COMMENT

PAT Kenny’s shock move to Newstalk sent Twitter into overdrive last week.

The news was initially met with suspicion, with some people asking if it was a wind-up. But no. Within minutes there were tweets from credible sources – Newstalk among them – confirming Kenny’s move.

It’s a major coup for the commercial radio station and they deserve credit for enticing one of the biggest names in Irish media away from the security of the State broadcaster.

The colossal fees enjoyed by RTE’s biggest stars have long been a source of controversy. But Newstalk, which is part of the Denis O’Brien owned Communicorp Group, will be entitled to give Pat Kenny the big bucks he commands without feeling the wrath of the licence fee payer.

There is now some justification to the argument that RTE needs to pay these inflated sums to retain the services of its stars. Once the broadcaster started down the path of reducing these salaries, it put its biggest names within the reach of privately owned media organisations.

Will others follow? It remains to be seen.

There is no doubt that Pat Kenny remains the most authoritative voice in current affairs broadcasting. He will bring his skills and professionalism to his Newstalk show, which starts on September 2.

But RTE now has an opportunity to reinvent itself and breathe new life into its radio schedules. We won’t know who’ll fill Kenny’s shoes until the autumn schedule is confirmed later this month.

But one thing is for certain. There is a deep pool of talent within the organisation that RTE can draw from. The station can often be guilty of rotating the same old faces from show to show. Perhaps this will provide them with the opportunity to do something different; something brave even.

With Pat Kenny now on board, Newstalk will thrive and build on its solid listenership base.

Equally, though, I suspect that RTE will somehow manage to pull a rabbit out of the hat and rejuvenate itself.

There’s nothing like a real life media soap opera to liven up the silly season.