{"id":18050,"date":"2025-08-23T09:31:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T09:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/18050\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T09:31:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T09:31:08","slug":"it-would-be-great-if-patrick-kielty-continued-as-late-late-host-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/18050\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It would be great if Patrick Kielty continued as Late Late host\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Carson<\/a>, RT\u00c9<\/a> director of video, has been thinking about the future of The Late Late Show<\/a> and can confirm one thing \u2013 he wants Patrick Kielty<\/a> to stay.<\/p>\n

The presenter is embarking on the third season of a three-season contract and, notwithstanding a softer set of viewing figures in his second year, RT\u00c9 is keen to stick with him beyond this next run.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatrick is a fantastic host of the Late Late,\u201d says Carson, describing his hiring in 2023 as \u201ca clever call\u201d by RT\u00c9 colleagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s obviously got the funny chops, the entertainment experience. But he\u2019s also got a deep hinterland. If you\u2019ve seen the documentaries he made about Northern Ireland and if you know him at all, you can tell he\u2019s got a real kind of depth, a real empathy and curiosity, and a strong sense of what it is to be Irish.\u201d<\/p>\n

This, he says, is a \u201cstrong perspective\u201d for the host of RT\u00c9\u2019s flagship chatshow to have.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been different presenters of the Late Late over the years, but only one of them has won an All-Ireland medal and that\u2019s Patrick Kielty, so I think he\u2019s brilliant at the Late Late, and obviously we\u2019ll talk to him about the future. I think it would be great if he would continue in the role.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking in Carson\u2019s office in RT\u00c9\u2019s Stage 7 building. When I recall that he was working in an open-plan area when we met 11 years ago in his native Belfast, where he was head of BBC<\/a> Northern Ireland Productions, he says he still prefers that.<\/p>\n

Being in your own office all day can be isolating, he finds, and it\u2019s better to be accessible to colleagues anyway, so he only dips into it for meetings.<\/p>\n

The boomerang RT\u00c9 executive (57) \u2013 who is the husband of Prime Time and Radio 1 presenter Miriam O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> \u2013 left the organisation for the BBC in 2013, then returned last October after he was appointed to one of two newly created senior positions<\/a> on the RT\u00c9 leadership team.<\/p>\n

Both his job title and the strategy mantra he invokes \u2013 \u201csustaining linear, growing streaming\u201d \u2013 reflect a battle against a long-term decline in traditional TV viewing<\/a> and a mission to further accelerate use of the RT\u00c9 Player.<\/p>\n

Alongside this viewing shift, there\u2019s the politics of it all, with RT\u00c9 still operating in the shadow of its 2023 pay scandal<\/a>. It didn\u2019t deter him from rejoining?<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I was coming in as part of the new leadership team to move things forward, so I think that\u2019s really what my focus has been on.\u201d <\/p>\n

State of flux<\/p>\n

RT\u00c9 in 2025 is in a state of flux. If Carson is clear about who should present the Late Late, he\u2019s more equivocal about other aspects of its future, from where it will be broadcast to whether it will continue to be made by its own staff. Similar question marks dangle over other in-house shows.<\/p>\n

This is because under director-general Kevin Bakhurst<\/a>\u2019s New Direction strategy \u2013 a blueprint for RT\u00c9 to evolve and satisfy reforms demanded by Government \u2013 RT\u00c9 intends to shrink its workforce by 400 people, or 20 per cent, over the coming years. An amendment to the Broadcasting Act is also poised to require RT\u00c9 to spend 25 per cent of its public funding on commissions from independent production companies.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0RT\u00c9 board approves plan for \u2018new direction\u2019 of broadcasterOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Separately, staff have been told that the studios at its Montrose campus are \u201creaching end-of-life\u201d, as Carson puts it, and are too expensive to rebuild, forcing the relocation of the Late Late and soap opera Fair City.<\/p>\n

The chatshow could be made offsite by either an RT\u00c9 production team or an independent company, or it could be a \u201chybrid\u201d of both, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing I would say about Fair City and the Late Late is that both of those shows are staples of our schedule and will remain so for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

