TAM Ireland/Nielsen TV audience figures for last year show that the average Irish adult watches 3½ hours every day, or over 24 hours a week. It is two minutes more per day than in 2014. Live TV viewing as it is scheduled accounts for 90 per cent of all viewing time, with just 10 per cent time-shifted, with PVR recordings on Sky+, Virgin Horizon, VCR or DVD.
TAM Ireland’s CEO Jill McGrath says housekeepers and those aged over 55 were the heaviest viewers last year with both groups viewing over four hours of TV each day, while 15-24 year olds increased their viewing to live TV by an average of six minutes a day. Some 59 per cent of all TV homes in Ireland now have a PVR, with increased choice pushing up audiences.
The highest rating show of 2015 was RTE’s Late Late Toy Show with Ryan Tubridy. The second highest was the Rugby World Cup match between Ireland and France on TV3. Sport proved a big winner accounting for 12 of the year’s top 20 programmes. Home produced shows continued to dominate the top of the ratings chart across all channels.
TAM Ireland separately commissioned Ipsos MRBI to carry out a study of viewing on other devices last March. The survey showed that 83 per cent of viewing time is spent on a TV set and 17 per cent on devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets. The trend has remained relatively stable over the three years the study has been undertaken.
The top 10 programmes for 2015:
1 Late Late Show – RTE One
2. Rugby World Cup Live: France v Ireland – TV3
3. RWC Live: Ireland v Argentina – TV3
4. RWC Live: Ireland v Italy – TV3
5. Sunday Game Live: Dublin v Kerry – RTE 2
6. Charlie – RTE One
7. Euro 2016 Qualifier Play Off: Ireland v Bosnia – RTE 2
8. Euro 2016 Qualifier: Ireland v Bosnia – RTE 2
9. Mrs Brown’s Boys – RTE One
10. RWC Live: Ireland v Romania – TV3
