RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

Barry Andrews MEP, also

I wonder why now this has blown up, everyone in RTÉ and that cesspit Noel Kelly knew for years

Would it have been a disgruntled staffer ??

However with the move towards a universal charge, our trust and buy in isn't really a priority. This is more like a scandal at a government department. A few heads roll but the department continues on.

I posted the following on the LiveLine thread a few days ago. Nothing has changed my opinion on Tubridy since.

.....Tubridy is finished as a broadcaster in Ireland I reckon. There's been a fair bit of suspicious activity the past few months around him with RTE and I reckon he'll see out his radio contract and it won't be renewed.

He left the LLS very suddenly, only a couple of weeks after giving an interview saying he intended doing it for a few more years. His motives were suspicious at the time to us who knew him, but it is now obvious he knew the game was up.

His leaving show on the LLS was very poorly attended, the great and the good stayed away. They were forewarned; either by NK or else they knew from gossip within RTE that he was buggered.

The lack of love for him in RTE is obvious in that nobody has come out to defend him and his statements the past two days don't help him going forward. He lays the blame squarely on RTE and absolves himself of any real complicity in it. The truth is that the payments would not have happened without his active complicity in the matter.

I wasn't surprised that Duffy had a programme about him, he was fairly strident against RTE after the story of the COVID breaching leaving party for Phil 'Whiplash' Collins. I got the impression then that he (Duffy) doesn't have too many friends in RTE, and he knows he's in the clear on payments, so he's probably betting that some others are mired in this. Interesting. But not unusual, as every workplace has its cliques and people backstabbing each other.

So what now for Tubridy? I think he's very damaged goods and unless he has a very good personal relationship with the new DG, he'll be gone when the current radio contract runs out. Where will he go? Maybe Newstalk, but he won't have the pulling power of Pat Kenny and therefore he won't command near the wages he's currently on.

His inane natter isn't up to BBC standards and he doesn't have the focus for them, so I personally think the UK is out. Unless he goes to a private station, but I honestly don't know much about them.

Which leaves the US, and I think he can get a few years there. There's still an older 'Irish' element there who will think his Leprachaun lilting will be cute and there's plenty of stations there where his inane waffling would find a slot. The pay would be a downgrade, and he'd be on a 'hire & fire' contract but I think its his best option. He can butter up his contacts with the US Irish Democrats and have the odd weekend in Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard etc. It would be right up his alley, he has the money to support himself and convince himself he's worth it.

The broader issue is that in the era of social media TV and radio advertising is of diminishing value though not of no value, getting sponsors must be getting harder and harder hence the emergence of selling on to discounters in the TV and radio advertising space.

The likes of, Ray Darcy, Joe Duffy, etc are from a different era.

While RTE needs a shark up I would not like a Newstalk type as a public broadcaster, Newstalk is dishonest, populist, and very clickbait orientated.

I think you are right that America might become his safe haven but it's making the news in America.

You mentioned that NK might have told people to stay away from the last LLS, not sure if this could be true as NK is up to his oxters in this and has a lot to answer for.

Newstalk or anybody else in Ireland won't touch or take damaged goods.

Nah, he's the worst (IMO). Absolutely unlistenable.

Toxic Tubridy? The problem for what's left of his career is that advertisers may think twice about wanting to be associated with him. Renault cut that deal with Tubridy after a year but RTE still paid Tubridy. According to some reports, Center Parcs was reconsidering sponsoring his radio show.

Regards...jmcc

I‘m glad Christie didn’t live to see this

Podcast... book maybe... something voluntary for his fanbase - nothing broadcast to general national audience.

That's a major problem for him and others who may be affected by this. People don't seem to listen to the presenter but simply have their radio tuned to a specific station and are too lazy to change it. That's if the audience figures for these programmes are accurate. Pat Kenny leanred the hard way that it wasn't his audience when he didn't have his RTE contract renewed.

Regards...jmcc