Ray D’Arcy faces €100k pay cut as TV show is carved up
RTÉ presenter falls victim to national broadcaster’s f inancial troubles
RAY D’Arcy will take a substantial pay cut as a result of his Saturday night show being slashed.
D’Arcy, who was RTÉ’s secondhighest earner with €450,000 in the last available figures, could lose upwards of €100,000, according to a leading showbiz agent.
It comes as his primetime Saturday night TV slot is due to be carved in three. RTÉ insiders say he will complete the first slot from September to December this year.
But next year, Tommy Tiernan will fill in from January to March, with a new female chat show host taking over
‘His schedule’s being butchered’
from March to May. ‘Ray will sell himself as being primarily a radio star and that’s what he came to RTÉ to do,’ said the agent who represents some of Ireland’s top talent.
‘But RTÉ is going to have to pay Tommy and the other new host and you’d have to think that money will come directly from D’Arcy’s current budget.’
Mr D’Arcy already volunteered in September that he would opt for a pay cut because of the well-flagged financial problems at
RTÉ; however, it’s not clear that he envisaged his schedule being butchered to bring in fresh talent in his place.
‘It’s one thing offering to take one for the troops and negotiating a small pay cut on your terms,’ said the agent. ‘It’s another when you are told you are going to be losing up to a quarter of your current pay.’
RTÉ this weekend refused to comment on Mr D’Arcy’s pay negotiations or the new plan to slash the number of his TV shows from 32 to a possible 13.
An RTÉ source said that the presenter had a clause in his contract saying that he must have TV air time. It’s not clear whether this clause is in his new contract.
‘We never discuss presenter contracts,’ said an RTÉ spokesperson.
But regarding the new season format, another spokesperson told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘All I can say is that Ray will be back in 2020, we will see him on screens in 2020.’
However, insiders have pointed out that this means
September 2020, giving him a full nine months off air on television.
Last month, Mr D’Arcy responded to rumours that his Saturday night slot was in danger of being permanently axed by the national broadcaster.
‘That’s not going to happen. I’m back this year and I’ll be back again next year. I have renewed my contract. It’s all fine,’ he said.