RTÉ, Ireland publishes a new direction: Statement of strategy

Following a widespread public consultation RTÉ has today published A New Direction: Statement of Strategy 2025 – 2029 providing further detail on RTÉ’s strategic vision document published last November. A New Direction: Statement of Strategy (2025 – 2029) sets out how, over the next five years, RTÉ will respond to the urgent need for transformation and for the restoration of trust to ensure the relevance of RTÉ, to audiences and within the sector, into the future. In tandem, RTÉ has published a new Governance Framework, which will provide the RTÉ Board, management, staff and external stakeholders with a comprehensive guide to RTÉ’s governance arrangements.

RTÉ’s planned transformation takes account of major changes in the media landscape, evolving audience preferences and behaviours and the expanding role and importance of public service media. It also recognises the need for changes inside RTÉ. Over the period of this strategy, RTÉ will be improved and streamlined, with the adoption of new ways of working internally and with external partners, particularly the independent sector. The content that RTÉ provides to audiences will evolve, with more programmes that share uniquely Irish stories, national moments, and shared experiences.

This strategy also incorporates feedback from consultations with the public, RTÉ staff and a wider group of stakeholders, generating insights which sharpened the focus on areas for action and shaped the resulting strategy. Overall, the consultation provided encouragement that the strategic direction was correct and there was broad agreement on key themes. You can view RTÉ’s A New Direction: Statement of Strategy (2025 – 2029) and new Governance Framework.

Commenting on the launch of the strategy, RTÉ Director-General, Kevin Bakhurst said: “This New Direction strategy is about ensuring the future and the relevance of a transformed RTÉ. It is about delivering a strong and independent public service, available to everyone; it is about creating a trusted organisation delivering for Irish audiences; it is about backing creative ambition and digital innovation; it is about supporting Irish culture and bringing people together; it is about reflecting all of the country and supporting the creative industry across the island. This strategy sets out ambitious change in how we deliver for audiences and how we run the organisation; how we ensure that we deliver value for money and are transparent and accountable. It is ambitious – but it is deliverable. It is a plan based on our core values; it is outward looking. We are determined to build a strong, modern RTÉ that will play its role in Irish life, that Ireland will be proud of and that will deliver a better outcome for the public we serve.”

Chair of the Board of RTÉ, Terence O’Rourke said: “Public Service media is facing fundamental challenges. RTÉ is not immune to this and throughout its long history it has adapted its services from radio to television to online to the Player. Now, technology, social media and shifts in how information is consumed have all framed a new world in which RTÉ must go through a radical evolution to continue to serve and reflect Irish society into the future. We, as a Board, have tested this strategy and believe it offers a realistic roadmap for the organisation to change. Its vision is clear. Its financial underpinning is realistic and sustainable.”

Five Strategic Goals
The strategy sets out five goals for RTÉ to achieve the required transformation of the organisation, along with the initiatives that will support these goals and the milestones RTÉ aims to reach during the lifetime of the strategy:

• Goal 1: Engage audiences with high-quality impactful content
• Goal 2: Provide excellent streaming products and services
• Goal 3: Diversify production and support sectoral development across Ireland
• Goal 4: Ensure robust financial management performance
• Goal 5: Build a sustainable, trusted and responsible organisation

A Reformed Public Funding Model
Implementing the strategy over the next five years is contingent on a resolution of the funding of public service media by Government, expected to be confirmed in 2024. A reformed public funding model will enable RTÉ to deliver a generational change in public service media in Ireland, in which RTÉ will have achieved a full transformation from broadcaster to the preferred streaming destination of Irish audiences.

Kevin Bakhurst, said: “We cannot deliver this plan alone. As is widely recognised, funding reform is critical to protecting public service media in Ireland. We will continue to need the outstanding support of our staff, our partners in the independent sector and the range of organisations we work with daily across Ireland. And we will reciprocate that faith placed in us by delivering a public service broadcaster fit for the future and for our audiences.”

Positive Consultations
RTE’s A New Direction framework published in November 2023 set out the strategic direction and vision for a transformed RTÉ as a blueprint for this Statement of Strategy. A consultation followed which sought feedback from the public, RTÉ staff and a wider group of stakeholders, generating insights which sharpened the focus on areas for action and shaped the resulting strategy.

Overall, the consultation provided encouragement that the strategic direction was correct and there was broad agreement across the public, national, stakeholder and staff surveys on key points:

• RTÉ should become a smaller organisation in pursuit of longer-term financial stability – 71% support in the public consultation
• More of RTÉ’s programmes should be produced by members of the independent production sector – 63% support in the public consultation
• RTÉ should make fewer programmes in Dublin, and more outside of Dublin – 72% support in the public consultation
• RTÉ should increase investment in digital services – 81% support in the public consultation.

Implementation of the strategy will build on progress already made to strengthen governance and to improve communication within the organisation. There will also be continuity in areas where the organisation is already on the right track, including an ambition to increase RTÉ’s leadership on relevant environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues which run through many of the goals and initiatives. RTÉ will also show leadership in examining and contributing to policy debate and legislation, especially on critical issues such as prominence codes, net neutrality and Artificial Intelligence. There is a detailed plan for the implementation of the recommendations arising from the two Expert Advisory Committee reviews, and in due course RTE’s Governance Framework will be further updated to reflect these changes.

Concluding, Terence O’Rourke said: “As a priority we will be implementing improved governance standards, both at Board level and across the organisation. We will continue with our responsibility to steward this work of creating an RTÉ that’s fit for the future while protecting what we all value. This strategy offers the staff of RTÉ the opportunity to be part of a revitalised and modern public service media company. It presents opportunities for RTÉ to be closer to its industry partners and by doing so, become a crucible for the development of a dynamic independent audio and video sector. It also marks a bold move to locate more of RTÉ’s activities around the country bringing it closer to the audiences it serves. The Board of RTÉ fully endorses this New Direction for RTÉ and will continue to support the Director General and his team in delivering it.” RTE