THE new director-general of RTE, Mr Bob Collins, takes up his, position today, following the retirement of Mr Joe Barry on Friday. Mr Collins is expected to announce a number of changes, including the appointment of Mr Liam Miller and Mr Joe Mulholland, the heads of television programmes and news, respectively, to the posts of assistant and deputy director-generals. It is also believed he intends to appoint Ms Clare Duignan to be in charge of radio. The RTE Authority has approved his plans, which arc designed to equip the organisation to face major challenges with massively increased competition. RTE is also facing a financial crisis and is almost certain to face competition from another Irish TV channel, TV3, and growing competition from British television. It also has to face the technological challenge of digital television.