RTÉ’s new Director General Kevin Bakhurst has indicated that he will be stepping down as a member of the board of GAAGo, the joint venture which the broadcaster has created over the past eight years with the GAA.
He made the comment while speaking to media at RTÉ Headquarters this afternoon after naming his new interim Executive Leadership team.
RTÉ and other broadcasters will follow representatives from leading sporting bodies in a session before the Oireachtas Committee hearing on the future of sports broadcasting scheduled to take place this Wednesday at Leinster House.
Bakhurst was asked if he felt it was right that himself and RTÉ Head of Sport Declan McBennett should sit on the board to which he replied that while McBennett should retain a seat, that a second RTÉ one should go to another member of RTÉ leadership, creating a sense of detachment for the Director General.
On Sport for Business we have written in detail on why the GAA and RTÉ should stand their ground and continue with the arrangement which is a best-in-class offering in an area where the rest of the sporting world at every level is moving towards.
WHY THE GAA AND RTÉ SHOULD STAND THEIR GROUND ON GAAGO
We also wrote last week, ahead of this week’s Oireachtas hearings about the threat to the extensive amount of free-to-air sports coverage we have in Ireland and a fear that political grandstanding on behalf of those who would rather see everything free for everybody all the time, could have serious repercussions for sport.
THE THREAT TO SPORT FROM THE CURRENT TROUBLES AT RTÉ
The new Director general has a lot more than sport on his plate at the moment but still referenced the extensive sports coverage from the past weekend and the important role of sport within RTÉ’s public service remit during the same press conference.
We will be covering the hearings from Leinster House this Wednesday,
