RTE might increase sponsorship

RTÉ may have to significantly increase direct sponsorship of programmes if conventional advertising starts to wane in the years ahead, the station's director-general said yesterday.

Mr Cathal Goan said that technology was now available which allowed viewers to filter out advertising altogether using personal video recorders (PVRs).

PVRs, or hard disc recorders, are advanced video recorders that can pause live TV, and in certain cases filter out advertising. This has led to concerns for advertisers and media owners.

Mr Goan said that while he personally did not believe conventional advertising would decline sharply, some people in industry were clearly concerned. He said that RTÉ's current levels of spot advertising were very buoyant.

However, he warned that if traditional spot advertising started to disappear RTÉ would have to respond.

"If that happens, clearly we will have to diversify," he said.

Among the likely substitutes would be merchandising and greater levels of sponsorship, said Mr Goan.

His colleague, Mr Noel Curran, managing director of television, said that if conventional advertising revenue dropped drastically RTÉ needed to be ready. "We want to be in a position that we have actually thought of alternatives," he said.

Mr Goan was speaking after the release of RTÉ's Guiding Principles - Implementing the Public Service Charter, a document that sets out the station's goals for the next few years across its six independent business divisions. He said sponsorship was a key area for RTÉ and the station was currently looking at the format of its sponsorship.

Sponsorship credits on all RTÉ radio and television programmes are being reviewed to ensure that they conform to advertising and sponsorship codes. This follows a ruling by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) that the sponsorship credit for the Eircom directory inquiries service, 11811, on TV weather programmes on RTÉ advertises the product, contrary to legislation.