Strategic alliance "necessary" for RTE

LEADING RTE executives have said a strategic alliance is necessary if the station is to be the main vehicle for the development of digital television. They have also called on the Government to frame a policy urgently on the development of the next generation of television.

Both RTE's director general, Mr Bob Collins and the station's director of technology, Mr Peter Branagan, told the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland's annual media conference that these decisions must be taken quickly.

Mr Branagan warned that Mr Rupert Murdoch's television empire had already won the satellite war and that he now planned 200 new digital channels next year. Unless major policy decisions were taken in Ireland Mr Murdoch was about to seize control of the entire future of broadcasting.

If a decision was taken now, Ireland would have between 20 and 40 channels. If RTE was to be the "gatekeeper", controlling access to these channels on behalf of the Government, then it would be politically necessary to operate with a strategic partner or partners in the private sector.

Without that, Mr Branagan believed, it might be difficult for RTE to compete with private cable operators.

Mr Collins also dealt with digital television at the conference, which looked at the media world in 2002.

No one broadcaster had the resources to fund the transfer to digital television and that was why alliances were necessary. However, before that took place, it was essential to have a framework within which digital broadcasting would develop.

"We recognise that the scale of development is such that no one agency can be responsible for all the necessary investment and the State is unwilling to be involved," he said. However, RTE has not been in a position to explore the partnership option as yet, because there has been no framework.

Mr Collins clearly laid the blame for any delays squarely on the Government: "Our position on developments in digital is unequivocal. We want to be part of digital and have invested already. There is no reluctance on our part.

"The problem is an absence of a policy framework and without that we have no ideas about who would own the system and control it. Before investment there must be policy."

Mr Branagan said that by 2002 local television would offer local news as cheaply as radio. Channels could be optouts from other channels or affiliates of RTE or TV3. All this was possible once the Government had made the decision that Ireland's delivery system would be digital terrestrial television, rather than digital satellite or a digital system delivered by cable systems, which, he said, was expensive.

Terrestrial digital television would allow vast opportunities for the advertising industry, with interactive advertising and niche advertising, said Mr Branagan.

Once the Government had made a decision then Ireland could exercise a degree of control over broadcasting in this State. By 2010 the current analogue system would begin to be phased out, he predicted.