[Rdd]

I should clarify I don’t think RTE will be closed down either. What I have described above will happen precisely because absolutely nothing will ultimately be done. Increasing the license fee would be a hugely unpopular move right now. The license fee hasn’t been increased since 2008, and it could be another 15 years before one becomes palatable. And in Ireland, unlike the U.K., the license fee is linked to having an actual physical TV tuner, and you don’t need one to steam video on a device that doesn’t have one. And that now won’t change, either.

And both of those things, put together, will mean death by a thousand cuts for RTE as a PSB, as that €160 starts being paid by less and less as the streaming revolution takes hold, and as €160 becomes worth less and less in real terms due to inflation. And that won’t mean the end of RTE, but it will lead to one that’s more commercially focussed, and probably smaller with less services. And possibly one that’s more involved in pay TV, with GAAGO as the thin end of the wedge there.