Ryan Tubridy to step down from Late Late role when season ends

Looks like Daithi O Shea is in strong contention now, I think Claire Byrne will also rule herself out, He is the only one so far that said he is up for it. I just noticed on the St Patricks parade presentation he seemed to be the man, the only one that was in his comfort zone doing it. I know some are saying it has to be a woman but there are no real female contenders apart from Clare Byrne. I think all this it has to be a woman is just going through the motions so it appears that they really tried to get a woman for it but alas to no avail

Also he is succesful at presenting the Rose of Tralee which is almost like a necessary qualification given that Gay Byrne and a Ryan Tubridy did it (albeit briefly)

Yes, Ronan comes across surprisingly well on The One Show. Nice relaxed manner about him. He’s doing a much better job of it than Angela Scanlon. She got loads of opportunities but she’s just not up to it, something fake about her.

Here's an idea - let's give the job to someone who knows there's a problem and has a plan to fix it.

The LLS will continue its slow death if they give it to someone who gushes "...the greatest honour of my life... stepping into the shoes of broadcasting legends, ... the hallowed space of Studio One, blah, blah, blah." Anyone who says "longest running TV show in the history of the world" should be taken out back and shot - not so much for a brazen lie (does anyone in RTÉ actually believe that old canard🤨) but for thinking that this is a great achievement when they really should think "this station's management is so lacking in vision that it has been unable to kill off a moribund show".

LLS has been stagnating for over a decade and its ratings have plummeted. It thrived in an era when it had a virtual monopoly and serious issues had to be sugar-coated because we were easily shocked (Lesbian Nuns!). It has to find a new formula fit for the flagship programme of our national broadcaster. Late night chat shows in America used to mix the serious and the light. A history of the Sixties in America could be produced relying solely on material from the Dick Cavett Show, and to some extent his show influenced that history. A similar claim could be made for Ireland and the LLS under Gaybo.

Tubridy's announcement (jumped or pushed?) made headlines but the problem for the LLS is it no longer makes real headlines. Who was the last guest to spark a national debate on the LLS? Vicky Phelan made a powerful impact but the LLS was following that scandal, not leading the debate. Politicians have become so guarded that they never say anything interesting. The Taoiseach rushed out an apology last week for a bland, off-the-cuff remark about his time as an intern in Washington. He must have got a spanking from his media minders.

Laura Noonan has a good piece in the IT about chat shows and the problem of getting high-profile guests. Even the Hollywood stars filming in Ireland don't show up for the LLS these days because 

A good host can get an entertaining interview out of unpromising guests but that requires wit and spontaneity which were never in evidence from the three LLS hosts. Tommy Tiernan is at least trying in that direction. It is embarrassing to compare the A-List couch that Graham Norton assembles each week with the collection of recycled C-listers which Tubridy has to work with. And Norton has wit and charm to burn. Here's some early advice he got about chat-show guests

Does RTÉ have any strategy for developing talent? In a well-run station, there would be a pool of young presenters cutting their teeth on chat shows in the afternoon and late-night (yeah, like late, late. RTÉ used to go to bed at 9.30🤣 ). Instead, these shows have eternal presenters slowly turning geriatric before our eyes (I'll apologise tomorrow to all those who take offence at this unscripted remark 😎.) That leaves so few opportunities that they have to be reserved for Nepo babies like Lottie.

Never forget that Gaybo started the RTÉ gravy-train by threatening to go to Britain. They should have organised his farewell party but instead they doubled his salary. Which RTÉ "star" has made it big elsewhere? I can't think of any since Orla Guerin who left in the early 1990s (after she became a victim of a nasty media slur.) The end result is that RTÉ can't go abroad to lure home real talent which might resuscitate the LLS.