Kenny joins UTV Ireland
Broadcaster Pat Kenny is to make his television comeback on the country's new station UTV Ireland next year.
In what will be seen as a major coup for the fledgling channel, the ex-RTE veteran will front a peak-time show, the details of which have yet to be finalised.
It is the second surprise move in as many years by the former Late Late Show host who caused a sensation when he left his Radio One slot last year for commercial rival Newstalk.
He had been more than 40 years with the national broadcaster, which said it could not match the offer made to him by billionaire media mogul Denis O’Brien’s much smaller radio station.
“It is early days in terms of the details of the output but I’m energised by the team at UTV Ireland and the prospect of working with talented young people, allied to some very experienced and wise colleagues,” said Mr Kenny, at the launch of UTV Ireland’s programme line-up.
“The plan is to be on air in the early part of 2015 and we’ve had a few good exchanges about how we can produce an entertaining, enticing proposition that is compelling for viewers.
“During the next few months we’ll take what is effectively a blank canvas with some initial strands and shape it to create the best television possible.”
Mr Kenny said his prime time slot on the country's new commercial station was “new territory”, adding: “Another leap, so to speak.”
A message from Pat Kenny... #UTVIreland https://t.co/VjgNsdMnEX
— Conor Shanley (@ConorS) August 19, 2014
Late last year, UTV shocked the media industry with its plans to set up a separate channel in the Republic of Ireland.
Station chiefs have vowed to go head-to-head with RTE and commercial station TV3 in a battle for Irish television viewers with the new station based in the Dublin Docklands.
The move was made possible by a deal with British TV giant ITV for exclusive rights to popular soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale, according to John McCann, group chief executive of parent company UTV Media.
