DUFF AT THE TOP
Joe now RTE’s highest on-air earner after Tubridy’s exit
JOE Duffy, Claire Byrne and Miriam O’Callaghan were RTE’s best-paid on-air stars last year, the RTE annual report revealed last night.
The cash-strapped State broadcaster published its list of the highest earners at the station in 2023, with Liveline supremo Joe in top spot with a salary of €351,000.
He was followed by fellow Radio 1 presenter Byrne on €280,000, and current affairs host O’Callaghan on €263,500.
Former DJ Ryan Tubridy, who left the station in the autumn of 2023 following controversy over his pay, earned €245,278 before leaving — putting him in fifth place among the presenters.
The report states that “for the first time” and in keeping with a commitment by RTE Director-General Kevin Bakhurst, it had published the earnings of its 10 highest-paid on-air presenters for 2023 and remuneration details for permanent members of its leadership team.
Pension
This includes Bakhurst himself and the report shows he has a basic salary of €119,235, a pension contribution of €29,809, allowances of €11,924 and ‘other’ payments of €799, totalling €161,767 all in all.
Other members include Eimear Cusack, Adrian Lynch, Deirdre McCarthy, Paula Mullooly and Richard Waghorn, who all earn between €260,000 to just under €287,000 with the above payments factored in. Bakhurst’s figure is lower as he joined halfway through the year.
It comes as RTÉ recorded an overall deficit of €9.1m last year as its TV licence revenue took a massive hit due to the payments scandal at the station.
The annual report shows that licence fee income received by RTÉ in 2023 was down €17.3 million compared to 2022.
This decline was somewhat offset by the additional €15m of interim funding.
The report also revealed commercial revenue fell €1.4m to €150.7m last year.
Special events cost the organisation €7.6m in a year when RTÉ coverage included the World Cup and the visit of US President Joe Biden. Mr Bakhurst said 2023 was “a difficult year for all of us in RTÉ and for the many who had placed their trust in us”.
Trust
He said he and his team have faced key issues “head-on” and have been committed to delivering the transformation RTÉ needs to rebuild “trust and restore confidence, both internally and externally”. Meanwhile, Late Late Show bosses said Tubridy’s replacement Patrick Kielty has “cemented” the chat show’s success — as it was revealed that fewer than half a million viewers watched the return of the series last Friday night.
The figure of 441,000 for Kielty’s second season opener was a drop of 389,000 compared to last year when the host attracted a peak viewership of 934,000 and an average of 830,000 people.
However, Group Head of Entertainment, Comedy and Music Alan Tyler said: “Patrick Kielty brought The Late Late Show back to screens in style on Friday night.
“Patrick once again showed why he is such a natural Late Late host. Last year, a new era and a new presenter resulted in the highest season launch in a decade. It is terrific to see Patrick cement that success.”