1. Put the audience at the centre of decision making

Audience needs are central to the delivery of PSM in Ireland.

Irish people feel ownership and connection with their PSM.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ is relevant to people in Ireland today at >80%

Commitment not achieved. 67% of Irish adults agreed. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ has high quality content and services at >75%

Commitment not achieved. 63% of Irish adults agreed. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

2. Be where the audience is – provide universal access, optimise linear, and adopt digital first

The media needs of all segments of Irish society are fulfilled.

Young people are engaged by Irish content and services.

Innovation in media production will engage digital natives with Irish content.

People will have easy and immediate access to Irish content on their device of choice.

• Maintain average weekly reach for all RTÉ services at or above 90% (18+)

Commitment largely achieved.

• Maintain average weekly reach for all RTÉ services at or above 90% (18–34)

Commitment not achieved. Average weekly reach was 81%, In a highly competitive media environment, it is increasing challenging to maintain near-universal reach for this age group, without the required investment-injection a public funding settlement could provide.

• Grow RTÉ’s average weekly reach via mobile and online to >56%

Commitment not achieved. Average weekly reach was 47%, albeit satisfaction among regular users is up, and other usage data illustrates increased engagement. 2022 was a record-breaking year for RTÉ Player with 83.3m streams, while RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app continue to see long-term growth vs. pre-pandemic levels. RTÉ is committed to its digital strategy, investing in its products to enhance the user-experience and content offering.

• Maintain RTÉ television share (adults 15+, all day) at 27.5%

Commitment largely achieved. Share was 26.8%.

• Maintain RTÉ radio share (adults 15+, all day) at ≥30%

Commitment not achieved. RTÉ radio’s share was 28.3%. RTÉ radio had a weekly reach of 1,913,000 million or 47% of the Irish adults in 2022 and showed positive trends in increasing its appeal for younger adults.

• Monitor and report on Time Spent with RTÉ (adults aged 15+ & 15–34)

Commitment achieved

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ programmes and services are easily accessible on a range of devices at >70%

Commitment achieved

3. Provide trusted, challenging and engaging content 

In the era of fake news, Irish people have a trusted news source.

The powerful in Irish society are held to account, wrongdoing and bad practice in Irish institutions is exposed.

Education in Ireland is enriched through the inclusion of different perspectives and ways of learning.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ provides trusted N&CA at ≥80%

Commitment not achieved. 72% of Irish adults agreed. While trust in media overall has seen some decline over recent years, RTÉ remains the most trusted source of news in Ireland: demonstrated by our own research and the Digital News Report Ireland 2022 (74%). In 2022, RTÉ was the first Irish news organisation to be certified with the Journalism Trust Initiative mark, the global standard for trusted journalism, which has been adopted by the Irish Standards Office. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ generates national debate and gets people talking at ≥80%

Commitment not achieved. 74% of Irish adults agreed. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ keeps me well informed at ≥80%

Commitment not achieved. 74% of Irish adults agreed. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

4. Champion Irish culture

Public discourse is stimulated and a mirror is held up to contemporary Irish society.

Irish people will benefit from the rich audio-visual heritage delivered through a state-of-the-art PSM archive.

Pride in our national identity is strengthened through engagement with the cultural and sporting experiences that bind us as a nation.

Irish children will see their experiences and hear their own voices on screen, on radio and online.

The Irish language will grow in prominence and become an integral part of the Irish media landscape.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ is an important part of Irish life at ≥80%

Commitment not achieved. 75% of Irish adults agreed. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ enables me to connect with national events at ≥80%

Commitment not achieved. 73% of Irish adults agreed. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ devotes the right amount of time to children’s programmes at ≥50%

Commitment largely achieved. 48% of Irish adults agreed.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ provides a comprehensive service for Irish speakers at ≥60%

Commitment achieved

• Maintain RTÉ RnaG weekly reach among adults 15+ at ≥3%

Commitment not achieved. Weekly reach was 2%. In 2022, however RnaG celebrated 50 years of enriching the Gaeltacht and Irish language communities around the country sharing their stories, songs and music, and throughout the year brought RnaG into the community with a series of small and large events.

