Mr. Paul Farrell:

I might work backwards and let Ms Ní Chaoindealbháin talk about how long the linear schedules will exist and the EPG slot. The topic of dual funding comes back to the same argument for me, in that it will be difficult to understand how we will perform if we are not clear what our focus is and how we are being measured. On the issue of chasing advertising revenue, the big argument in that context is whether a programme such as "EastEnders", for example, is public service broadcasting or a commercially-driven initiative. That is a murky subject. Should such a programme be in one place or should it be separated?

Telling a business it has €200 million and what it has to do with that money within its remit allows it to do that more easily, effectively and within budget, as a service which can be measured, improved and developed, than to say there is €200 million here and another €200 million there and the business should go off and do whatever it wants. There is enough money to do it but it is not being done efficiently or clearly, and it is not being measured transparently. At a dual funding level, and this is not the fault of RTÉ, it is hard to run between the two measures when, as outlined previously, the advertising market is inherently cyclical and follows the economy more so than most business trackers. That is something to which we will always be beholden. I think better decisions would be made if the question posed was how it would be possible to get value for money from €200 million in respect of public service broadcasting. The rest of the ecosystem will benefit because it would then be possible to state that the rest of the funding will go into what we define as the other requirements of public service content.

Our written submission states that we should be referring to "public service content" and not "broadcasting" because it is being generated and created in many different ways.

On the scalability element, discovery is the big priority. Ms Ní Chaoindealbháin will discuss where electronic programme guides are going and scheduling in general, but discovery and the ability to find content should be the priority for all of us now. EPGs and linear programming work and will continue to work. The situation is similar to that of newspapers. Some 12 years ago, I remember many people in The Irish Timeswere saying that newspapers would be gone within five years. They are still there, ticking along, with circulation figures lower some days than others, but still surviving. EPGs will continue to exist as well. Outside of that, however, in the world of Netflix and Apple TV, there must be some prioritisation in discovery and how it will be possible for people to find and access content. The audiovisual media services directive is going to look at this issue, I think, or needs to look at it, as does the Future of Media Commission.