Al Porter has been tipped to take over from Colm Hayes on RTÉ’s 2FM.
The veteran broadcaster confirmed earlier this week that he was leaving the station to focus on other projects – and now comedian Al Porter looks set to take his place.
“He’s the perfect demographic for the station. He’s only 23, he’s a very likeable character and listeners reacted well to him on 2fm, so he’s the most obvious replacement for Colm,” a source told the Herald.
“He’s also well used to the live element of performing as he has done so much stand-up over the years.”
Goodbye: Colm announced his departure from 2FM | VIPIRELAND.COM
Al previously worked with Colm on his weekend show, but now, as part of station boss Dan Healy’s overall shake-up for 2FM – he could be taking over the reigns altogether on Colm’s weekend 7am to 10am slot.
Colm was recently revealed as one of RTÉ’s highest-paid broadcasters, but despite this, the radio DJ has admitted that he has “absolutely no problem” leaving RTÉ after 10 years.
“2FM is going in a certain direction and it’s going after quite a young audience and I need to re-establish myself. I’m going in a different direction.
“I don’t think I suit the brand because of my age. My entire career I’ve gone Monday to Friday full-time shift on some of the biggest shows and I need another challenge now that wasn’t there on 2fm.
New gig: Al could be getting his very own show | VIPIRELAND.COM
Colm joked that he thinks he’s now too old to be playing the likes of Justin Bieber on a Saturday morning.
“I need to make a step into being a mature broadcaster. It’s gone after the younger audience and I don’t think I can be sat there playing Justin Bieber on a Saturday morning any more. I think I’m nearly old enough to be his grandfather,” he said.
Colm also tipped his pal Al to take over from him, and admitted that he “taught Al everything he knows about radio”.
“I would hope that Al would get his own show, yeah,” he said. “I taught Al everything he knows about radio. He’s a bright spark.
“People talk about chemistry and it’s something that’s so hard to put your finger on, and between me and Al, we had that,” he added.
