Claire Byrne is set to leave RTÉ to replace Pat Kenny as the host of Newstalk's weekday mid-morning programme.

Byrne will move to the Bauer Media Audio Ireland station in the new year, and she will be replaced as host of RTÉ Radio 1's Today by Six One newscaster David McCullagh

Kenny, who joined Newstalk from the national broadcaster in 2013, will move to a weekend slot in the new year, he announced on air earlier today. He said he had "a number of other ventures planned with Newstalk and Bauer".

According to the latest JNLR figures, Byrne added 10,000 listeners year-on-year and Today with Claire Byrne now has a daily audience of 354,000, making it the joint-fourth most popular radio show in Ireland behind Morning Ireland and the Saturday and Sunday editions of The Brendan O'Connor Show.

Byrne took over from Sean O'Rourke as the permanent host of Today five years ago, beating out Sarah McInerney, who filled in following O'Rourke's following his retirement from RTÉ in 2020. During the pandemic, the show's audience grew from 315,000 to 369,000.

The latest salary figures from RTÉ show Byrne made a salary of €280,000 in 2023, down from a high of €350,000 when she was also presenting Claire Byrne Live for RTÉ Television.

Byrne, who like Ryan Tubridy is a client of Noel Kelly and NK Management, ruled herself out of the running to replace him as presenter of The Late Late Show when he stepped down in 2023.

In the midst of the payments controversy, she declared on air that she never sought any "side deal" in her contracts with RTÉ, alluding to the payments Tubridy received from Late Late sponsor Renault that were not included in his published earnings.

“I’ve never sought, been offered or discussed any kind of commercial or side deal. No other payment exists or has ever existed beyond my published fee,” she said. 

“Secondly, my most recent published fee was €350,000 and that was the fee agreed by RTÉ for me to present both this radio programme and Claire Byrne Live, and as you may know I decided not to continue with that television show for personal and for family reasons.

“And so in order to be fully transparent with you here today, I want you to know that my RTE fee now is 280,000 euro and that fee was agreed for presenting this programme.”

She added that she received €25,000 separate to her salary in 2023 to present 10 episodes of quiz show Ireland's Smartest. The programme was not recommissioned after its first series.

“I acknowledged that fee is significant and it’s way beyond what many people could hope to and there are others who will no doubt have more to say about it, I’m sure but my personal decision here this morning is to be open and honest with you,” she said.

“Having said that, my decision to do this is not meant to set a precedent for others or to force anyone else to release their information. That’s a matter entirely for themselves. I felt that for me. It was the right thing to do this morning.”

Kenny, whose salary with RTÉ peaked at €950,000 in 2008 and who earned €728,417 at the time of his departure, currently has an audience of 216,000 listeners.

The Pat Kenny Show is the most listened to programme on commercial radio despite losing 8,000 listeners from the previous survey.

At the time he joined Newstalk, he was reported to have signed five-year deal worth €400,00 per year and €2m overall, but he said his move was "not about the money."

"RTÉ gave me a generous offer, the decision didn't crystallise on the offer – it was about trying to do something a bit exciting, that refreshes me," he told the Irish Independent.

His salary with Bauer Media Audio Ireland is not published, but accounts for his company Pat Kenny Media Services Ltd show reserves of nearly €2.3m at the end of June 2024.

The firm made a loss of €134,400 though, after making annual profits of €99,400 and €248,200 over the previous two years.

(Pic: File)