RTÉ may sell off its radio station 2FM in order to make the broadcaster “smaller”.
The new Director-general Kevin Bakhurst admitted that he cannot “rule out” the possibility of selling the radio station, also suggesting that digital stations may be next for the chop, adding that “perhaps RTÉ needs to be smaller”.
The Irish Mail on Sunday ran a story earlier this month, suggesting that the broadcaster may need to sell assets, including 2FM, and that serious redundancies would also need to take place.
Speaking in Montrose, the new station boss admitted that the board would need to look at “everything” and make important decisions going forward.
According to RTÉ, 2Fm is the “third most listened to radio station in the country with more than 375,000 listeners daily and a weekly reach of 797,000 listeners.
“It is an integral part of RTE radio’s public service offering RTE to engage with and provide high quality public service radio to, a younger audience.”
2FM currently hosts some of the biggest radio presenters in the country, including Doireann Garrihy, Jennifer Zamparelli, Carl Mullan and Donnocha O’Callaghan.
A sale of the station would mean the radio broadcaster could now become a private entity, where RTE would have no influence, and therefore it would not be publicly funded.
RTE are scrambling to make serious changes amid the controversial payments scandal, which saw Ryan Tubridy’s salary inaccurately reported for three years straight.
