150KTubs - future career in Virgin Radio and other soulful pursuits **Mod: Read OP**

Conan is still doing well, I'd say he's doing better than most of the current crop of Late Night Chat Show Hosts in the United States.

From way back but one of the funniest interviews on Late Night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKmadR4Ye54

There's a remarkable difference between Tubridy's RTE afterlife and Pat Kenny's RTE afterlife. Kenny, I think, reached the mandatory RTE retirement age and RTE did not renew his contract despite him having one of the main radio slots. He was picked up by Communicorp. Tubridy was dumped by RTE and no Irish broadcaster wanted to hire him. The difference is that Kenny can do Current Affairs well and Light Entertainment less so. The only thing that Tubridy does is Light Entertainment and there's a lot of competition in that niche. While Current Affairs is more localised, Light Entertainment skills are more transferable hence Tubridy getting a job on Virgin Radio. As it is a more competitive niche, if Tubridy doesn't make the numbers on Virgin (leaving aside the Q102 syndication deal), there's always some local presenter who connects with the Virgin Radio audience waiting in the wings.

Tubridy is out of his depth outside Montrose. He's a product of RTE and needs to be back there. The syndication part of the Virgin Radio deal looks much more important in that respect. He was about to be rehired but didn't seem to understand that the whole situation had changed. The problem with his return to RTE is that it is not the RTE that dumped him.

There will be approximately 400 job cuts in RTE. Tubridy and the 150K has resulted in a bit of a change in management and the people who championed Tubridy are gone. The institutional memory of the damage that the Tubridy payments has done to RTE will persist for a few years yet. For some, he killed their golden goose.

There's a sense that the "new" RTE will want to draw a line between it and the "old" RTE. Taking Tubridy back would, after all the negative publicity, make it look like nothing has changed. That's going to be a very tricky position for RTE management.

Based on the current opinion polling, the next government could be an SF-led one and SF seemed to be in favour of direct funding of RTE rather than continuing with the licence fee. Bringing back Tubridy in such a changed political environment (FF stands to lose quite a few seats if its current polling translates to a General Election vote and might only get around 20 seats) might not work out well for RTE and it may still need a bailout or two. Rather than a possible one or two year exile from RTE, it could be five or more years. Or it may be permanent. Q102 etc may well be Tubridy's future until then if the Virgin gig does not work out.

Regards...jmcc

Think that he increased the number of listeners on Tubridy's old RTE slot. He might even be able to do a better Richard Nixon than Tubridy.

Regards...jmcc

I'd rather die than listen to jarlath

If I remember rightly any talk of home studio podcasting from tubridy pretty much evaporated after the first Kielty lls.

Plus Kieltys show stretched past 90mins last night and it could have gone longer.

I think tubridy was the most overt symptom of the detached national broadcasting.

Did someone say earlier on this thread that Norton is not a tubs fan?

Norton like Kielty is another who had their own act before becoming a host, they could read a crowd.

Tubridy is just noise in comparison.

I wonder if what time the nk mob clock on today, no doubt they'll be lambasting Kielty and Norton, but probably not Conan.

I reckon he's already been asked if this new Irish guy is a friend, but I can imagine Norton protecting his own brand. There is absolutely nothing in it for Norton to endorse tubs, and virgin radio obviously know better not to piss off one of their actually stars.

Team NK obviously do not believe in the old adage 'There is no such thing as bad publicity'.

When the auld Victor Meldrews of the Internet lose interest in commenting and complaining, it is a lost cause.

Fantastic LLS last night. Conan and Graham Norton interviews adeptly handled by PK. Instead of the obsequious celebrity worshipping of old, they were treated like mere mortals and responded well to lots of gentle ribbing.

Particularly liked PK's introduction for Norton "a chat show king all the way from Virgin Radio UK" Queue wry smirk :D

Even the LLS trad session, which in recent years always seemed like an exercise in filling air time with tiresome diddly eye, was last night a free flowing celebration that worked well.

Crazy to think RTE stumbled on this formula like someone stumbling on a garden rake.

The NK crew may have family who love them and who spend time with them at th weekends

(not me though, I’m always a radio geek)

..

No idea, a lot of talk + conjecture.

What I'd suspect is that above the heads of station management a deal has been done and a big gamble has been taken. Rather like when Ray D'arcy was forced upon Today FM.... the Programme Director's hands were tied. Either that or he has some dirt on Evans? Or a third theory is the infamous €150k has "secured" the show and all the smoke + mirrors to accompany that.

A lot of hearsay, but the truth always comes out eventually.

Look at the lineups of Virgin, TalkSport, Talk TV + Times Radio - they are not the same as 6-12 months ago so there are super fast turnarounds of talent many on more short term "dont call us we'll call you" style freelance contracts. They are quite results and Rajar based and 3 bad books and you are out / banished to Late Nights or assigned "elsewhere".

Chris Evans is grand when his figures are going up but anyone or "the thing" contributing to a dip in those figures will be removed so fast their feet won't touch the ground as security remove it from News UK HQ.

In the end its Commercial Radio. Not RTÉ.

Great interview with David McSavage on Tommy Tiernan. Joked that noise in the background was RT scrambling to get back in.

Did somebody on this forum write that? Or was it Gift Grub?

Ticks so many boxes, mentions himself being called a legend, Beatles, photo with him posing with a book in an intellectual way, people recognising him, being showered with messages.

And written in the style of a 12 year old.

Remember, he was on over €500k per annum here, folks.

Well, it really is true what they say, you just can’t keep a good man down.