The TV licence fee should be used to fund "unbiased, objective" media, that isn't "in the pocket of big business", according to Ciara Kelly.

Since the RTÉ payment scandal, the number of people renewing their licence fee has plummeted.

This morning, associate professor of politics Eoin O’Malley told Newstalk Breakfast that replacing the TV licence with a smartphone levy would be a “fairer” way of funding public service broadcasting.

“I find it vaguely insulting that we seem to act like unless the hallowed ground of Montrose is there to protect the bastion of public service broadcasting, that the rest of us will all be going off and talking like Pravda”.

Ciara and Shane talk about the possibility of… pic.twitter.com/5PxCYER4zg

— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) August 28, 2023

Host Ciara Kelly said she would not object to paying a licence fee for media that is "objective, good, unbiased" coverage that is not "in the pocket of big business".

"I don't think we want a CNN versus Fox News scenario here," she said.

"Having said that, I find it vaguely insulting that we seem to act like unless the hallowed ground of Montrose is there to protect the bastion of public service broadcasting, that the rest of us will all be going off and talking like Pravda or something.

"I don't think that that's true; I think that we here at Newstalk – we get nothing from the licence fee – do our damnedest to offer objective, on-point, topical news.

"Perhaps RTÉ deserves a bit of competition, maybe also in terms of where the money goes."

'Lost'

Fellow host Shane Coleman said the public does need to pay "some kind" of a licence fee.

"I think public service broadcasting is important," he said.

"We have seen in other countries, state broadcasters that are the puppets of the Government, and that is clearly not a helpful thing and not a desirable thing.

"It's not just a news service and it doesn't just have to be just RTÉ doing it."

"I think it's important TG4 is funded as well and RnaG and other public service broadcasting, as opposed to public sector broadcasting."

Funding

Ciara said some stations could potentially be "commercially viable" without the help of the licence fee funding.

"I think it's an argument that 2FM is probably commercially viable in its own right, it probably doesn't need it," she said.

"They maybe don't need funding; I don't know."

Ciara said it is important to remember that public service broadcasting does not just exist in RTÉ.

"I'm not just saying that because I work for Newstalk," she said.

"It's insulting to newspapers around the country, to other radio stations around the country and to other TV stations like Virgin around the country to suggest that those providers of broadcasting aren't doing the right things by way of public service because I think many, many of them are."

Shane said the decision to change the licence fee will be "politically contentious".

"People do increasingly watch services on their phone rather than on the TV, but politically, I have my doubts as to whether it will happen," he said.