After much hype about Ray D’Arcy’s return to tv, the results from the battle of the chat shows are in – and it’s Ryan Tubridy who walks away triumphant from the first round.
Ray’s hugely-anticipated Saturday night chat show made it’s debut over the weekend, going into competition with Friday night’s Late Late Show, fronted by Ryan.
The ratings have been revealed, and it seems that although Ray pulled in an impressive 468,500 viewers, it wasn’t enough to beat the Late Late juggernaut.
Ryan’s latest offering, featuring guests including Shane Filan and Henry Shefflin, secured average ratings of 514,600 and a 50pc audience share.
But RTE has said it’s thrilled with the response to Ray’s first show, the replacement for Brendan O’Connor’s The Saturday Night Show – which achieved average ratings of 463,700 during its first season.
On his first night the presenter chatted to comedian Tommy Tiernan, X Factor star Tulisa and rugby legend Donnacha O’Callaghan.
A spokesperson said: “We’re delighted with the figures for The Ray D’Arcy Show. The reaction from the studio audience, and from viewers at home, has been really positive.
“Tommy proved a particular hit on the night. Over half-a-million viewers tuned in to watch the comedian chat to Ray.”
They also noted that Ray lost out on viewers due to clashing with a Rugby World Cup match between England vs Wales on TV3.
“To manage such a decent result in spite of the fact he was up against a major sporting fixture is good news,” they said.
Despite the natural sense of rivarly between the two hosts, Ryan has stated that there are no bad feelings between the pair. Earlier this month he wished his new competition well – but admitted he wanted to do better.
You don’t end up being the Late Late Show presenter without being a bit competitive and, by the same token, you don’t end up on the Saturday Night Show without being competitive and ambitious.”
“That’s why I welcome Ray. I say, ‘Go for it and we hope to do better than you,’” he told The RTE Guide.
