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Newstalk lodges complaint over RTÉ's refusal to run ad

RTÉ has claimed that it has guidelines for accepting advertisements from other broadcasters but it has yet to publish them.

NEWSTALK FM SAYS that it has lodged a complaint with the Competition Authority over RTÉ’s refusal to run an ad for the station.

Newstalk says that RTE is in contravention of its public sector broadcasting remit by not running the television ad, which is part of the station’s ‘Move the Dial’ campaign.

In a statement issued today, Newstalk said that the complaint was made after the ad was rejected on Thursday.

“Newstalk has lodged an official complaint with the Competition Authority as a result of a decision by RTÉ to refuse to broadcast an advertisement submitted by Newstalk 106-108 FM.

“Newstalk submitted the ad to RTÉ on Thursday, 17 April and confirmation of its refusal was received, by Newstalk, on the same day.”

The statement goes on to say that legal advisers representing Newstalk drafted a formal complaint following the refusal by the national broadcaster to accept the advertisement.

RTÉ has claimed that it has guidelines for accepting advertisements from other broadcasters but it has yet to publish them. Newstalk CEO Gerard Whelan says that is not good enough.

“RTÉ must make public these guidelines immediately in an open and transparent manner. It is abusing its dominant position while taking over €180 million of taxpayer’s money annually.” Mr Gerard Whelan, Newstalk CEO, said today.

RTÉ say that the issue should be dealt with by the Competition Authority.

“As the matter is now, according to Newstalk, lodged as a complaint with the Competition Authority, it would not be appropriate for RTE to comment.”

Read: RTE is refusing to run an ad for Newstalk, says Newstalk…

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37 Comments
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    Mute Therightman2015
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    Sep 27th 2015, 10:24 AM

    The only time I ever click on an ad is when I click on the X button to close them down. Nasty pieces of work.

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    Mute Fergus Fring
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    Sep 27th 2015, 10:36 AM

    Yet you expect content for free.

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    Mute Conor Graham
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    Sep 27th 2015, 1:40 PM

    “Yet you expect content for free.”

    No – they can serve me ads – I just don’t click on them. But they can assume I’ve seen it and get paid for the hit. Like how any ad works. It’s all about eyeballs – you can’t guarantee clicks.

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    Mute Tom Collins
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    Sep 27th 2015, 2:49 PM

    Stop trying to manipulate my life!!!

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    Mute TheDoctor
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    Sep 27th 2015, 10:25 AM

    Adblockers.

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    Mute Liam Byrne
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    Sep 27th 2015, 11:02 AM

    You can put as much ads on site as you like, but I’m not going to click on them if I’m not interested. I’ve never once made a purchase from an advert, literally not once. So, I don’t know how anyone is making money by having an advert on a site that I’m just going to ignore. It’s a false economy.
    I would suggest that the advertisers focus more on offers for clicking the advert and making a purchase rather than just a generic message about the product that I’m not interested in.

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    Mute Daniel Moran
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    Sep 27th 2015, 12:21 PM

    It’s against most advertisers policy to ask people to, or offer awards for, clicking ads. Google wants quality original content on a site , it doesn’t want that content diluted with text and images advertising an ad.

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    Mute Derek Richardson
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    Sep 27th 2015, 10:28 AM

    that’s easy pay us five cents everytime we click on one you know what they speculate to accummalate

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    Mute Azov
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    Sep 27th 2015, 10:22 AM

    tech companies and the journal I’m sure.

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    Mute Conor Graham
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    Sep 27th 2015, 12:40 PM

    It’s not that I’m not looking to buy stuff – it’s that I don’t trust any of the ads I see. They could be scams or phishing links. If I want to buy something, my 3 goto sites are Amazon, adverts, and eBay.

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    Mute catkins407
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    Sep 27th 2015, 12:37 PM

    Ads are considered intrusive and people don’t want to click. If people are ever given the option of avoiding ads they do. The best thing my father loved about pausing live TV was pausing ads and fast forwarding through them. Before that it was kettle on or loo time. same with the no junk mail sign on my letterbox. If I didn’t I would have the equiluvant of a small rainforest in pizza advertising Leaflets. You have to change the change that culture first. Nobody wants stuff stuck in their face. If I give companies like say lifestyle my email address I will happily click on those Emails. It was with my consent they contacted me. If I dont actively sign up everything goes to spam or gets crossed out of. It’s as simple as that for a lot of people.

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    Mute John Johnson (KCCO)
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    Sep 27th 2015, 11:57 AM

    Pay me to look at them and I will.

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    Mute Seán J. Troy
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    Sep 27th 2015, 11:15 AM

    It needs to be more tailored. Amazon have it down very well. They send out personalised e-mails with suggestions I often DP end up clicking on because they relate to what I’ve purchased in the past. Not always, but often enough.

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    Mute OU812
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    Sep 27th 2015, 1:38 PM

    Ad blocker on the desktop & now iOS has a built in adblocker on safari too. I’m currently exploring using the mobile versions of Facebook & The Journal. If found only one ad [which wasn't on the blacklist yet] so far. Also found battery improvements.

    Think I’ll be sticking with this method in future. Much more pleasant experience.

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