PK@rte.ie (again). The All New (Patrick Kielty) Late Late Show Thread

techman1

Agree. I do not watch the Late Late anymore if I can help it (unless I am visiting someone and iot is on in the background or something).

All these people that proclaim they never watch it yet are going out of their way to post on a dedicated Late Late show thread, incredible. Kielty is not Gay Byrne yes , but he is a darn site better than Tubridy, he has a quick wit and is able to jump in with a quick one liner now and again although he doesn't have the authority over the show like Byrne did. You get the feeling that he is being micro managed by the RTE mandarins in the backround. Although by the late 90s even Byrne was losing his edge as he was out of touch a bit with the new Ireland emerging then.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123990055#Comment_123990055

Judging by the sackloads of post Gay Btrne got for his radio show and tv show, he was a lot more in touch with the people in this jurisdiction than Kielty ever was or is. Byrne could empathise with people. He knew what the traffic was like from Howth to D4. He knew what inner city Dublin was like having grown up in Dublin. He knew a bit about what rural Ireland was like as he holidayed so much in Donegal.

 Gay Byrne and his wife Kathleen had a holiday home in west Donegal, near Dungloe, for approximately 40 years. Byrne's kids were born and grew up in Ireland.

Kielty never lived in this state and I doubt if he ever spent his annual holidays in a cottage on the west coast either. Fly in on a Friday and leave immediately afterwards? Maybe the whole show is pre-recorded instead of just parts of it.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123990356#Comment_123990356

You probably don't even realise that Gay Byrne got his break on TV with Granada in Manchester commuting over and back from Dublin.

He also did radio work with the BBC.

It was a good thing that Granada and the BBC gave him the opportunities to develop his talent which contributed in no small way to his success on the LLS etc.

itsacoolday

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123990734#Comment_123990734

We all know the UK was good for nurturing Irish talent and giving Irish Irish people a start and training. That has nothing to do with the Late Late in recent times though. Kielty used to be a funny comedian at times a good few YEARS AGO but the Late Late does not suit him. He should stay in the UK.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123990938#Comment_123990938

If people are going down the road of comparing PK's LLS to the era of Gay Byrne it's only fair to acknowledge all the factors that contributed to making GB the great broadcaster he was.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123991209#Comment_123991209

Only one Irish TV channel, a new concept and changes in society, and very little coming from that broadcaster that ever came anywhere close. Even when the second channel came in, while the commercial operator only ever once tried to compete with TLLS.

The ability to be able to have a debate not just soft one-on-one's with politicians, there are only 4 times where I think I could recall active politicians on TLLS (though I am not that old or was never all that interested). Charlie Haughey on the Chieftains special, the 1997 presidential debate and President McAllease on his final show. Potentially also P Flynn was the EU commissioner when he was on. But politicians largely would have avoided the programme in case of something controversial. Also it wasn't a political show per se, it was variety and talk, very much in the guise of what Chat shows were doing at that point. (and of those political programmes even TLLS under GB was getting tired by the end, more difficult to get top guests).

Gay Byrne also was on English TV at the time and had cut his teeth there also.

I think with falling audiences PK and RTÉ have an opportunity to make it a conversation piece. Even the idea to give new Irish comedians opportunities at the end of the show, or new comic writers to write PKs monologs.

But sure it has little local competition, so it can rest on its laurels.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123991331#Comment_123991331

The LLS with GB was more political with a small p.

The panel discussions addressed issues of the day in a ground breaking way.

The Haughey "intervention" was on the occasion of The Dubliners" 25th anniversary and was pure box office.

There was also a tense encounter with Gerry Adams that many considered an ambush.

There were also two Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland.

Mo Mowlam's humanity shone through but Peter Brooke is most remembered for singing his party piece after a fatal IRA bomb attack the same day.

It's more than a quarter of a century since Gay did the show and a lot has changed in the media landscape.

It's well past time to be comparing the show today to the past glories.

Gay was the first to introduce a recorded segment when he went to London to interview Meryl Steep.

He was prepared to work with the changing times for getting big names live but some are still harking back and criticising PK for doing the same.

itsacoolday

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123991331#Comment_123991331

He had hundreds of politicians on the show over the years. Politicians were only too aware about the power of  Byrne via his huge audience figures – and avoided, or tried to avoid, any direct confrontations with Gay Byrne, as he had a lot of admirers and support throughout Ireland. Gay B. reciprocated and mostly avoided being seen to have any party allegiances. Kielty does not have that talent.

A lot of housewives especially listened to his show in the background in the mornings - in those days it was not as common for both partners to be out working. Supermarkets reported a slight drop in customers when his shows were on. Remarkable.

FrancieBrady

It’s an absolute nonsense to be comparing a modern TV programme to Byrne’s Late Late.

