On 7 December 2014 it was announced that D'Arcy was leaving independent commercial radio station Today FM after fourteen years to join state broadcaster RTÉ, with whom he had previously worked.
[1] Speculation immediately turned to what role D'Arcy would have on RTÉ Television, with a quiz show and an Ant and Dec-style evening entertainment being mentioned.
The very first show– which featured guests including Tulisa and Tommy Tiernan – attracted 468,500 viewers, a 35% share of the audience.
[7] The second D'Arcy show lost 107,000 viewers, as people tuned to rival TV3 to watch the 2015 Rugby World Cup game between England and Australia.
[9] As of 12 December 2015[update], The Ray D'Arcy Show has broadcast twelve episodes since its debut on 26 September 2015.