Late Late Toy Show is most viewed show on Irish TV in 2023 with big surprises in Top 10

Homegrown content remains the biggest attraction for Irish audiences across Entertainment, Sport, News and Current Affairs, and Drama, with Irish produced programming making up 49 of the Top 50 programmes of the 2023 according to the newly released viewing figures by TAM Ireland/Nielsen Media. 

RTÉ delivered 42 of the Top 50 most-watched programmes across all channels available in Ireland in 2023.

TV excelled as a shared experience with a variety of programming throughout the year capturing the nation’s imagination including family favourites Dancing with the Stars and Ireland’s Fittest Family, Irish drama with Fair City and Kin, as well as The Rose of Tralee, The Tommy Tiernan Show, and Room to Improve. 

RTÉ continues to be the home of trusted News and Current Affairs for Irish audiences, with The Nine O’Clock News on November 23rd documenting the unfolding of the Dublin riots attracting over 790,000 viewers. 

Prime Time, which aired on the same evening following the news, placed at 29th in the most-watched programmes for 2023 (527,000 viewers) as audiences kept with RTÉ for coverage throughout the evening. 

RTÉ’s mix of live and on-demand services have both proven hugely popular this year. 2023 was the biggest year ever for RTÉ Player, with the free live and on-demand streaming service delivering a record 105 million streams, and 35 million streaming hours, reaching 1.3 million unique users.

July 26th was the biggest day of the year on RTÉ Player with over 250,000 hours of content streamed on the day Ireland played Canada in the Women’s World Cup. 

Despite increased popularity in global streaming services, TAM Ireland research shows that Irish audiences still prefer viewing broadcaster content.

Total video viewing data for 2023 shows that people spend 62% of their daily viewing with broadcaster content, and 10% with streaming services.

The average Irish adult in a TV home watches broadcaster content on a TV set for 2 hrs 32 mins per day**, with 84% of daily viewing consumed live and 16% watched as catch-Up (an increase of 1% on 2022). In advertising, TV delivered over 39 billion impacts. 

The Late Late Toy Show in November once again outperformed all other programming for the year, with over 1.5 million viewers tuning in for Ireland’s most-loved television date on the calendar, a uniquely Irish shared viewing experience for family and friends the world over to enjoy.

Patrick Kielty’s debut as host of The Late Late Show on September 15th also drew a Top 10 breaking audience, while his hosting of the New Year’s Eve Show saw him feature in the Top 50 most watched programmes for a third time. 

2023 was strong year for Sport, with sporting events claiming over 60% of the Top 50 programmes for 2023. The Rugby World Cup drew huge audiences to both RTÉ and Virgin Media, with four Ireland clashes making the Top 10, while Six Nations clashes with England and Scotland also made the Top 10 most watched of the year.

RTÉ continued its commitment to women’s sport in 2023, and The FIFA Women’s World Cup live coverage on RTÉ made the Top 50, with over half a million Irish supporters cheering on the team during their knockout July game against Canada. 

The GAA All-Ireland Football final with Dublin v Kerry was the most-watched GAA clash of the year, coming 6th in the Top 10, with over 977,000 tuning in, while in hurling, Kilkenny v Limerick was the 8th most-watched programme of the year. 

RTÉ Deputy Director of Content, Niamh O’Connor, said: 

“Today’s release from TAM Ireland, once again proves that Irish audiences continue to favour Irish content above all else.

“Serving Irish audiences with a distinctive mix of quality Irish content is why RTÉ exists and we are committed to working, together with our colleagues in the Irish independent production sector, to continue to serve the public with unique Irish content that educates, entertains and informs.”