Pat Kenny will take over The Late Late Show on Friday nights, a senior source at RTE has confirmed. And the comedian Patrick Kielty has not been ruled out to host a Saturday night chat-show.
RTE's head of television, Mr Joe Mulholland, will announce the new occupant of the Friday-night chair, vacated by Gay Byrne, at a press conference this afternoon.
The show will retain the title, The Late Late Show, although the format will be altered. Likely victims of an overhaul are the antiques show and the toy show.
Kenny is known to have coveted the Friday-night slot since he began hosting Kenny Live 11 years ago. He told The Irish Times two weeks ago that it had always been his understanding that he would take his show to Friday nights when Gay Byrne retired.
However, he also expressed a belief that The Late Late Show should be "parked" for two years. It would be a "very rushed turnaround to create a set and unique format around a new host," he said. "There's a lot of baggage that goes with The Late Late."
Kenny was last night on his way to Jerusalem for Saturday's Eurovision Song Contest and was unavailable for comment, though he did confirm on last night's news that he would be taking over Friday nights.
Not all at RTE are happy with the choice. One source, who did not want to be named, described Kenny as "the boring safe choice", who was "too self-conscious" to match Byrne's ability to handle almost any subject matter and be self-effacing when the occasion demanded.
The decision ends weeks of speculation about what would happen to Friday nights on RTE 1. Kielty was tipped as a contender to host the show, whether this meant its being moved from Friday night or not. He, however, is reported to have turned down RTE approaches on the grounds that the 37-year-old show does not have enough "street-cred" for his alternative brand of humour.
With Kenny confirmed as the new host Kielty does remain a possible host for a different type of show on Saturday nights. "The big question now," commented Mr Kevin Healy, RTE's director of public affairs, yesterday, "is what happens to Saturday nights". He said there would still be a chat show on Saturday nights, though the format and host were still to be finalised.
