RTÉ has announced that Renault Ireland will be the new sponsor of The Late Late Show. The sponsorship will begin when Ryan Tubridy returns to host the 54th season of the iconic show on Friday 4th September at 9:35pm on RTÉ One.

An average of 611,800 viewers watched The Late Late Show last season, delivering an average audience share of 42.2%, a 2% increase on the previous year. In addition to being the most watched show on Irish television in 2014, last season's Late Late Toy Show also became the most popular programme so far this century among Irish television viewers with 1.6 million people tuning in to watch the show, delivering a 71.9% audience share.

As part of the one year deal as sponsor of The Late Late Show, Renault will receive exclusive opportunities to create stings to highlight its sponsorship of the show on RTÉ1, RTÉ+1 and on RTÉ Player.

At the announcement of the new sponsorship today, Patrick Magee of Renault Ireland said, "We are delighted to partner with Ireland's best known television show and a Friday night institution in Irish homes. Television plays a big part in our marketing strategy and we believe that sponsoring The Late Late Show is a great way of talking to our key audiences. This announcement is also timely as we launch our brand new Renault Kadjar crossover this month in Ireland in our 26 dealerships around the country".

Geraldine O'Leary, Commercial Director, RTÉ Television added, "We are so pleased to welcome back Renault as sponsor of The Late Late Show. We enjoyed a very successful partnership with the brand previously during its five year association with the show from 2001 to 2006 and we are very excited about working with Renault again. This is a true endorsement of the longest running chat show on television worldwide and recognition of RTÉ One's output and powerful audience reach. We look forward to another great partnership which I have no doubt will deliver real results for Renault Ireland."