Newstalk is considering lodging a formal complaint to the Competition Authority, after the State broadcaster RTÉ refused to air an advert submitted by the station.

It says a decision by RTÉ to refuse to broadcast the advertisement is in contravention of its public sector broadcasting remit.

"RTÉ's decision not to accept the ad is motivated solely by its determination to curb the listenership of a competitor" Newstalk CEO Gerard Whelan said.

"We submitted an ad and RTÉ took an arbitrary decision to reject it" he added.

"RTÉ is subsidised by the taxpayer and in 2012, it generated a licence fee income of approximately €181 million. It also took in advertising revenue of approximately €156 million, in the same year".

"Now they want to stamp out the competition. This is clearly anti-competitive and an abuse of its position" Mr. Whelan added.

He said that Newstalk has been made aware that RTÉ has guidelines for rejecting ads from competitors and that "RTÉ should make these guidelines public immediately, in the interest of transparency".

Newstalk is taking legal advice and is considering lodging a formal complaint to the Competition Authority as a matter of urgency.

RTÉ press office was unavailable for comment.