UP UNTIL early last Monday afternoon the identity of the next host of The Late Late Showwas the best kept secret in RTÉ. At 1pm, as he was coming to the end of his day's work, Ryan Tubridy took a call asking him to come to director general Cathal Goan's office. The meeting began at 3pm, and within seconds Tubridy had been told he had the job, writes SHANE HEGARTY
For a man who had been preparing for this moment most of his life, it was a bit of a shock.
Despite all the speculation that had led to it – “imminent” announcements, assertions from RTÉ insiders that Miriam O’Callaghan was a shoo-in, Paddy Power briefly suspending betting after a rush on Gerry Ryan – the reality was that even the candidates were caught on the hop this week. It brought to an end an intense few weeks for all involved, although it didn’t end some of the rumours, such as one particularly virulent suggestion that O’Callaghan had been offered the job weeks ago but that RTÉ had changed its mind when audience research told them that female viewers would not accept a woman as the show’s host.
That isn’t true. In fact, despite Tubridy being reported as coming out ahead of two other rivals for the job, by the time the announcement was made O’Callaghan had already formally withdrawn from the race.
In tracing the chronology of what will be the most important on-air decision RTÉ makes this year – arguably the biggest they would make in any year – go back several years, to the decisions to give Tubridy a Saturday night chat show, and for O'Callaghan to replace him during the summer months with her own show. These were part of a long-term strategy by RTÉ to make sure that it wasn't caught cold by the eventuality that Pat Kenny would step down from The Late Late.
The timeline would also have to take in the announcement in mid-March that Questions and Answerswas to finish its run. In retrospect, it was part of a chain of events that would lead to Pat Kenny moving from Friday nights to a new current affairs show on Mondays, and someone else moving into the biggest job in Irish broadcasting.
KENNY'S DECISION HADbeen a surprise to most within RTÉ, including his team. A few hours before The Late Late showon March 27th, he told colleagues of his intention to announce his retirement live on air. By the time the opening credits rolled that Friday night, texts were flying between journalists that he was about to ambush the nation. When later in the show he confirmed that he was stepping down at the end of the series, and then joked "okay, okay, I've changed my mind", he had dropped a bombshell in about as calm, dignified and impressive a way as possible. After which the scramble began. Even before his announcement, RTÉ had dispatched a press release to news desks, and the rumours about his successor began immediately. RTÉ said that it would take as much as two months to decide on a replacement, but from the off, Ryan Tubridy, Miriam O'Callaghan and Gerry Ryan were treated by the media as the obvious candidates.
The choice was to be made by two men: RTÉ director general Cathal Goan and managing director of television Noel Curran. Others in RTÉ were consulted, but only in an advisory capacity. O’Callaghan’s husband, Steve Carson, had recently been appointed as director of programmes for RTÉ Television, so absented himself from the process.
Initially, Curran and Goan looked at outside candidates, although RTÉ will not confirm who they were. Many names were mentioned but only a couple would have been in with even a long shot. Ray D'Arcy, who expressed interest in the job, might have been a more likely contender if he had stayed within RTÉ instead of forging a successful radio career on Today FM. Dara Ó Briain's name was mentioned regularly, but even if he was interested in the job (he wasn't) and had RTÉ offered it to him, he was never going to uproot his family life in London to return to Ireland. It would also have meant undermining a lucrative career that has made him one of Britain's most popular comedians. Such is that popularity, taking The Late Late Showwould conceivably have meant him taking a pay cut.
NOEL CURRAN THIS week refused to discuss any of the candidates they approached, except for Tubridy, and even refused to confirm exactly who they were. "We only began to look seriously at candidates after Pat announced he was going to step down. We knew we had a range of candidates, though. We've had a deliberate strategy of developing real options for the future, because we wanted to be ready for when Pat finished on The Late Late. We would have seen how they did on screen, how they worked with viewers and whether they had potential to do the gig." Again, Curran won't reveal who was being put through their paces in recent years, but giving Saturday night chat shows to Tubridy and O'Callaghan and asking Gerry Ryan to fill in for a Late Late in October must have been part of that longer game.
However, it quickly settled into a three-horse race, although the candidates weren't actually talked to until about two weeks after Kenny's announcement. Despite the media speculation, it was only then that Curran and Goan met with Gerry Ryan, Ryan Tubridy and Miriam O'Callaghan, meetings in which each was canvassed on their ideas about The Late Late Showand their potential role in it, and told how it would affect their other work in RTÉ. While Tubridy and Ryan were to be allowed keep their radio shows, O'Callaghan was informed that she would have to leave Prime Time.
