Ray D’Arcy to fill RTÉ One Saturday night slot from autumn

Broadcaster Ray D'Arcy is to host a Saturday night TV programme on RTÉ One from the autumn.

Brendan O’Connor, who currently hosts The Saturday Night Show on the channel, will be moving on to a new RTÉ project when the programme’s current run ends on May 30th.

O’Connor has hosted the show for the last five years and is scheduled to return with a new prime time entertainment programme in 2016, RTÉ said.

D'Arcy (50) left Today FM late last year to return to RTÉ, where he had previously worked for more than a decade. He replaced Derek Mooney on RTÉ Radio 1's afternoon slot in February.

He is reported to have rejoined RTÉ on an annual salary in the region of €500,000, and had been expected to return to the national broadcaster’s TV schedule.

In a statement, RTÉ One controller Adrian Lynch said O'Connor's run on The Saturday Night Show had been "a great success" for the channel, which needs to continue to "offer the public great shows and keep great talent".

O’Connor said he was “very excited about inventing a newer, even better show”.