Tubridy Tonight had regular viewing figures of 450,000, however, the show also regularly fell victim to so-called "Saturday Night Syndrome", with "The Late Late Show", broadcast on Friday nights, frequently featuring supposedly better guests. In 2009 "Tubridy Tonight" came to an end when RTÉ announced that Tubridy would succeed Pat Kenny as host of "The Late Late Show" for the following series, with the presenter describing "Tubridy Tonight" as "quite the odyssey". Upon Gay Byrne's retirement from "The Late Late Show" in 1999, RTÉ announced that Pat Kenny, host of his own Saturday night chat show, would be Byrne's replacement. "Kenny Live"
Tubridy Tonight May 2004, RTÉ announced that Ryan Tubridy would host a new Saturday night chat show that coming autumn. "Tubridy Tonight" made its debut on 16 October 2004 for an initial run of ten programmes. It featured Gráinne and Síle Seoige, Hector Ó hEochagáin and Royston Brady as the first interviewees. The programme received relatively good reviews, with Shane Hegarty of the "Irish Times" describing the show as having gotten off "to a ropey start but improved as it went along." Hegarty bemoaned the fact that the show was broadcast live as "it added nothing to the show apart from a