An increase in the licence fee was "absolutely necessary" if RTE was to compete successfully with its rivals, said the station's managing director of television, Mr Joe Mulholland, last night.
The £70 fee was "the lowest in Europe" he said, whereas the last £8 increase "only met the costs of [producing the] programming for Teilifis na Gaeilge."
He believed an increase of £10 would be "helpful and desirable".
RTE ran a deficit of almost £2.5 million last year, "the first in many years", he said.
This was due to increased home production and increased programming costs. And expected figures for 1998 and 1999 were "not encouraging", he said, "especially when we are so reliant on commercial resources" for which there was already great competition.
Whereas RTE was "holding its own" as a public service broadcaster, and "the envy of our colleagues in Europe" with "a very healthy 50 per cent plus" regular audience, he said they could not be complacent before increased competition from digital and satellite television.
In addition, fewer people watched television in general, because of the popularity of cinema, videos and with more middle-class people surfing the Internet.
In terms of resources to compete it was "difficult to square the circle", he said.
Mr Mulholland did not envisage next season's Late Late Show would be Gay Byrne's last as presenter. The show was still "performing remarkably well" and had had a very good year. It remained "a vital element" in the television schedule. Programme and presenter, he felt, would continue at the station "for the foreseeable future".
Mr Mulholland was speaking in the context of a planned radical overhaul of RTE television schedules, which will eventually involve at least one channel running for almost 24 hours.
The changes were beginning a process in which, he said, "we will go over everything, root and branch" to attract and hold an additional younger viewership.
From next month, the daytime schedule will start at 6 a.m. with day-long faster-paced information-based programming until 6 p.m.
A new six-part police drama series, Making the Cut, begins in October, while Glenroe is to be overhauled to maintain its popularity.
As part of a revamping of the current affairs schedule, Prime Time will be broadcast three times a week with Brian Farrell back again as a presenter.
The programme Farrell, which was broadcast on Sunday evenings, will not return.
A new business programme is planned for Fridays, while documentaries on John Hume, the Civil War - the 75th anniversary of which is next year - and a major three-part series on the 1798 Rising will be broadcast next year.
Negotiations continue with an independent consortium about a breakfast programme which will be broadcast from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. "Nothing has been signed yet," Mr Mulholland said. But he anticipated at least two people, a man and a woman, would present the programme. It would be wide-ranging in content but would be mainly information-based, with farming, business and general community news.
The audience for breakfast TV in Ireland was not great, Mr Mulholland said, but the programme was being introduced in response to competition from other channels.
A magazine programme is planned for the afternoons which will run from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will replace Live at Three. Derek Davis and Thelma Mansfield, however, will remain as presenters.
Two other presenters who will remain on daytime television are Marty Whelan and Ciana Campbell. But Mr Mulholland envisages additional presenters "as we go along."
Making the Cut, a new six-part police drama series, set in Waterford, with Sean McGinley as a detective, begins in October. Written by Eric Deacon, it is described by Mr Mulholland as "a very high-class drama", and will be broadcast in hourly episodes.
It is also planned to sub-title Cursai Ealaine, to increase the accessibility of an already successful programme.
A long-term plan is a dramatisation of John McGahern's acclaimed novel, Amongst Women. It will be broadcast in four one-hour episodes. Kenny Live will be back on Saturday nights, as will The Late Late Show on Fridays.
Mr Mulholland said programme changes would continue in coming seasons "until we get it right".
