The viewing figures have been tallied and it's been announced just which Irish shows the most people watched in the year that was 2016, and it seems despite the range of channels available in Ireland, RTE still came out on top.
The national broadcaster managed to air all of the top 20 programmes broadcast in Ireland last year, and as you can probably guess, it was The Late Late Toy Show that came out on top once more. 1.57 million people tuned in to watch last year’s Jungle Book themed extravaganza, making it the second most-watched television show of the century so far.
The Late Late Show remains the biggest entertainment programme on Irish television, earning its own slot in the top 20 with the February 19th edition featuring, among others, journalist Paul Williams and model Alicia Douvall.
RTÉ’s coverage of UEFA Euro 2016, the All Ireland Football and Hurling Finals, the Guinness Series Live and RBS 6 Nations account for two-thirds of the top 20. RTÉ2’s coverage of the Republic of Ireland’s defeat to the French at UEFA Euro 2016 was the second most-watched programme on television this year with a total audience of 1.26 million people.
The first episode of landmark series Rebellion was watched by 713,000 viewers. More recently, 706,600 viewers enjoyed the Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas special – Mrs Brown’s Boys: Mammy’s Forest. The episode wasn’t the only appearance by Agnes and family in the Top 20 with the Mrs Brown’s Boys Live special broadcast in summer watched by a total of 630,600 viewers. Once again, the trials and tribulations of home transformation in Room to Improve proved very popular with 679,100 viewers watching architect Dermot Bannon transform a coach-house on the February 28th edition of the show.
Commenting on the figures, Dermot Horan, Acting Managing Director, RTÉ Television said: “It is great to see that television remains a central part of Irish lives, as shown by TAM Ireland’s figures, and that RTÉ television is their first choice. Our commitment to delivering top quality Irish television remains core to what we do and audiences respond in kind as shown by the fact that Sunday night’s slate of programming on RTÉ One – Dancing with the Stars, Fair City, The Nine O’Clock News and Striking Out – attracted audiences of, at least, half a million viewers."
Take a look at the viewing figures below;
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