RTÉ has decided to extend the closure date of its long wave transmitter to 19 January to allow for further discussions.
This decision follows on from extensive campaigning by Irish in Britain, GlobalIrish.ie, the GAA in Britain, Birmingham Irish Association, Leeds Irish Health and Homes, Irish Chaplaincy, Mind Yourself and thousands of members of the public. A petition started by Irish in Britain has already attracted 1,200 signatures, while a Facebook Group called ‘Save RTE LW 252’ has over 250 members.
RTÉ came to Britain to meet with many of the organisations that mobilised against the closure to gauge the level of listenership and to begin consultation. After a meetings with RTÉ it has become clear that unless a substantial listenership can be established the long wave service will likely close on 19 January 2015.
Ireland’s need for longwave
The advantage of longwave, of course, is that it is extremely useful in cases where a very broad range is needed over a land mass in which there can be no transmitter. This is not the case in most countries – but it is the case in Ireland, which has a responsibility under the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement to reach into Northern Ireland, and in which RTE has acknowledged its responsibility to broadcast to the Irish abroad in the UK. FM or DAB transmitters cannot reach into Britain or even Northern Ireland.
Complaints as metric of audience size
Apparently in lieu of actual research on listener numbers, RTE has repeatedly cited an allegedly low number of complaints during outages as a justification for the belief that the number of listeners is low. This was done during the time of the medium wave shutdown as well, with the number of complaints ranging from the 1 that was cited during the medium wave shutdown in 2008 to the 7 for a whole Sunday that was cited in an Irish Post article, to 37 for a day–and–a–half outage that was cited during a recent RTÉ Sean O’Rourke programme. (It would seem complaints are increasing.)
It is difficult to see why any number of listener complaints should be seen as an indication of listenership figures. For example, RTE released information in 2013 listing 11 outages from late June 2012 to late June 2013. Surely, therefore, regular listeners would be used to short outages, and would realise the futility of one individual ringing the radio station to report something that presumably the entire listening audience would also be experiencing, and that maintenance staff would presumably be aware of. Yet RTÉ executives repeatedly cite the number of complaints as if it is an actual metric by which to measure audience size.
Take Action
While we reject the use of complaints as metric of audience size, it is one of the ways in which the audience must interact with RTÉ. You can do so firstly by signing our petition and helping anyone you know who uses the service but is not an internet user to sign the petition. You can also email, call or post them a complaint. You can call +353 1 208 3111; email complaints@rte.ie or post to: 2nd Floor Admin Building, RTÉ, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland.
A wide section of the Irish community listens to RTÉ Radio 1 on longwave in Britain – people of all ages listen in their cars, sports fans hear GAA matches, and for many older emigrants, it is a treasured link with home. There are no adequate alternatives for many people: RTE advises listening online or via satellite, but these are not accessible to everyone. Listeners in Britain (and Northern Ireland) will not be able to use DAB, which RTE is also pushing as an alternative, as that signal is only available in parts of Ireland.
Older people are likely to be hardest hit by the shutdown, and many of them will lose this powerful link with Ireland forever. As the chair of the Provincial Council of the GAA of Britain, Brendie Brien, has said, longwave provides “a home from home – and the shutdown would be depriving them of that.” The shutdown will be “a massive setback to the whole of the Irish community…We have a lot of old people who wouldn’t be into modern IT – and who won’t have any access to Ireland whatsoever once that would go.”
RTÉ does not know how many people are affected by the shutdown of this vital service and have not released the amount of money this will save. The longwave transmitter is only ten years old.
Expense
An RTÉ executive was reported in the Irish Post as saying, “This service is a very expensive one for RTE and is unsustainable in terms of the organisation’s financial position”. RTE, which had an operating budget of 300 million euro and a pre–tax surplus of 1.1 million euro last year, revealed on the Sean O’Rourke show today that the service costs 250,000 euro a year to run.
Disregard for the Irish abroad
There appears to have been absolutely no consultation with the Irish abroad before this move. Additionally, there was no plan put in place for the needs of the Irish abroad in this shutdown. When news of the shutdown began appearing, many of the Irish abroad were writing in internet comments of their need to buy DAB radios. They were under the impression that they could be served by DAB – this appears to have been because RTE’s announcements were for several weeks not informing listeners in Britain that they would not be served by DAB.
Diaspora relations
Some of the commentary on the move has suggested that RTÉ, and Ireland itself, is demonstrating a disregard for the diaspora with this shutdown. Ireland needs to actively cultivate its relationship with the diaspora. Shutting down a service that is clearly valued by the Irish abroad with little warning, no consultation and no assistance is not good practice. The fact that it will particularly hit an economically vulnerable, poorly educated cohort of elderly emigrants who are prone to isolation to begin with stands in particularly stark contrast to the warm welcome given to visitors during last year’s Gathering. It seems hard to believe that this contrast will go unnoticed among the wider diaspora.