For O’Callaghan, this was a sacrifice she didn’t want to make. She wrote and handed in a letter formally withdrawing from the process. According to sources within the station, she was asked by RTÉ to stay in the race. While it was reported this week that O’Callaghan had been an unsuccessful candidate, and despite her magnanimous remarks about the outcome, it transpires that she did not believe herself to still be in the running.
Just as Gerry Ryan has been stoic about the decision (he wishes his “very good friend” Tubridy well, and says that even being considered was a “privilege”), O’Callaghan has been gracious in her praise of Tubridy this week. There is no suggestion that she was unhappy with the decision itself, however, sources within the station say she was frustrated by not having been publicly acknowledged as having withdrawn from the process.
O'Callaghan did not want to be interviewed but through the RTÉ press office says: "It is true that I formally withdrew in writing from the process; not because I didn't recognise that it was the biggest show on the station, but because I was concerned about giving up all that I had worked for in current affairs over the years. Prime Timeis in my DNA. It wasn't until the formal process actually began that it was spelled out to me that I'd have to give up Prime Timeand everything else I do in current affairs to do The Late Late. Current affairs has never been more relevant or more important in this country and I just wasn't prepared to totally give up the thing I love the most at such a difficult time in this country's history."
Nevertheless, O’Callaghan was still considered to be in the hunt by both the press and within RTÉ. In fact, the press, and bookies, had installed her as favourite from early on. However, the press coverage did not always accurately reflect what was happening within the station.
From the beginning, the closed nature of the process meant that rumours took on a life of their own. RTÉ staff gossiped constantly. The papers speculated daily. Occasionally, the press became excited by word of an “imminent” announcement. For instance, three weeks before the decision was announced, strong rumours came from within Montrose that Miriam O’Callaghan had been offered the job, contracts were being signed and that she would soon be announced as the new host. It was untrue.
Even before the decision was announced, a story was doing the rounds – at high levels within RTÉ – that O’Callaghan had originally been offered the job but that the broadcaster had changed its mind based on audience research telling them that female viewers didn’t want a woman to present the programme. Some newspaper reports before and since the decision was made suggested that gender was a factor. This is also untrue.
On television and radio there is certainly a gender divide, not just in the kinds of programmes women tend to present but also in how other women react to them. O’Callaghan, according to RTÉ sources however, bucks that trend. She not only performs very well in audience research, but polls equally with men and women.
NOEL CURRAN ADMITSthatTubrid RTÉ did use audience research as part of its selection process, but says that it wasn't central to the decision. "We do regular audience research anyway, and we look at the figures on an ongoing basis. We did specific research on The Late Late Show,what people wanted from it, their attitudes to Friday and Saturday nights, and to the main candidates. But all the main candidates came out of that positively, which is quite heartening. But it wasn't of huge use to us."
Within the advertising world Tubridy was always the most attractive option, with a wider appeal and tapping into a relatively young audience. Tubridy Tonighthas had a sponsor this year, whereas The Late Late Showhas not. Moving him from a Saturday night to a Friday solves the problem of having two chat shows each weekend in a landscape saturated with talk shows. From Ireland AM on TV3 in the morning, though several afternoon shows across the stations, and on to The Podge and Rodge Show, The Lucy Kennedy Show, The Paneland even Nightly News with Vincent Brown, the competition for guests has become fierce.
Meanwhile, the nature of celebrity has diminished, and guests tend only to appear when they have something to sell rather than something to say. The Late Latealso needs to get away from a reliance on RTÉ's own presenters as guests. If the broadcaster decides to permanently remove the Saturday night chat show – at a time when it has also cancelled Gráinne and Síle Seoige's afternoon slot – it will allow Tubridy's Late Late to become the focus again.
Noel Curran says that the decision to give Tubridy the job was made because of his talent as a broadcaster.
"We picked Ryan because he can deliver not just entertainment but on those broader elements that are an integral part of The Late Late Show."
Tubridy’s move to RTÉ Radio 1 has been crucial to him becoming a serious candidate for the role. Figures published on Thursday show he added 18,000 listeners to his morning show in the last year. “He has developed and broadened his range on Radio 1 and that put him in the frame for this,” says Curran. “But there has been some talk that he can only do an entertainment show.
“Actually, you’ll see that he’ll continue to develop as a broadcaster and that he has a huge range. He will surprise people.”
“A story was doing the rounds – at high levels within RTÉ – that O’Callaghan had been offered the job but that the broadcaster had changed its mind based on research telling them female viewers didn’t want a woman