RTÉ paid more than €250,000 to guests and contributors to some of its most popular shows last year with Claire Byrne’s radio show accounting for more than a quarter of the total bill.
The beleaguered public service broadcaster also said some contributor costs had risen last year as they had decided to pay higher-than-normal fees to individuals who were reporting from Ukraine.
The highest fees were paid to individuals appearing on Ryan Tubridy’s Late Late Show with €58,771 paid out to 194 different individuals.
That worked out at around €300 per appearance but did not include people who were appearing to promote their own films, albums, TV programmes, or books, who do not receive cash for being a guest.
The highest overall bill came from the Today with Claire Byrne show on RTÉ Radio One where fees totalled €65,781 during the course of 2022.
That paid for 1,122 separate guest contributions, at the rate of around €59 each.
A bill of €35,829 was run up by Brendan O’Connor through his weekend radio show.
That covered the cost of 536 guests, each with an average payment of around €67, according to records that were released under FOI by RTÉ.
A total of €35,225 was paid by Drivetime to cover the costs of 719 contributors at a rate of €49 per head.
Smaller bills were run up by Morning Ireland at €22,555, Prime Time at €14,357, the Tubridy Show at €2,363, Sunday with Miriam at €3,735, the Ray D’Arcy Show at €14,533, and Saturday with Katie Hannon at just €712.
RTÉ added that last year’s bill for Claire Byrne Live had been €3,820, but that the TV show had not run for a full season with the programme having ended in May 2022.
Ukraine contributors
In an information note, they also said that a decision had been made by RTÉ News Management and Finance that contributors from Ukraine should get a higher rate due to the dangers involved in reporting from an active warzone.
Overall, a total of €257,681 was paid to guests appearing on RTÉ’s most popular TV and radio shows, working out at around €77 for each appearance.
However, figures were not provided for the popular Tommy Tiernan Show with RTÉ saying it was made by an independent production company and was therefore commercially sensitive.
RTÉ said: “The independent production sector is highly competitive and to disclose the requested information would put those companies at a disadvantage when it comes to making programmes in the future.
“For example, guests would be far less likely to appear on a programme if fees they received were to be made public.”
Asked about the overall payments, a spokesman for RTÉ said: “In general, RTÉ pays for these guests and contributors (which include journalists, academics, authors and musicians) for their time appearing on our programmes.
“However, where guests or contributors are promoting a film, album, programme or book, etc. no fee is usually paid. Political representatives are not paid a fee when they appear on RTÉ programmes.
“Guests and contributor fees are a standard part of programme production costs, both nationally and internationally, and RTÉ has made all efforts to deliver the best possible value for money regarding fees paid.”
