ON 6 NOVEMBER, news broke that RTÉ was due to make a series of big moves in order to deal with its financial situation.

As part of a major restructuring plan, it will cut the pay of its top presenters by 15%, cut 200 jobs (through voluntary redundancies), move Lyric FM from Limerick to Cork and Dublin,  reduce RTÉ executives’ pay by 10% among other staff-related savings.

The news was not completely unexpected – last year RTÉ’s Director General Dee Forbes said that the broadcaster was facing “urgent and substantial financial challenges”. in the weeks before the announcement, speculation had also mounted that Lyric FM’s future was in jeopardy.

In this week’s Explainer podcast, we take a look at what the situation with RTÉ is right now: what the financial issues are, what it’s planning to do about it, and what the future looks like for the broadcaster. Is the key to fixing the crisis in a broadcasting charge, or is this deflecting conversation from other cuts that need to take place?

Joining presenter Sinéad O’Carroll in studio are reporter Stevie McDermott and Steve Dempsey, the Sunday Independent’s media and marketing columnist.

This episode was put together by presenter Sinéad O’Carroll, producer Aoife Barry, assistant producer and technical operator Nicky Ryan, and executive producer Christine Bohan. Reporter was Stevie McDermott, guest was Steve Dempsey. Design by Palash Somani.