Byrne would be lost in the internet age and with the range of choice out there.

itsacoolday

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123991601#Comment_123991601

Internet age has nothing to do with it.

There is more choice in music nowadays but a bad musician nowadays is a bad musician and a very good musician 30 or 40 years would still be a very good - if not brilliant - musician nowadays if they could be transported by time machine.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123991641#Comment_123991641

Rubbish.

Patent rubbish.

You hate Kielty.and it’s obvious.

He has respectful narket share goven the competition.

Byrne made his name when there was little to no competition. He was a good broadcaster but context is everything in the telly game.

itsacoolday

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123991678#Comment_123991678

I do not hate Kielty. I used to think he was very funny 10 years ago when he was younger, before he lost his comedic touch.

I am sure there are far more televisions in the country now than 30 or 40 or 50 years ago. Everyone has one, and they are all colour now (were not all colour 50 years ago) and the screen size is much much bigger and picture quality better. 40 and 50 years ago a lot of people went to the pub, now because of drink driving laws and the cost of alcohol in pubs more and more people are drinking at home - or at least staying in sometimes on a Friday night - and have the tv on in the background. And despite all this, Kielty has let the Late Late show go to the dogs. The licence fee is higher than ever and people are not getting value for money after working hard Monday-Friday. Because of high rents, high mortgages etc, I think most of the stretched middle cannot go out every night at the weekend.

Its a sad end for Kielty, he is a failed comedian, failed actor and now failed broadcaster. His website, based in England, may find him another gig over there where he is based. Or he could end up doing a radio show like Tubs? Either way the Late Late needs a new presenter or it should be put out of its pain.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123991449#Comment_123991449

Yes, sorry I was going to say The Dubliners but changed my mind.

Yes, panel discussion with a small p, now with a small e for entertainment.

I was discounting Mowlam and Brook two British politicians.

Streep was interviewed at the end of his time in the seat. And only really due to his like of her. This idea that he introduced it is a bit much, PK uses far too much, and it is jarring.

I am not criticizing PK for not doing the same as GB, but he is doing nothing. It's likely that the show should have ended with Gay Byrne, Pat made it Kenny Live, Tubs made it Tubridy Tonight and PK wants it to be Graham Norton (a show dying a death IMO).

@itsacoolday I wasn't talking about GB's radio show. As I say my memory is that Politician's were largely not part of TLLS. Or at least if felt that way to me. I'd say Politician's have had more 1-on-1 interviews on TLLS in the last 26 years than in all of the 37 years Gay Byrne was presenting, many of those being towards the end of his time on the show.

Again I am not old enough to know much of GBs time in the seat, but are you saying he interview each of the leaders of the main parties each season on his show or even every two seasons? That Exit polls where announced on TLLS?.

(I am sure many offices in the country had the radio turn on also.)

RTÉ's main problem is that it had no one to fill the seat vacated by Gay Byrne, if they did it was probably Gerry Ryan and IMO there are numerous reasons why GR wouldn't have got the role.

Pat Kenny was a King in waiting, and in fairness to Tubs he'd been successful on Tubs Tonight. But Kielty is very left of field and showed how little promotion RTÉ had given to different presenters and giving presenters opportunities in the 22 years since GB had left.

RTÉ in the last 3 years has done little to resolve this problem. Is there any presenter that RTÉ could promote TLLS if Kielty exits at the end of this season.

To me it looks very much like Cuddihy will be sitting in that chair in 2027 on a show produced by Green Inc productions. And this just shows how badly run RTÉ is.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992013#Comment_123992013

You're definitely not a fan with your list of faux failures.

PK already has a radio show on the BBC.

BBC Radio 5 Live - Patrick Kielty - Available now https://share.google/45DvPgtdrIIh3Gtjf

His comedy tours, most recently this year, are doing good business. And he has had other successful projects.

Performer | Patrick Kielty https://share.google/cyQjED1UvAXT9HyFH

His award winning career over the last 30 years cannot be termed a failure by any metric.

Also the TV licence has not increased since 2008.

405_Lines_TV

Especially now that Monday night with Katie Hannon has been axed, why doesn't the late late show go back to having big studio debates about the issues of the day ? Have big studio rows by having debates between the Burkes and TENI, Tony Hollihan v John waters etc, that's the sort of show that will have people talking at the water cooler the following Monday. I don't get the obsession here talking about the host, I mean wtf does anybody expect PK to do considering the poor quality guests week after week?

littlevillage

Interesting that people are comparing Patrick Kielty's Late Late show to the Gay Bryne era of the Late Late show.

Its probably not a fair comparison. The broadcasting landscape was much different back then and Gaybo tried to get national debates going about serious topics.

