TODAY FM chief executive Willie O’Reilly has said his surprise decision to join RTÉ is not related to his recent decision to drop presenter Sam Smyth from the station’s schedule.
Mr O’Reilly was yesterday announced as the group commercial director of RTÉ, a new position which will seek to maximise commercial revenue across radio, television, the internet and publications.
His decision to replace Smyth with PR consultant and broadcaster Anton Savage has been linked in some quarters to the long-running libel action which Today FM owner Denis O’Brien has taken against Smyth over his coverage of the Moriarty tribunal.
The issue has led to allegations of Mr O’Brien interfering in editorial decisions at the radio station, leading to a call from Senators for a debate on media ownership and control.
Mr O'Reilly yesterday reiterated the point he made last week in The Irish Timesthat Smyth's removal was to do with his desire to shake up the radio schedule at Today FM, which has been haemorrhaging listeners in recent years.
He stressed then that he wanted to recruit a younger audience and that Smyth’s tenure as presenter could not be “sacrosanct” simply because he had a falling out with Mr O’Brien. He stressed he would have walked out of Today FM if Mr O’Brien had sought to interfere. “The two [events] are unrelated. My role here is as a manager and my responsibility is to this company until I’m no longer on the payroll,” he said yesterday. He will remain as Today FM chief executive until the end of the year.
Mr O’Reilly was recruited by RTÉ’s recently appointed director general Noel Curran, who approached him two months ago about taking up the role.
Mr O’Reilly has been Today FM’s chief executive since joining from RTÉ in 1999. Since then the station has surpassed RTÉ 2fm as the second most listened to station in Ireland.
The announcement was made to Today FM staff by chairman John McColgan yesterday in the company of Mr O’Reilly and Paddy Halpenny, chief executive of Mr O’Brien’s company Communicorp, which owns the station.
Mr McColgan praised Mr O’Reilly for delivering “substantial increases in audiences and revenue” and for his ability to recruit some of the station’s most important presenters, including Ray D’Arcy, Matt Cooper, Tony Fenton and Ray Foley.
Mr O’Reilly said he was recruited because RTÉ had a shortage of outside business experience and because of the commercial nous he brought to Today FM. He was also impressed by Mr Curran. “I’ve met the guy, I like him, I buy into his vision. He was somebody I felt immediately that I could work with. I share his ambition,” he said.
Mr O'Reilly spent 18 years in RTÉ before joining Today FM in 1999. He had made his name in RTÉ as the producer of The Gerry Ryan Showfor 10 years. He said he had been with Today FM for 12 years. "There comes a time in senior management, around a decade, when you really should be moving on. Nobody is indispensable. The graveyards are full of indispensable people."
