With RTÉ posting losses for yet another year – €13 million for 2018 – and the broadcaster engaged in a cost-cutting, sell-off, licence-fee lobbying programme, reports that it is considering selling the RTÉ Guide are not surprising. Teasing out how much the RTÉ Guide delivers in terms of revenue is difficult as the figures have for several years been bundled in with other revenue streams. It said that “commercial revenues from the RTÉ Guide (advertising and circulation income) are forecast to fall from €4.9 million in 2012 to €4 million by 2016”. The Christmas RTÉ Guide is the Irish magazine equivalent of the TV rating behemoth that is the Late Late Toy Show. The 2018 Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) figures show a weekly circulation for the RTÉ Guide of 43,195 and the numbers for Ireland’s best-selling weekly magazine are in steady decline.

Source: The Irish Times July 02, 2019 04:30 UTC