RYAN TUBRIDY WILL return to the airwaves this morning with a new show on UK station Virgin Radio.
From today, the former RTÉ presenter will host a weekday 10am to 1pm show.
Tubridy’s new show will be presented live from Virgin Radio’s London studio, but will be broadcast simultaneously on Dublin’s Q102.
Tubridy’s deal also includes a new Irish weekend show that will be broadcast across the Wireless Ireland radio group, which includes Q102, Cork’s 96FM, Limerick’s Live 95 and LMFM (broadcasting to counties Louth and Meath).
This weekend show, titled The Ryan Tubridy Show on Sunday, will air on Sundays from 10am to 12pm across the Wireless Ireland radio group.
Speaking ahead of his return to radio, Tubridy said: “I’m really looking forward to getting back on the Irish airwaves and back to the listeners who have supported me since day one.
“I love Irish radio, so it’s great to be back on air six days a week, especially with such an iconic station like Q102.”
Wireless Ireland’s managing director Sean Barry said Tubridy’s “talent as a broadcaster is unparalleled”.
He added: “Dublin listeners and indeed listeners all across Ireland are looking forward to hearing Ryan broadcast again; as part of the Q102 line up and part of our broader network of stations at weekends, doing what he does best.”
Barry noted that Q102 undertook a “strategic repositioning project” last year and said: “When we saw the opportunity open up with Ryan, it was perfectly timed for us.”
The move was announced in mid-November, and Tubridy at the time said he “couldn’t be more excited to start this new chapter”.
The deal was also praised by Tubridy’s representatives NK Management, run by his agent Noel Kelly.
In a statement, the agency said: “We are incredibly proud of Ryan. His talents, strength, professionalism and resilience are to be applauded. Take a bow Mr Tubridy, you are wonderful and inspirational.”
RTÉ was plunged into crisis in June when the State broadcaster revealed it under-declared fees to Tubridy, its then-highest-paid staff member.
The scandal widened as a series of other financial and governance issues emerged.
Oliver Callan and a number of other presenters have hosted Tubridy’s former show since his departure, with the former ‘Ryan Tubridy Show’ being renamed ‘The Nine O’Clock Show’.
In November, latest figures showed that more people were tuning in to the Nine O’Clock Show on RTÉ Radio 1, according to figures published by Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) with polling company Ipsos/MRBI.
In the November figures, the morning programme had 347,000 listeners each weekday, up by 13,000 since Tubridy last presented.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say