Tubridy: I’m a hit on BBC but baffled by 2FM ratings

Ryan Tubridy has admitted he’s baffled why he can be a hit on BBC radio and on RTÉ television but can’t maintain ratings on his 2FM radio show.

Tubridy, who is just back from a fortnight filling in for Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 2 — his fourth year doing holiday relief for BBC presenters — returned to the news that his morning slot on 2FM had slumped further.

“I’ve just come back from the UK talking to six million people every day and then I’m looking at the figures here of 160,000 [in fact they fell to 144,000] going, what is this? It’s quite a career mix,” he said.

But he said he had to be philosophical about the situation and didn’t feel he could do anything to change the show’s fortunes. “I’m very proud of it. I stand over it,” he said.

“I felt disappointed they [the ratings] were down but I also feel we are doing probably among the best stuff going out on Irish radio at 9am. I doubt I can [change it]. I think I’ve given everything I can to that show.”

He also said rumours of him being moved to RTÉ Radio 1 were purely speculation. “I’m very happy to stay where I am. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying there.”

He said questions about whether he was too old for RTÉ’s youth station and would serve better on Radio 1 were fair but he was not the person to answer them.

“You have got to understand with 2FM and radio, I can’t move myself, I don’t have that luxury, I’m not in charge, I’m not my own boss. I have bosses. That’s their job.”

He is faring much better on television with his Late Late Show still performing strongly and said there was better to come in the new season.

“I thought we did well last season. I thought we upped the game all round. I thought I improved a little bit and I thought the guest list was really good. It moved up a gear. It was the beginning of a Late Late Show reboot for me.”

He said he had been studying the style of his hero, former US chat show host Dick Cavett, to fine-tune his own performance on the show which he said was unique in modern TV both because of its composition and its fully live broadcast.

“What I’m coming to terms with about the Late Late Show is that it is not like anything else anywhere. It was like other shows once upon a time but it’s not now because everything is comedy based and comedian-host based, particularly in the States and to a large extent in the UK too. From Graham Norton to Alan Carr to Jimmy Fallon to Jimmy Kimmel, even Letterman, Leno — all of them are comedians and that’s the last thing I am.

“What we have is an old-school chat show in a modern world that’s still pulling in 45% weekly share, which is unheard of, so I’m trying to get my head around how important that is.”