RTÉ's decision to sponsor one of its own shows has been criticised by advertising agencies, which have described it as "odd" and "strange".

The new series of Reeling In The Years is "proudly sponsored by 2FM" despite the fact that RTÉ is losing money and has predicted a 5% fall in advertising revenues for 2010.

"The first time I saw the sponsorship it struck me as very strange," said Debbie Kiely, head of client services at MediaCom advertising.

"I thought about it and though it clearly makes sense for RTÉ given that 2FM is trying to reposition itself and its audience, there is another angle.

"Looking at it from the perspective of a viewer and consumer, it does seem odd. It is basically the taxpayer funding RTÉ to fund another part of the station, and people will get annoyed over this."

Mark Hopkins of Hopkins Communications said consumers were right to be angry about the sponsorship.

"It wouldn't be unusual for broadcasters like RTÉ to cross over with its advertising, but those who are complaining it shouldn't be sponsoring itself have a point. It could be that it could not find a sponsor or that it figured its target audience for the radio station was the same as that of the show."

One viewer asked in an online post: "Can someone explain to me how this works please? Given that 2FM has run at a loss for the past year and is likely to again this next financial year."

According to a spokesman for RTÉ, the sponsorship is part of 2FM's planned marketing activities for the year.

"2FM availed of the sponsorship package for Reeling in the Years as part of its 2010 marketing activities," he said.