More home improvement shows? Three more hours of Dermot Bannon talking about windows?

“It turns around millions of euro a year. If you take it away you are just left with a big hole to fill,” said former RTÉ and Today FM boss Willie O’Reilly.

He maintains “there is life in the old dog yet” and when it comes to re-imagining The Late Late Show, the emphasis should be on “evolution not revolution”. He says RTÉ should avoid taking too many risks.

“Should the changes be radical? No. It’s too dangerous,” he said. “Why would I be against big change? [The Late Late Show] is a proven entity. Things have changed, people watch it less ... but it still delivers huge audiences and is an amazing financial success for RTÉ so [you must] be very careful with what you do with it.”

Larry Masterson, who produced The Late Late Show during Pat Kenny’s tenure and the early days of Tubridy’s 14-year stint, believes a new presenter should usher in changes to the format.

First off, the length of the show should be reduced. “The show has got to be looked at and times have changed,” he said. “I think it should be shorter by perhaps an hour or certainly half an hour”.

While he thinks there needs to be a celebrity segment on the programme, Masterson suggests a move away from celebs on promotional press circuits.

“We have to get away from our dependence on B-list celebs – that has been the tendency in recent years,” Masterson said. “And The Late Late Show has to go beyond being a happy-clappy high-five type of show with B-list celebrities on talking about their latest book or food produce or whatever.”

It’s a conundrum many chat shows face; they need the sparkle of celebrities but if tied into extensive press tours they can often result in inoffensive interviews, and anecdotes we’ve heard before.

That might explain why other chat shows have brought in gimmicks or distinct segments such as James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke. At least then the celebrities in question are doing something novel – like singing in a Prius.

“I hear people saying we should have a Graham Norton-style show, but you are not going to get the major celebs coming to Dubli n ,” said Masterson. “They go to London because London is a huge centre of showbiz. The Tom Cruises will jet into London, do a huge amount of interviews and jet out.”

While Masterson acknowledges that light entertainment segments are an integral part of the show, he thinks The Late Late needs to start looking to explore pressing social issues in a non-current affairs way.

“The Late Late Show should be like a good night out,” he explains. “You have a bit of gossip, a bit of a laugh and a cry. And end it with a good row about some political or social issue.”

Masterson says the programme should not shy away from controversial topics. It should deal with them head on, as it did in the past, and invite personalities who have something to say, rather than sell, to hopefully create those increasingly elusive “water-cooler moments”. The aim, he says, should be to have interviews where people ask “Wow, did that person actually just say that?”.

Both Masterson and O’Reilly say deciding on format changes before the new presenter is selected would be premature. And that the programme should be tweaked to reflect the strengths of the host. 

This is undoubtedly the biggest gig in Irish broadcasting, and there have been reports that RTÉ bosses are keen that a decision is made swiftly.

Claire Byrne, Brendan O’Connor, Kathryn Thomas, Tommy Tiernan and Jennifer Zamparelli have all been suggested as possible contenders. Some believe the next host will be a woman, but Masterson thinks gender should not be the deciding factor. He says it should come down to ability and experience.  

Willie O’Reilly added:  “There are no more than a handful of people who have the talent to take it on. You can’t underestimate RTÉ making a bad mistake either, that could happen.”

The Late Late Show is a huge commitment and one that comes with intense public scrutiny.

“You need a presenter who can own that show,” said O’Reilly. “From the minute it goes up, the presenter must own the entire floor, the audience ... they have to really want it, so picking the presenter is the key thing. After that, get in a room and have ideas for what to do differently.”

There has been speculation as to whether the incoming director general will have a say in the matter. Dee Forbes stands down from the post on July 11. The DG job was advertised earlier this year, but RTÉ has yet to make any announcement.

One of the biggest successes under Tubridy’s stewardship was fronting the Toy Show. He is terrific with children and with every passing year, his costumes and dance routines became increasingly OTT.​

He was pivotal in turning it into a money-spinner. At times it almost seemed there was a danger that the Toy Show had become bigger than The Late Late Show itself. However the brand suffered some damage last year thanks to the flop that was the Toy Show musical. This will be one of the trickiest aspects for the incoming host to master.

It is almost impossible for The Late Late Show to have the same social and cultural impact it did during Gay Byrne’s tenure.

Divorce, contraception, abortion, the Catholic Church were once red-hot issues and Byrne was a intrepid broadcaster and didn’t shy away from these topics or from asking hard or uncomfortable questions.

When Gaybo presented The Late Late Show, he also acted as a producer. While piecing together items for the Friday night programme he would envision different cohorts of Irish society – the housewife, the bachelor farmer, the young professional – and he would try to include items that would keep all of them hooked.

People give out about it, but the day they are not talking about The Late Late Show is the real day that it is damaged

Since then the way we watch TV has changed radically. Streaming services means we can be selective about our viewing, and programmes have become more niche.

In the past decade there have been just a handful of times when something was said or done that set the national agenda or was splashed across the front pages.

However, the level of interest in who will replace Tubridy shows how valuable the programme, and the brand, is. “The Late Late Show is resilient,” said Willie O’Reilly. “People give out about it, but the day they are not talking about it is the real day that it is damaged.”