RT\u00c9 recently announced the end of one form of in-house production, with independent producers invited to pitch to make its \u201cChristian worship content\u201d from 2026 onwards. <\/p>\n

\u201cMasses and services would be an example of where we\u2019re moving to,\u201d says Carson. Broadcasting these from a variety of locations around Ireland, \u201crather than everyone having to get on a bus\u201d to Donnybrook, will result in a \u201cstronger offering to audiences\u201d, he argues.<\/p>\n

Employees involved in other aspects of in-house production have been wondering if their department is next. After a meeting with Carson earlier this year, RT\u00c9\u2019s in-house documentary makers were left feeling alarmed about the fate of their unit.<\/p>\n

But Carson says it is \u201cpremature\u201d to talk about the winding down of particular units. \u201cThere will be changes to in-house production,\u201d he says more generally of the process.<\/p>\n

\n

RT\u00c9 colleagues now, and I\u2019m not just saying it, are genuinely future-focused. There\u2019s less harking back to the past than I would have observed as a freelancer<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Steve Carson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The broadcaster is assessing 325 applications made to this year\u2019s voluntary exit programme, for which it set a target of at least 100 departures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we make offers and people respond, we will be making a series of changes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s no stranger to tumultuous industry times. His first stint as an RT\u00c9 executive began during the recession in 2009. At the BBC, too, upheaval and cutbacks were a facet of the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was involved in a large number of voluntary [redundancy] rounds in my time at the BBC,\u201d he says. \u201cBroadcasting is going through change. Change on change.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was at the BBC that he started his career, working in Manchester and then London. He met O\u2019Callaghan while she was a reporter and he a producer on Newsnight and followed her to Dublin in 1997, initially freelancing for RT\u00c9.<\/p>\n

\"RashersRashers Tierney (David Kelly) with his terrier dog Rusty and \u2018Toucher\u2019 Hennessy (Brendan Cauldwell) sit on the steps of a tenement house on Dublin\u2019s Henrietta Street in the drama series Strumpet City. Photograph: Mary Lee\/RT\u00c9 <\/p>\n

He told The Irish Times in 2009 that RT\u00c9 in the late 1990s was a place \u201cwhere people would be coming up with reasons not to do things\u201d, where \u201cthere was a sense that the golden years were gone\u201d, and where the older generation enjoyed reliving the perceived glory days of 1980 drama Strumpet City.<\/p>\n

\u201cRT\u00c9 colleagues now, and I\u2019m not just saying it, are genuinely future-focused. There\u2019s less harking back to the past than I would have observed as a freelancer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He set up his own company, Mint Productions, with O\u2019Callaghan in 2000, the same year they married, and made documentaries including Haughey (2005) and Bertie (2008) before winding it up to join RT\u00c9 as director of programmes.<\/p>\n

After four years at the BBC in Belfast, he switched to its Scottish headquarters in 2017, first as head of multi-platform commissioning, then as head of BBC Scotland. This was \u201can honour and a privilege\u201d, he says, and for seven years he commuted weekly from his home in Dublin to Glasgow.<\/p>\n

By 2024, it \u201cfelt like the right time\u201d to return to Dublin, though when the director of video role popped up that April, he ruled out an application as he wanted to stay on for the UK general election, which wasn\u2019t expected until the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, as it happened, Rishi [Sunak] called it early,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Priorities<\/p>\n

So what is it like being back at RT\u00c9?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been good. I think there\u2019s stuff I can bring in from my BBC experience, but there\u2019s a lot of good people here. There were a lot of people already rolling their sleeves up to work on some of the things you\u2019re going to see over the next months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Improving RT\u00c9\u2019s relationship with the independent sector has also been a priority, with Carson citing plans for multi-year deals, better communication and a refreshed commissioning team.<\/p>\n

RT\u00c9 is far more \u201cjoined up\u201d than when he was last here, he thinks. For upcoming comedy drama The Walsh Sisters, he\u2019s been working with the audio team on a companion podcast, while visualised podcasts are also in vogue \u2013 The Traitors Ireland\u2019s aftershow, Uncloaked<\/a>, is likely to be followed on to RT\u00c9 screens by news podcast Behind the Story.<\/p>\n

