Virgin Media never tried to poach Ryan Tubridy, insiders have claimed.
It was claimed before the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday, the current Chief Financial Officer of RTE, Richard Collins, said that the RTE star’s contract had a €120,000 “loyalty bonus” connected to it in 2020 which for some “unexplained reason” was credited against his earnings between 2017 and 2019, and the matter is currently under investigation, Mr Collins said.
However, Adrian Lynch, interim acting deputy Director General, said the €120,000 payment “was not in fact paid”. Insiders have confirmed to us that there was never an attempt in Virgin Media to poach Tubridy, with a TV source saying he didn’t fit the “brand of the station”.
An insider said: “On this loyalty bonus, there is a thing called a balloon payment. It’s a little bit yesterday’s stuff. You wouldn’t do it today. If I was negotiating a contract today in RTE I would be saying no to balloon payments. RTE has clearly negotiated very, very badly.
Read more: RTE DG says 'possible' Tubridy's Late Late resignation linked to pay scandal
“Not in a million years could Virgin afford the salaries RTE pay their staff. Ryan would be wrong for us. Did we approach him? No. We never approached him.
“The commercial, independent sector in Ireland could not afford what RTE paid the likes of Tubridy. “This balloon payment is a loyalty payment. It’s very old school but they are very rare.
“At the end of contract, it’s like an enticement to keep the person there longer and keep the person close to the organisation.”
Questions were also raised at the Oireachtas about stars who are brand ambassadors for companies – a practice not encouraged in Virgin Media.
A source said: “RTE don’t have a register of corporate gifts. I’ve seen RTE presenters being ambassadors for car companies. In Virgin, you cannot accept a gift over E30 without registering it as a gift in a corporate governance way. You have to register it.
“So, at Christmas time, you hand the gifts into a central area and it is raffled in spot prizes. That’s good governance. It would be common practice in companies to have a register of gifts.
“Also, if someone comes in and they are not a staffer, they should register about what their interests are. You want to make sure it is in keeping with your brand. There has to be a register of all these things.”
The source added: “I feel sad about what is happening. It’s bad for the sector. There are terrific opportunities for Irish content and this is damaging. This will affect the money that RTE had and what kind of programmes they make in the future. That is quite sad.”
Another insider said it is unlikely the BBC tried to poach Tubridy also.
A TV source said: “Tubridy was doing some stand-in stuff with the BBC. It didn’t really work, and they wouldn’t be paying big money for him.”
But a spokesman for the BBC said: “We won’t be commenting on this.”
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