Oliver Callan has been announced as the new presenter of the 9am slot on RTÉ Radio 1.
He has been presenting the Nine O'Clock Show on rotation since the summer, after Ryan Tubridy's departure from the station.
The new morning programme, Oliver Callan, will air on weekdays from 9am to 10am from Monday 29 January.
Speaking on RTÉ's Brendan O'Connor, Oliver said he is really excited and joked that he hopes it is not too much of a shock for people.
He described it as a coveted slot and that he is a radio anorak.
"I am really excited about it ... I suppose I am an accidental presenter in many ways. But there you go, sure I will give it a lash, and we will see what happens."
He said the decision followed conversations in the lead up to Christmas and he was asked if he was interested.
"I actually said yes even when I didn't know. I am glad I didn't rush into it either."
Oliver said he has a two-year contract with a salary of €150,000 a year.
He said he does not have an agent.
"The main reason there was no negotiations was because I don't use an agent. I am my own agent," he added.
"I do use a lawyer. And he's very good lawyer. He's a media contracts lawyer. So that was the kind of the gist of it... There wasn't any new wrangling. That would have taken time."
He said when he was offered the slot he thought about it and agonised over it, but is now delighted and ready to work really hard.
Professor Jane Suiter, Director of DCU's Institute for Future Media and Democracy and Society, said Oliver Callan's claim that there was little negotiation over his two-year contract was "interesting".
"He was offered it on a take it or leave it basis and he had to think about it, so I think that's a very different way of operating than the previous one, with agents and backwards and forwards and so on," she said.
She said the two-year contract will also be enough time for Oliver Callan to bed in and find out if he likes it "and it gives RTÉ management and the public time to see do they take to him, does he build the audience and then they can go from there".
Prof Suiter said it is also interesting that he does not expect to find himself in the future top ten of RTÉ's top paid presenters.
The list, which will soon be published by the broadcaster, dates back to 2022.
"Clearly there's a marker of what to expect, but its also interesting from an editorial point of view, I think," she added.
Arriving to make the announcement with his husband John today, the 43-year-old said there had been a lot of competition for the coveted 9am slot, which has attracted big names in the past.
Oliver said he is taking the role very seriously and will not always be poking fun at RTÉ.
He said his comedy is always going to be based "on what the public see and hear about the place" but it is the State broadcaster, "and if we can't make fun of that in these circumstances, then sure we may as well give up altogether."
It has been seven months since RTÉ last had a permanent presenter in the 9am slot which Oliver said has led to "a good gap there for a fresh start in the New Year".
"It is a new world in RTÉ and it's been well talked about for the last couple of months and the Director General has said everything's going to be new, and presenters are going to have to lower their expectations," he added.
He said he is really proud to have the job under the RTÉ banner, because it is a public service broadcaster and he hopes to deliver for those who are paying the license fee.
"It's not all about getting the biggest ratings or other public service things that we also need to tick the box of, and I think comedy and a bit of craic is a huge part of that," he said.
Oliver said people know him for having "a bit of edge" and whilst he has worked in RTÉ for a while, he is sometimes called into the office "to figure out what the rules are. So I don't think anything is going to be any different in that regard," he laughs.
Whilst comedy may take a back foot in the short-term due to the amount of work he has to do on the show, he said he will keep his passion for live comedy going.
"If I don't do it, I'd probably get sad. So there's going to definitely be live shows, but probably not in the first year of doing this, until things settle down," he said.
On the Brendan O'Connor Show, he joked about having to "double down" on taking off fellow presenters in RTÉ as he takes up the role and said that he plans to continue Callan's Kicks.
He believes it will go ahead this year.
"We will see how it goes. I am confident I can juggle the two. It is tiring but when you love what you do, it is not impossible."
He said he believed it might have taken until now to announce a decision about the programme as there has been a lot going on in RTÉ in recent months.
"There are huge decisions being made. Strategic visions left right and centre....so the nine o'clock slot is probably small fry in the scale of things."
He acknowledged it is a big change and that it might be "bed-time altering".
In a statement, Head of RTÉ Radio 1 Peter Woods said: "We've known Oliver for a long time, not least through Callan's Kicks. He came in at the start of the Covid lockdown and gave the whole country a lift.
"Oliver is an accomplished broadcaster, who already has a connection with the RTÉ Radio 1 audience.
"He is starting a new journey with us now and he will have the full support of the RTÉ Radio 1 team in a programme that will bear his inimitable stamp."
Additional reporting: Eleanor Burnhill
