Veteran broadcaster Terry Wogan is to step down from his long-running BBC radio morning show and hand over the reins to colleague Chris Evans in the New Year.
Wogan's Radio 2 morning programme is Britain's most popular radio show, with nearly eight million people tuning in to hear the 71-old Irish presenter's ironical take on life.
Wogan, who was born in Co Limerick and started his radio career in RTÉ as a newsreader and announcer, first hosted the breakfast show in 1972 in a run that lasted till 1984, when he moved full time to television, including an early evening chat show that ran three times a week.
He returned to the radio morning slot in 1993 to present
Wake Up To Wogan, which he will continue until he stands down at the end of December.
"This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my broadcasting career, to say goodbye to you in the mornings," Wogan told listeners today.
Wogan will continue to host BBC television's annual fund-raising
Children in Needtelethon and plans to present a new live Radio 2 show in the new year.
He stepped down from providing an increasingly sardonic television commentary on the Eurovision Song Contest last year after covering it across four decades, complaining the result had become too predictable.
Evans (43), will move into Wogan's breakfast slot after three and a half years of presenting Radio 2's afternoon Drivetime show, which enjoys an audience of over five million listeners.