Portuguese broadcaster RTP plans to offer voluntary early retirement to 250 employees

 In Media, News, Restructuring, RTP

The Portuguese broadcaster RTP plans to offer voluntary early retirement packages to 250 staff as part of a restructuring plan.

But the plan can only go forward if the government gives the green light to an estimated €20 million to pay for the compensation packages.

The plan presented to the Government also includes the financing of €40 million from the banks and the sale of assets, to compensate for the end of advertising, according to Diário de Notícias.

As is the case with the public radio, the Government wants to phase out advertising on RTP channels over the next three years.

The government says it wants to end adverts on TV because they are not longer financially effective in a digital world.

But an RTP insider told Essential Business that the real reason is that the government plans to restructure the company, downsize it, make it more efficient, and shed even more staff in preparation to privatise two TV channels as it loses ground to digital channels and CNN Portugal.

The company’s board of directors has presented the government with a proposal to settle an outstanding State debt to the amount of €14.2 million which it says resulted from underfunding to 2003.

According to the newspaper, the decision dictated by the European Commission in 2006 and reinforced in 2011, ordered the State to pay €26.6 million for the underfunding which resulted in the debt.