• Meet the ‘365 provision’ to TG4 as per S120 of the Act

Commitment achieved.

5. Celebrate diversity and cultivate Irish talent

People from every part of Irish society see their experiences represented in their PSM organisation and feel included.

There is a heightened awareness of the diversity of Irish society and enhanced social cohesion.

Ireland has a consistently creative and innovative PSM.

The creative economy in Ireland experiences growth and is strengthened and developed.

Ireland’s existing and emerging creative talents are showcased and celebrated.

Compelling Irish stories are told in a universal and powerful way.

Access to the arts will be broadened and democratized, enhancing public appreciation for our distinctive culture and heritage.

• Grow public perception that RTÉ reflects current Irish society to ≥80%

Commitment not achieved. 63% of Irish adults agreed. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Report on female faces and voices on air

Commitment achieved.

• Maintain high proportion of RTÉ Radio’s FM output as first-run indigenous at ≥80%

Commitment achieved

• Maintain high proportion of indigenous hours as a % of total peaktime hours on RTÉ One at >75%

Commitment not achieved. 70% of total peaktime hours on RTÉ One were indigenous. While original hours were up on 2021, there were fewer repeats and more acquired hours broadcast. Q4 2022 also had FIFA World Cup on RTÉ2.

• Statutory spend requirement met

Commitment achieved

• Grow public perception that RTÉ One is good for Irish drama to ≥70%

Commitment not achieved. 62% agreed, however satisfaction with RTÉ drama overall has increased to 69%.

RTÉ drama remains a key fixture in the RTÉ One schedule, attracting high audience numbers, however Irish drama is increasingly watched via RTÉ Player, both live and on-demand, where the ‘long tail’ is also evident. Smother season 2 attracted 599k streams in 2022, while series from 2021’s schedule continue to attract high on-demand audiences, with significant total stream numbers to date: Smother season 1 (974k) Hidden Assets (840k), Kin (2.9m). See also the contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Maintain public satisfaction with the quality of culture and arts on RTÉ at ≥67%

Commitment not achieved. 59% of Irish adults agreed (64% excluding ‘don’t know’), with upward trends evident across the year. As artistic and cultural activities resumed to close to previous levels, certain types of live events did not always achieve pre-pandemic audiences. Despite this, RTÉ broadcast a diverse range of arts and culture content, including live audience events and commissioned productions. See also the contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ provides a broad range of orchestral music at (% agree) 50%

Commitment achieved

6. Protect the future of PSM

The future of PSM in Ireland is protected and is sustainable.

It is run effectively and efficiently.

It is supported by RTÉ commercial activities.

It is open, accountable and transparent.

PSM legitimacy is strengthened and protected in Ireland.

• Meet annual budget

Commitment largely achieved

• Deliver RTÉ’s portfolio of services within budgeted operating costs

Commitment achieved

• Operate RTÉ’s commercial activities efficiently to maximise the net return for RTÉ’s public service activities and achieve Group commercial revenue targets

Commitment largely achieved

• Total content and distribution spend as a % of Operating Costs is ≥80%

Commitment largely achieved

• PROC* target achieved

*Personnel Related Operating Costs

Commitment achieved

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ is valuable to Irish society at ≥85%

Commitment not achieved. 77% of Irish adults agreed, and this metric saw upward trends over the course of the year. See contextual commentary in Introduction.

• Maintain public perception that RTÉ is trustworthy at ≥75%

Commitment not achieved. 69% of Irish adults agreed, unchanged from 2021’s result. A number of other organisational indicators that contribute to trust have seen a slight uplift 2022, which is an encouraging sign.

See also commentary under Commitment 3: trust in RTÉ N&CA, and in Introduction on public perception scores.