LIVELINE favourite Katie Hannon is tipped to take over from Joe Duffy after announcing the shock end of her TV show today.
RTE chiefs confirmed that its flagship Monday night current affairs series, Upfront with Katie Hannon, won’t be back in September after three seasons on air.
And as Liveline supremo Joe, 69, prepares to call it a day this Friday, speculation that Hannon will succeed him went into overdrive following the bombshell announcement.
Hannon — currently the 1/5 odds-on fave with Ladbrokes to take over at Liveline — will remain one of the key anchors of RTE’s Behind the Story podcast.
She will also host a new TV series ahead of the Presidential election, which must take place by November.
In a statement, Hannon, 53, said: “I’m very proud of what we achieved on Upfront.
“We managed to buck the international trend and actually grew our audience on linear television and our digital footprint.
“It was a privilege to work with our small team of talented and hardworking colleagues led by our editor Janet Traynor.
“I also want to thank all of those who came into our studio and trusted us with their stories and contributed to the national conversation on the issues that matter to all of us.
“I’m disappointed that we won’t be able to keep that conversation going.”
A spokeswoman for RTE said: “The decision to wrap production has been made due to the prioritising of people and financial resources, as the organisation incurs significant change and becomes smaller.
“As part of the organisation’s new direction strategy in the prioritising of digital content, it has recently launched a news podcast and ‘Clarity’, a new strand beginning to tackle increasing misinformation and disinformation challenges.”
Other employees from the show will continue working with RTE News and Current Affairs section of the national broadcaster.
Upfront started in January 2023 as a replacement to Claire Byrne Live, that finished up as host Claire wanted to focus on her radio show.
The most recent series of Upfront With Katie Hannon, which ran from September 24 to May 25, had an average audience rating of 198,000.
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This represents a 25.8 per cent of audience share, with these figures being up from an average of 168,000 and 23.7 per cent in series two.
Similarly, the series grew on the RTE Player, attracting 269,000 streams in series three, from 209,000 in series two.
Clips from the programme have also generated over 3.3 million video views on Instagram.
Radio 1 icon Joe stunned listeners last month by announcing he was leaving Liveline after 27 years.
A source told us: “Katie Hannon is the obvious successor to Joe on Liveline. She has been filling in for so long.”
Katie currently leads the way as the bookmakers’ favourite to replace the 69-year-old.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: “It looks as though a decision has been made when it comes to Joe Duffy’s replacement. With Upfront now cancelled, Katie Hannon’s diary is now clear for the iconic gig, and the odds suggest it’s hers.”
