on its own, there's no property, no infrastructure. If someone was interested in setting up a new TV channel, why would they not just apply for a new licence from the BAI as effectively that's all that that a sale of RTE 2 could include?

All the top-rating shows on RTE 2 are GAA and soccer coverage, all top earners in terms of advertising. I don't see RTE letting any of that go.

Anyone buying RTE2 would also be buying their pension liability. I'd say that's far higher than any value the Station has.

 

[cremeegg]

I never said that TG4 was owned by RTE or under it's direct control,

I think that TG4 is owned by RTE although not under its direct control.

TG4 is owned by Telefis na Gaeilge which is in turn owned by RTE.

 

[MrEarl]

Anyone buying RTE2 would also be buying their pension liability......

Not necessarily.... I doubt any staff are directly employed by RTE 2, so the sale might or might not take place with staff being transferred via TUPE to a new owner.

A new owner could decide to hire in new staff directly under new contracts and RTE could deal with it's existing staffing arrangements, pension obligations etc.

Interesting that you've raised RTE's pension liability, do you happen to know what it's running at ? ... I'd suspect it's a fairly generous DB type scheme, so probably needs to go a similar way to many other DB schemes.

I think that TG4 is owned by RTE although not under its direct control.

TG4 is owned by Telefis na Gaeilge which is in turn owned by RTE.

I thought it was "disconnected" from RTE years ago ?

(...On 1 April 2007, Teilifís na Gaeilge became an independent statutory corporation)

 

[Purple]

Interesting that you've raised RTE's pension liability, do you happen to know what it's running at ?

I don't know what it is but I read a few years back that they had the cash to cover all liabilities. I'm sure it's massive and, just like Gardai, Nurses, teachers and other State and non-State employees who have defined pension benefits, it amounts to a significant chunk which should be added to their overall package when looking at pay. That's with the exception of newer hires of course, who are generally getting a far lesser deal.

 

[MrEarl]

Hello Purple,

While I would be inclined to agree with you in principal about the likely DB scheme and the fact that it's underfunded, I'd expect it to be a key item on Dee Forbes agenda of items she needs to sort out and I don't mean in terms of her topping it up with the "windfall" from the sale of part of the Donnybrook property and then leaving everyone continue to tick along happy as larry etc....

DB pension schemes are being closed for a reason - they are simply far too expensive to run and particularly for a company like RTE that has other financial difficulties. It's a luxury that it cannot afford to keep going. Depending on circumstances, they might be able to freeze it at current entitlements and make good on whatever is needed to fund those promises.. but going forward, everyone at RTE needs to be in a DC scheme with a reasonable contribution from the employer and no more.

 

[Vanessa]

When they start building will they discover the unmarked graves of Bosco, Zig and Zag and the Wanderly Wagon crew?