[Rdd]

I feel Oliver will get the job full time - I am sure he has already impressed RTE management and the listeners and so is now the natural choice.

As something of a post script to this whole discussion Oliver Callan has indeed got the job full time, the only surprise that they took so long to confirm it.

Meanwhile, Prime Video has just dropped its first ever Irish programme, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, which sees nine stand up comedians and Amy Huberman (!) locked in a room for six hours while Graham Norton watches to see if any of them laugh or smile. It’s harmless fun but nothing special, and perhaps most noteworthy for the fact that it’s the first time Norton has ever done any work in his native Ireland - he’s mostly known for his UK work.

[JMT1985]

As something of a post script to this whole discussion Oliver Callan has indeed got the job full time, the only surprise that they took so long to confirm it.

Meanwhile, Prime Video has just dropped its first ever Irish programme, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, which sees nine stand up comedians and Amy Huberman (!) locked in a room for six hours while Graham Norton watches to see if any of them laugh or smile. It’s harmless fun but nothing special, and perhaps most noteworthy for the fact that it’s the first time Norton has ever done any work in his native Ireland - he’s mostly known for his UK work.

Well RTE and Virgin Media can't afford him now, but Amazon has deep pockets and of course Graham is known internationally too - Graham is a big hit in the US, his talk show is watched by millions there, and he has been on their own talk shows such as Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.

[chinamug]

As something of a post script to this whole discussion Oliver Callan has indeed got the job full time, the only surprise that they took so long to confirm it.

Meanwhile, Prime Video has just dropped its first ever Irish programme, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, which sees nine stand up comedians and Amy Huberman (!) locked in a room for six hours while Graham Norton watches to see if any of them laugh or smile. It’s harmless fun but nothing special, and perhaps most noteworthy for the fact that it’s the first time Norton has ever done any work in his native Ireland - he’s mostly known for his UK work.

He did appear on Nighthawks at least once if not twice, Doing stand up and his Mother Treasa creation. I presume he was paid a fee at the time, but outside of that 25 pounds or so he probably didn't get a penny more from RTE (25 pound seemed to be the going rate for everything RTE around 1990, no matter how much or little effort you made) 

He does host his Virgin Radio Show from C103 in Bandon occasionally.

www.c103.ie 

Graham Norton broadcasts from C103 studios in Bandon - C103
Broadcaster Graham Norton is presenting his weekly U.K. national radio programme…
  Source: www.c103.ie

[Kunst]

As something of a post script to this whole discussion Oliver Callan has indeed got the job full time, the only surprise that they took so long to confirm it.

Meanwhile, Prime Video has just dropped its first ever Irish programme, LOL: Last One Laughing Ireland, which sees nine stand up comedians and Amy Huberman (!) locked in a room for six hours while Graham Norton watches to see if any of them laugh or smile. It’s harmless fun but nothing special, and perhaps most noteworthy for the fact that it’s the first time Norton has ever done any work in his native Ireland - he’s mostly known for his UK work.

It's based on the German and Italian format, and here in IT it's been a huge success, although I have found it particularly average.

But maybe in Ireland it'll work better

[JMT1985]

He did appear on Nighthawks at least once if not twice, Doing stand up and his Mother Treasa creation. I presume he was paid a fee at the time, but outside of that 25 pounds or so he probably didn't get a penny more from RTE (25 pound seemed to be the going rate for everything RTE around 1990, no matter how much or little effort you made) 

He does host his Virgin Radio Show from C103 in Bandon occasionally.

www.c103.ie 

C103 is owned by the Wireless Group, the Murdoch owned company who own Virgin Radio, so in effect he is using one of their company's sister station, so not costing them any money.

Graham's Virgin Radio salary is estimated at £1 million, up from the over £700,000 a year he got for his BBC Radio 2 Saturday show.

[Rdd]

The fallout from this will be potentially disastrous for RTE. Not published yet but being widely reported including RTE itself.

www.rte.ie 

PAC may summon RTÉ Executives over musical, says Chair
Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Brian Stanley has said that RTÉ's To…
  Source: www.rte.ie

[Rdd]

Apparently not actually new news - the man himself has said as much on his radio show before - but RTE DG Kevin Backhurst has told some media outlets that Joe Duffy has made it clear to him that he won’t be seeking a new contract once his current deal with RTE runs out next year.

[bkman1990]

RTÉ have landed themselves in more trouble today as some of their key board members are not going to attend this afternoon's Dail Committee hearing on Media about the controversy of Toy Show: The Musical and the exit packages surrounding RTÉ's former commerical director Breda O'Keefe.

The three board members not attending the hearing today are Moya Doherty, Dee Forbes and Rory Coveney.

RTÉ News have reported that Dee Forbes sent in a sick note to a Fianna Fail TD to not attend the committee this afternoon.

www.rte.ie 

Absence of key people behind musical 'not acceptable'
It is not acceptable that the key people behind RTÉ's Toy Show The Musical …
  Source: www.rte.ie

There is also an article from the Irish Independent from one of the writers who was hired by RTÉ who was tasked to write draft scripts for Toy Show: The Musical. She explains in some good detail in how the process with how her meetings with RTÉ had gone on behind closed doors during the writing of those draft scripts for it's production.

It gives some significant levels of communication exchanged between herself and the management of RTÉ at the time

The article is here below if you want to read it in your own time.

m.independent.ie 

RTÉ’s panic was palpable – ‘Toy Show’ musical writer recalls fear of it ‘ending …
There’s an old adage in entertainment: always enter a story late and exit early.…
  Source: www.independent.ie

[Rdd]

To be clear neither Dee Forbes nor Rory Covney were not board members in the term generally understood, they are former senior managers (the former Director-General and Director of Strategy ) who were members of what RTE previously termed somewhat inaccurately “the Executive Board” (but under Kevin Backhurst has been given the more accurate name “Leadership Team”). They have both now left RTE.

The reason for the somewhat confusing name is that the non-executive board was until 2009 named “the RTE Authority” (similar to S4C) and the name persisted even after the latter body was renamed. That body is a separate non-executive body headed by the Chairperson. Moya Doherty was chairperson of RTE but her term as chairperson came to an end before the current controversy came to light and the latter wasn’t the reason she left.

[RhysJR]

Yet more boardroom drama and fallout at RTÉ

The Chair of the RTÉ board has resigned, saying she believes she has lost the confidence of the Minister for Media.

www.rte.ie 

Siún Ní Raghallaigh resigns as Chairperson of RTÉ Board
The chair of the RTÉ Board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, has resigned from her position.
  Source: www.rte.ie