RTÉ must explain why its podcast strategy contradicts its own values

RTÉ executives appearing before Oireachtas committees have a habit of getting lost in the trivia. Previous hearings have dwelt on flip-flops and on the size of the limousines bringing guests from Dublin Airport. Last week, it was the turn of a tracksuit top. But beneath the silliness lie real questions about how RTÉ does its business and how it sees its future.

Let’s start with how Ger Gilroy came to present Howler, the national broadcaster’s new daily sports podcast. Last month, head of audio Patricia Monahan told the Irish Independent that Gilroy had applied through an expressions-of-interest process. Before the media committee last week she insisted she had “never said” that. Instead, he had taken part in such a process and emerged as the most appropriate candidate. RTÉ’s account appears to be that Gilroy had not applied but was judged the best person for the job, and was then asked to apply before going through an appointments process.

Gilroy himself has been more straightforward. He told The Irish Times that he got a call earlier this year from Hugh Ormond, RTÉ’s head of podcasts and a former Newstalk colleague, who pitched him the idea of a daily sports show. The committee chairman, Alan Kelly, accused Monahan of “dancing around, not wanting to say we headhunted somebody”. Several commentators have noted how her verbal gymnastics recalled the worst moments of the Tubridy affair.

There is nothing wrong with headhunting. Media organisations compete for talent, and going after the right person is part of that. But RTÉ is effectively a semi-State company with house agreements with trade unions and commitments to filling jobs through open competition. That tension probably explains the contortions the committee heard.

Whatever the reason, it is a bad look for a broadcaster whose three-year, €725 million funding package from the State runs out at the end of next year.

It has also gone down badly in RTÉ’s sports department, whose members say they were misrepresented when Adrian Lynch told the committee they were unhappy with the appointment. Nobody had asked them. The head of sport was told four days before it was announced, the rest of the department minutes before the press release. Silo culture is clearly alive and well in Montrose.

My colleagues Malachy Clerkin and Gavin Cooney have reported complaints from others within RTÉ that Howler is promoted two or three times a day on Radio 1, including on Morning Ireland and Drivetime, while their own programmes struggle for resources. What is most interesting about this internal friction is it gives us a glimpse of the resources being put into making Howler a hit.

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How much is that promotion worth? Advertisers pay a premium for airtime on these flagship radio programmes. If or when RTÉ explains what Howler costs, the cash value of all that promotion should be on the public record.

It also matters when assessing how Howler is doing. Some reports have described the podcast as already riding high in the charts. But those rankings can be misleading. There are two main podcast platforms that publish charts. Apple does not release its formula, but its main chart appears to be driven largely by how many new followers a show attracts over a short period. Spotify’s Trending chart, as the name suggests, also rewards growth. A heavily promoted new show will do well on both. An established show with a large, loyal audience may not.

The best available measure, though still imperfect, is Spotify’s main chart, which ranks shows by weekly audience. On November 7th Howler was 89th in Ireland, 79 places behind the Irish Independent’s sports podcast and below several other RTÉ titles. That is not a disaster. It always takes time to build a digital audience. But it is not evidence of a runaway hit.

The real problem is who Howler is for. Gilroy told The Irish Times that RTÉ wants its podcast network to reach under-45s. The interview made clear that Howler is aimed at a male audience, with Gilroy saying a “female-targeted product” would follow in the new year. RTÉ subsequently said he had been referring to plans for a broader podcast slate catering for a range of audiences. In its first two weeks, Howler featured no female guests. Its regular contributors are all men. RTÉ says female representation is “hugely important” and is being addressed.

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This is all wildly out of step with the times. In recent years broadcasters and publishers, public and private, have made a real effort to take women’s sport seriously. There is far more to do – Sport Ireland found that women’s sport accounted for only 18 per cent of Irish sports coverage last year – but there are now more women’s voices on air and in print. RTÉ has been part of that effort and its own diversity charter committed it to on-air diversity that reflects the population.

Against that background the strategy behind Howler seems remarkably retrograde. A commercial operator that announced a sports product for younger men, with something for women to follow later, would rightly be criticised. Coming from RTÉ it is baffling.

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These are serious questions for a broadcaster that receives hundreds of millions of euro annually from the State. RTÉ is entering a sport podcast market where independent producers have already built substantial audiences. Its presence there needs to be justified by distinctive journalism, broader representation and work the market does not already supply. RTÉ should explain what public value Howler is meant to create, how its success will be measured and how its commitments on fairness and inclusion will survive the pursuit of younger male listeners. It will have a chance to do so before the Public Accounts Committee later this month.