The number of TV licence fees bought last year fell by 13 per cent, according to figures from the Department of Media.
There was a total of 824,278 licence fees collected by An Post in 2023, of which 732,532 were renewals.
It represents a drop of more than 123,000 licences compared to the previous year – and a revenue drop of €19 million.
Though the previous five years show a steady decline in television licences being bought, the drop last year is higher.
The figures released to PA by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media show that from July to December last year, the months after the RTÉ controversy became public, 378,974 TV licences were bought of which 345,303 were renewals.
This compares to 502,495 in the same six-month period in 2022, of which 443,442 were renewals.
On June 22nd, RTÉ revealed that it had underdeclared fees to its highest-paid presenter Ryan Tubridy, prompting a crisis at the public service broadcaster that put a focus on its governance and financial practices.
RTÉ executives appeared before Oireachtas committees and were grilled over the highest-earning presenters and employees, entertainment for commercial clients – and almost 5,000 euro spent on flip flops.
In the following months, the number of TV licence fees bought appeared to drop and the government was pressured to announce a new long-term funding model for the broadcaster.
Ministers have pledged to make the decision before the next general election, suggesting that it would involve a fund to all media outlets fulfilling a public service mandate.
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has said that the TV licence is still a major funding stream for the broadcaster, and could not “conceive of a future for RTÉ that doesn’t consider to have a television licence”.
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst told PA in December the broadcaster ended the tumultuous year “in a reasonable place” and that licence fee payments had begun to “improve quite significantly” towards the end of the year.
A total of €132 million in revenue was raised through the licence fee last year.
RTÉ operates on a dual-funding model that sees around 55 per cent of its income brought in through the obligatory licence fee, which costs €160 a year for Irish households with a television.
Approximately 85 per cent of revenue from TV licence fees goes to RTÉ to carry out its public service broadcasting commitments, while it also earns money through commercial operations.
Figures provided by the Department show that TV licence purchases have been in steady decline in the past five years.
In 2021 there were 951,454 TV licences bought; in 2020 there were 961,277 bought; in 2019 1,025,534 were bought; and in 2018 there were 1,038,986 bought.
The 2023 figures show that there has been a €34 million drop in licence fee revenue compared to what was collected in 2018.
By Gráinne Ní Aodha and Cillian Sherlock, PA
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website Beat102103.com.
