UTV silent on Gerry Kelly’s criticism of how his show was canceled

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UTV said it would not comment on critical statements made by legendary broadcaster Gerry Kelly when speaking about his time with the company.

The Ballymena man is best known for hosting the Kelly Show from 1989 to 2005, which made him one of the most recognizable faces on television in Northern Ireland.

Speaking to the BBCs Nolan Show earlier this week, Mr Kelly spoke of being one of, if not the, highest paid broadcasters on UTV.

He said he was spending money at a rapid pace and thought it would never stop, which he admits to being a bit naive.

When you get past grade 10, 11, 12, 13 and the program is still working well, you get to grade 16 and all of a sudden you’re told it’s off the air, he said.

I was never prepared for this. [UTV bosses] had talked about moving it to another night, because ITV wanted Friday nights for themselves, they didn’t want UTV on the schedule.

And they were talking about changing us to a late-night show, like 11 o’clock, and I thought, no, you’re going to be talking to drunks and insomniacs at this time of night. I didn’t want that.

I got called and they said they were making some changes, I thought, oh no, you’re gonna put us on at 11 at night and they said, No, you just got off the air.

Mr Kelly said his show was taken off the air, but UTV still wanted to retain him to do a series of one-on-one interviews, which he said was a step backwards and marked the beginning of the end.

TVI [which is owned by the same company] wielded more power UTV knew then that the writing was on the wall where UTV would eventually completely disappear, which it did, to the minute, because it’s not the UTV everyone is talking about anymore, he said.

Talking about the fame the show brought him, he said it might have seemed that way to someone on the street, but on UTV he was just like anyone else there.

Asked about the power and prestige that came with the job, Mr Kelly said: It’s not power. I don’t know where this word comes from. It’s like you [Nolan], you have a team. I had four researchers, a director, an assistant director, [personal assistants]all working towards one thing.

It was a collective. The fact that I sat there on a Friday and was seen is the tip of the iceberg. All the work was done before that, it was always a team effort.

The broadcaster also said that at the height of its career, there was a real battle between The Kelly Show and rival chat shows, with the programs even going so far as to pinch each other.

UTV declined to comment.

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