Distribution

Saorview

Saorview is Ireland’s free-to-air digital TV service that is received with an aerial connected to a Saorview Approved TV or set top box. It is available to over 98% of Irish TV homes. Saorview approved products are available through electrical retailers nationwide.

The Saorview platform continued to serve its audiences with some of Ireland’s most popular TV shows in 2021, either as their main reception method or as part of their broader in-home entertainment mix. Audiences remained steady with some 37% of Irish TV homes receiving Saorview as either their primary or secondary means of viewing. Up to 12% of homes continue to rely on Saorview as their sole source of TV reception. In Q4 2021, the choice available on Saorview was increased as two new channels were added, with the arrival of international news service Sky News on TV and UCB on radio. This brings the total number of channels available on the platform to 12 TV channels and 11 radio stations.

2rn

2rn, a wholly owned subsidiary of RTÉ, maintains, manages, and develops Ireland’s broadcast transmission network for all broadcasters on the island and provides infrastructure services to the telecommunications industry. As custodians of Ireland’s national broadcast transmission network, 2rn makes sure the nation is always switched on and again achieved 99.99% reliability across television and radio transmission services.

The Saorview and Saorsat services transmitted by 2rn continued to make public service television and radio services available free to every home in the state, offering high-quality video and audio. Of the c. 1.7 million television viewing homes in Ireland, c. 620,000 homes had Saorview in 2021 and in c. 200,000 homes, Saorview was the only means of watching broadcast television.

In 2021, COVID-19 continued to require changes to many work practices and processes as well as enhanced staff training to safely undertake the works necessary to maintain the reliability of the services provided, and to interact with both suppliers and customers. The changes made did mitigate the impact of COVID-19, and there was no material impact on 2rn’s overall performance in the year.

Overall, 2rn generated revenue of €25.9 million in 2021, a small decrease on 2020 which is attributable to a decrease in the regulated revenue from national broadcast services. Overall, the €25.9 million and year-on-year performance reflects the stability of the broadcast market and a solid performance of the mast and tower rental market.

The Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) radio service that 2rn transmitted ceased in 2021. The service carried all the RTÉ radio services but had not garnered any material interest from the commercial radio stations or the listening public.

There were no significant changes in the local, regional, or national radio market, as available spectrum capacity in the FM band is close to fully utilised. Consolidation of the mobile phone networks has matured, however, achieving year-on-year revenue stability in the telecommunication business remained challenging.

RTÉ Guide

The RTÉ Guide remains Ireland’s best-selling magazine, with a weekly on-shelf issue, plus the iconic Christmas bumper double issue. The RTÉ Guide also publishes Taste, a food-focused yearly annual celebrating food, chefs, trends, and seasonal produce. The magazines remained a revenue generator for RTÉ, helping to engage younger audiences, as well as continuing to maintain its core base. The newspaper and press industry faced a challenging year in 2021, with overall volumes down 8–10%. The RTÉ Guide saw a modest decline of 2.6% in circulation income, exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19 on retail footfall in the first half of the year.

However, the RTÉ Guide bumper Christmas issue continues to be an Irish publishing phenomenon, outselling the 2019 Christmas issue and bringing in an extra 20% in advertising income compared to the 2020 Christmas issue, giving it a strong finish to the year.