Pat Kenny
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Pat Kenny (born January 29, 1948) is the presenter of Ireland's The Late Late Show, the world's longest running chat show[1], which is broadcast on Radio Telefís Éireann.
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[edit] Early career
Pat Kenny obtained a chemical engineering degree from University College Dublin in 1969 and began his broadcasting career by working as a continuity announcer on RTÉ radio in the mid 1970s. He subsequently became a radio disc jockey
[edit] Saturday Live and Kenny Live
Pat Kenny became a television broadcaster on RTÉ's Today Tonight current affairs programme in the mid 1980s. He moved in an unexpected direction for a current affairs presenter when he was co-presenter of the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. Subsequently, he had a guest presenting slot on the weekly chat show Saturday Live. He went on to host the show permanently, the show being renamed Kenny Live.
Rivalry ensued between the Saturday-broadcast Kenny Live and the Friday-broadcast Late Late Show. Saturday Live, latterly Kenny Live, which had been conceived as a means of preserving the prime weekend slot on a Saturday night to prevent a loss of viewers with corresponding loss of advertising revenue.
[edit] The Late Late Show
Gay Byrne retired from presenting The Late Late Show in 1999. Kenny became the new host, but not without begrudgery.[2]
[edit] Styles of Byrne and Kenny
Kenny's career as a broadcaster has been extensive, having been a continuity announcer, radio disc jockey, television current affairs presenter and anchor, and chat show host. His early radio career mirrored that of Byrne's, but Kenny's repertoire is much broader than that of Byrne[citation needed], as witnessed by Byrne always being in entertainment and never in current affairs. Byrne described himself as an entertainer first. [3]
Kenny describes his style[2]:
Do you want bland television where everything you hear reinforces your own view, or do you want to be challenged? I favour the latter. I like to challenge people. You might get angry and pick up the phone to Joe Duffy, or you might complain to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission; that's great. It means you're involved in the argument in some way.
Due to his long association with the show, Byrne in his autobiography [4] seemed to almost have proprietarial rights, having been both producer and presenter of the show. Kenny was the subject of much media criticism for his takeover from Byrne.
In May 2003 The Late Late Show was reformatted by RTÉ,[citation needed] on the arrival of a competing television chat show by controversial broadcaster Eamon Dunphy on the rival channel TV3. However, Dunphy's show failed to achieve expected viewership figures and was scrapped in December 2003 after a short run.
[edit] Earnings
Kenny was the highest-paid presenter on RTE in 2004 [5]. His earnings of €899000 a year were almost twice the earnings of his nearest rival Gerry Ryan. In the previous year of 2003 Kenny was paid €635000 by RTE. [6]
[edit] Trivia
Kenny is lampooned regularly, including being satirised by acts of Dustin the Turkey and Après Match while they are guests on The Late Late Show itself.
On 24 November 2006, a man[7] from the studio audience interrupted that evening's edition of The Late Late Show. He came onto the set and confronted Kenny as he was about to begin interviewing You're A Star judges Thomas Black, Linda Martin and Brendan O'Connor and shouted insults in his face [3] Recording of 28 seconds of incident. In February 2007 this individual, at a court appearance, was judged as unfit to plead.[4]
Kenny, in December 2006, was in dispute with a neighbour in a property boundary dispute and the case is being dealt with in the Circuit Court. [8]
[edit] References
- ^ IMDB citation
- ^ Sorry, Pat, but you're no Gay Byrne. — Sunday Independent, 27 August 2006 (free registration required)
- ^ The Time of My Life: An Autobiography Author: Byrne, Gay & Deirdre Purcell. Published by Gill & Macmillan Dublin 1989. ISBN 0-7171-1615-8.
- ^ The Time of My Life: An Autobiography Author: Byrne, Gay & Deirdre Purcell ISBN 0-7171-1615-8.
- ^ http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1642242&issue_id=14268
- ^ RTÉ - Top 10 most highly paid on-air broadcasters for 2004, 28 June 2006 (PDF format file)
- ^ Paul Stokes of Monkstown, Co. Dublin.
- ^ [1] Neighbour sues chat host in €1.5m land row. Free registration required
| Preceded by Gay Byrne |
Host of The Late Late Show September 10, 1999 – present |
Succeeded by (Incumbent) |
| Radio Telefís Éireann presenters and hosts | ||
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Chat show hosts: Gay Byrne | Frank Hall | Pat Kenny | Mike Murphy | Ryan Tubridy |
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News & Current Affairs: Charlie Bird | John Bowman | Brian Cleeve | Barry Cowan | Donagh Diamond | Sean Duignan | Brian Farrell | Mark Little | John O'Donoghue | Bill O'Herlihy | Olivia O'Leary | Sean O'Rourke |
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Sports: Eamon Dunphy | Johnny Giles | George Hamilton | George Hook | Jimmy Magee | Michael O'Hehir | Tracey Piggott |
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Newsreaders and Announcers: Anne Doyle | Don Cockburn | Derek Davis | Bryan Dobson | Eileen Dunne | Charles Mitchel | Maurice O'Doherty | Emer O'Kelly | Vere Wynne-Jones |
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See also: List of programmes broadcast by RTÉ |
