RTE PRESS RELEASE

RTÉ Television delivers 48 out of 50 top-rating programmes so far in 2011
Thursday, 4 August 2011
In the first six months of 2011 RTÉ Television delivered 48 out of the 50 most-watched programmes on Irish television and 44 of these were home-produced. The Eurovision Song Contest, the general election coverage, the visits by US President Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II, and a new comedy hit Mrs Brown's Boys are the top television moments of the year to date.

Based on figures from Nielsen Television Audience Measurement*, Jedward at Eurovision proved to be the biggest television draw of 2011 so far, as the most-watched television programme in the six months from January to June, with a staggering 1.18 million viewers on average* watching the Eurovision final.


The Frontline Leaders' Debate on 14 February was the second most-watched programme in the Top 50, with a massive average audience of 965,000 tuning in to see the leaders of the five main parties address the nation before the general election. Prime Time's three person Leaders' Debate on 22 February attracted 807,000. And on 26 February RTÉ's extensive election results coverage had an average of 684,000 viewers.


As well as being national historic events, the visits in May by Queen Elizabeth II and US President Barack Obama also proved to be must-see television moments. RTÉ's coverage of these drew an average audience of 710,000 and 664,000 respectively.
As with previous years, the Irish viewing appetite for News & Current Affairs remains huge. RTÉ News had its highest audience for year to date on 20 March, an average of 813,000 viewers. Paul Maguire's hard-hitting investigation into the taxi industry as part of the compelling Prime Time Investigates series on 16 May achieved an average 723,000 viewers.


Factual programmes also performed very strongly, with RTÉ's documentary about the new wave of emigration, Departure Day, drawing an average audience of 674,000 and a documentary about the tragic death of Michaela Harte, Michaela - Finding Peace, being watched by an average audience of 604,000.
The most viewed sporting event of the year to date was Ireland v England in the Six Nations, when an average of 690,000 viewers tuned in watch the thrilling game on RTÉ Two.


Meanwhile, Irish home-produced drama proved a big hit with Fair City again ranked in the top 10. An episode on 4 January, which saw a shamed Bob return to Carrigstown to the shock of the residents, drew an average audience of 764,000. And the third series of Raw continued to get high figures, the second episode pulling in an average of 649,000 viewers.


Glen Killane, MD, RTÉ Television, said: "The most-watched programmes are about historic moments in time, from Queen Elizabeth II at the Garden of Remembrance and the Aras, US President Obama at College Green, the 2011 election and Jedward doing us proud at Eurovision. RTÉ is proud to bring these culturally-defining events, capturing and reflecting the mood of the nation, to the nation. That 44 out of these 48 RTÉ programmes are home-produced demonstrates the public's appetite for quality home production. RTÉ Television is continuing to perform very strongly in the face of ever-increasing competition and choice and we look forward to announcing our line-up of new programming for the new season next week.'


* Source: Nielsen Television Audience Measurement. Ranking is based on best episode of shows/series of 15+ minutes duration broadcast between 1 January 2011 and 30 June 2011, on any television channel available in Ireland. Data is ranked by TVR, is Consolidated and based on Individuals 4+.
** Average Viewership/Audience: The average number of viewers across a programme (or specified duration of time), expressed in 000s.