We should really be comparing Patrick Kielty with Ryan Tubridy or Pat Kenny.

Kielty is better than both of those two but the show itself has morphed into a sort of hybrid between US late night talk shows that exclusively feature celebrities in soft focus interviews who are usually hawking something or other and maybe US/UK daytime tv that seem to exclusively feature grim stories of death/disease/hard luck.

405_Lines_TV

How is the late late show doing in the ratings these days? Is it often number 1 ? Top 5 ?

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992087#Comment_123992087

Also RTÉ

• RTÉ were given €10m per year extra over 5 years in 2019, for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024
• In 2022 the NSOI, the Philharmonic Choir and Cor Na nOg moved to the NCH saving RTÉ 7m (and this could have been moved in 2021 but RTÉ dropped the ball).
• Since 2008 RTÉ has fought for extra funding saying how poor it was while, spending where they should not have been spending, particularly gauling are Car Allowance at the company for Executives which could have been cut.
• RTÉ could have cut funding to 2FM but never did.

Please stop with this idea that RTÉ got no increases in funding since 2008, and the current bailouts, since 2024 cover them for increases.

	Commercial	Funding	TOTAL
2017	151.5	186.1	337.6
2018	150	189.1	339.1
2019	145.8	196.3	342.1
2020	134.5	196.6	331.1
2021	148.3	196.1	344.4
2022	152.1	195.6	347.7
2023	150.7	193.3	344
2024	158.1	222.3	380.4
2025	158.1*	225	383.1
2026	158.1*	240	398.1
2027	158.1*	260	418.1

Estimate could be far more, if they get it right.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992150#Comment_123992150

You know quite well that the licence has not increased for 17 years as I said.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992087#Comment_123992087

This poster thinks their version of the world in general is a factual one.

Again and again this is shown up for the nonsense it is.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992161#Comment_123992161

Indeed as do I, but did you hear about the non-licence fee increases at RTÉ as outline in my post.

I'd say RTÉ's problems are more to do with Dee Forbes management and her executive team from 2016 to 2023. Where are they now? A good episodes of Reeling in the years 2023 wouldn't you say.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992176#Comment_123992176

That poster was the second in two days to say that the licence has gone up.

It's simply a fact that it has not increased since 2008.

Of course RTE has other sources of funding.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992258#Comment_123992258

And those other sources of funding have helped to increase funding to RTÉ, but a poster would be remiss to suggest an increase in the license fee, but it would also be remiss not to make clear that during that period RTÉ has an seen an increases in other public funding given to it, while also seeing some public service responsibilities moved to the National Concert Hall.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992349#Comment_123992349

Thank you for acknowledging that that the error was saying the licence fee has increased.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992386#Comment_123992386

Your welcome, can you acknowledge that they have had increases given to them by successive governments either from splitting the company into another company (NSOI to NCH) and other public funding? And maybe that many of the problems that exist in RTÉ is with top management?

itsacoolday

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992258#Comment_123992258

Income from the licence fee has gone up. The number of households in Ireland grew from approximately 1.65 million in 2010 to 1.91 million in 2025, an increase of about 15.7%. The 2022 census data showed just over 1.8 million households. So income should have gone up too. Yet the standard of RTE's prime time entertainment show at the weekend has declined. That the best RTE can do with almost 400 million budget? The quality of guests is often appalling and often repeated, and like him or not Kielty is past his sell by date.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992398#Comment_123992398

In fairness 30% + of households do not pay the TV Licence, I am one of them due to all of the carry on. I have pointed out in another thread that when the normal level of evasion was at 15% An Post could have easily brought this figure down as most people generally pay if they get a warning letter, and many do not want the hassle of attending court or getting a fine. The bailout doesn't really cover RTÉ fully.

But I would also say how much does RTÉ require, if license fees had increase in a similar manor as it had done from 2003 the new price for 2026 would be €190, I don't care how good might have been RTÉ but reaching €200 was always going to be unsustainable. That would be €350m in public funding per year on top of ad revenue which could bring them to €500m.

I agree with your sentiment all the same.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992397#Comment_123992397

I already said they had income from other sources.

That's always been the case.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992398#Comment_123992398

You'd think but you'd be wrong .

Income from the licence has been falling for the last 5 years.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123992430#Comment_123992430

That is not true. RTÉ up to 2019 only had Commercial Revenue and Licence Fee **, while it is the first time that RTÉ have had a part of their company moved to another semi-state body.

You could argue Section 481, S&V* and Screen Ireland but this varies year to year and is not entered into accounts as they support the programmes directly.

*Funding from the licence fee.

** A portion of which is funded by the Dept of Social Welfare / Protection as part of the OAP free TV licenses for the over 70s.