He talks about a balance between light and shade, between looking back and focusing on \u201cthe here and now\u201d, between familiar series and new, \u201csurprising\u201d things.<\/p>\n

\n

I always think the benchmark of a show is \u2018does it feel right, does it come across well?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Steve Carson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cEven the recruitment of Siobh\u00e1n [McSweeney] to The Traitors sends a signal of something you mightn\u2019t expect to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Traitors Ireland, made by Kite Entertainment, is RT\u00c9\u2019s big autumn set-piece. Carson has watched two episodes of the reality competition series and had \u201csneak peeks\u201d at other bits. As far as any viewing targets go, he never looks at \u201cthe overnights\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always think the benchmark of a show is \u2018does it feel right, does it come across well?\u2019 and from what I\u2019ve seen this is a really, really great show.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0RT\u00c9\u2019s new season: The Traitors Ireland, Obituary, a Dev doc and drama from Stuart CarolanOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

I love The Traitors, I say, but isn\u2019t there a risk that a portion of the RT\u00c9 audience will just not get it and be confused by its prominent scheduling?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have something for everyone, but not everything is for everyone,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

On that note, I ask him a question recently posed by The Irish Times In the News podcast: is the Rose of Tralee uncancellable?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt attracts and retains a very large audience, but we look at everything on its merits,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"RoseRose of Tralee: Ottawa Rose Aidan Russell, Carlow Rose Katie Ryan, Down Rose Anna Mulholland, Boston and New England Rose Maeve Kelly and Cork Rose Nancy Lehane pictured aboard the MV Cill Airne, North Wall, Dublin. Photograph: Domnick Walsh <\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things the Rose of Tralee traces is the story of emigration from Ireland. When I was last here, there was a run of Roses whose parents had emigrated from the North in the \u201970s and I remember thinking, \u2018That\u2019s interesting.\u2019 So, I wouldn\u2019t overstate it, but it\u2019s a way of capturing that part of our social history too.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there are the occasional disappointments about what RT\u00c9 doesn\u2019t show. He has mentioned live sport, so I ask him about a recent source of disgruntlement: RT\u00c9\u2019s decision not to broadcast the second leg of Shelbourne\u2019s Europa League qualifier against HNK Rijeka due to budgetary and personnel constraints.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did cover another leg,\u201d says Carson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrish clubs\u2019 European runs, we\u2019re keen to cover them. They tend to come up ad hoc, so we look at them as spot buys, and we buy what we can. Sometimes there are scheduling clashes with other sport we\u2019re doing, and we obviously have to make decisions at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philosophy<\/p>\n

Both sport and shows like The Traitors are part of the \u201cfull Reithian trilogy of inform, educate and entertain\u201d, he says, referring to the philosophy of the BBC\u2019s first director-general, John Reith, whose original BBC desk he sat beside in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt did kind of keep him top of mind. More than a century ago, he came up with these tenets of public service broadcasting. And I think it\u2019s really important for RT\u00c9 to do those three things.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0RT\u00c9 \u20ac725m funding could \u2018distort\u2019 media market, Irish Independent publisher warns MinisterOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Reith would have been horrified by today\u2019s television industry, though, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a counter-factual. He\u2019s not around now. But bear in mind, he was a Scotsman from Aberdeenshire, and I don\u2019t think he was famed for his sense of humour, and yet right at the beginning, he put \u2018to entertain\u2019 in. He saw that as a crucial part of public service broadcasting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carson has learned over the years that it can be \u201ccreatively simpler\u201d at the serious end of the spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entertaining part of the brief can be a wee bit riskier, I always think. Like, believe me, if you make a dull programme, and I\u2019ve done that, at worst people shrug,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you try to go for something that\u2019s entertaining and it doesn\u2019t quite land, people seem to get quite annoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Carson, RT\u00c9 director of video, has been thinking about the future of The Late Late Show and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[3412,18,117,19,17,16036,16035,3409,888,1181,2212],"class_list":{"0":"post-18050","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-kevin-bakhurst","14":"tag-miriam-o-callaghan","15":"tag-patrick-kielty","16":"tag-rose-of-tralee","17":"tag-rte","18":"tag-weekendreview"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}