6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
RTÉ cancels flagship current affairs show Upfront with Katie Hannon
This Friday will be Joe Duffy's final time on the airwaves, after 27 years fronting the daily radio show and 37 years working with RTÉ.
Speculation had put Hannon as one of the front-runners for the coveted gig, given that she has filled in for Duffy so much in recent times.
RTÉ confirmed to the Irish Independent that her current affairs show Upfront with Katie Hannon has come to an end and will not be returning in September after three seasons on-air.
The statement added that Hannon will continue as one of the anchors of the popular Behind the Story podcast, which will launch daily later this year.
She will also present a new TV series in the lead-up to the presidential election in October.
Katie Hannon said: "I'm very proud of what we achieved on Upfront. We managed to buck the international trend and actually grew our audience on linear television and our digital footprint. It was a privilege to work with our small team of talented and hardworking colleagues led by our editor Janet Traynor.
"I also want to thank all of those who came into our studio and trusted us with their stories and contributed to the national conversation on the issues that matter to all of us. I'm disappointed that we won't be able to keep that conversation going."
A spokeswoman for RTÉ said: 'The decision to wrap production has been made due to the prioritising of people and financial resources, as the organisation incurs significant change and becomes smaller.
'As part of the organisation's new direction strategy in the prioritising of digital content, it has recently launched a news podcast and 'Clarity', a new strand beginning to tackle increasing misinformation and disinformation challenges.'
The show which was broadcast on Monday nights at 10.35pm started in January 2023 as a replacement to the Claire Byrne Live show.
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RTÉ News & Current Affairs presenter Katie Hannon will continue as one of the anchors of the popular Behind the Story Podcast, which is planned to launch daily later this year, and she will also present a new TV series in the lead up to the presidential election in October. Other employees will continue working with RTÉ News & Current Affairs - there are a number of internal vacancies and options for redeployment within the division.
The programme which was broadcast on Monday nights at 10.35pm began in January 2023 and featured a weekly panel of four guests and an audience of up to 40 contributors.
In its most recent series (Sept 24 - May 25), Upfront with Katie Hannon was watched by an average of 198,000 viewers, a 25.8pc audience share, up from an average of 168,000 and 23.7pc in series two (Sept 23 - May 24).
Similarly, the series grew on the RTE Player attracting 269,000 streams in series three, from 209,000 in series two (Sept 23 - May 24). Clips from the programme have also generated over 3.3 million video views on Instagram.
Across RTÉ's television services, News & Current Affairs coverage currently includes the One O'Clock News, Six One News, Nine O'Clock News, Prime Time, RTÉ Investigates, The Week in Politics, Nuacht, News with ISL, news2day, Nationwide, Leaders Questions, Fóram, European Parliament Report, Political Party Conferences, RTÉ News specials, Budget coverage, Election coverage and National Commemoration Events coverage.
