Toy Show pips Varadkar’s speech in TV’s top 50

The Late Late Toy Show was again Ireland’s highest rating TV show last year, ahead of the then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s St Patrick’s Day address to the nation about the lockdown. While much of the most popular TV last year included news and sport, shows like I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, Room to Improve and Dancing With the Stars made the top 20.

The good news for advertisers was that housekeepers – those responsible for the home’s main shop – continue to be among the heaviest viewers, spending three hours and 40 minutes watching broadcast TV every day. Jill McGrath of TAM Ireland said that 84 per cent of daily viewing was consumed live – that is, as scheduled – with just 16 per cent watched as catch up.

Most Irish adults watched TV at home for two hours 58 minutes a day, up two points on 2019.

Home-produced content and entertainment shows again dominated the ratings, accounting for 48 of the top 50 shows. Despite all the disruption to sport, it was again a big crowd-puller. The All Ireland Football final between Dublin and Mayo was the most viewed sporting show and the Ireland v France match was the most viewed Guinness Six Nations game.

Virgin Media Television’s hard-hitting fly on the wall series, The Guards: Inside the K, was the best performing documentary series ever in the broadcaster’s history. Channel 4’s Bake Off Final was up 36 per cent compared to the previous year’s finale and 2019/20 was the best ever Premier League season on Sky Sports, up by 10 points compared to before the lockdown level.

Source: TAM Ireland Ltd / Nielsen TAM

TAM Ireland (Television Audience Measurement Ireland) oversees an audience measurement system for the TV advertising industry. The body is made up of most commercial broadcasters operating in Ireland (RTÉ, Virgin Media, TG4, Channel 4, Sky Ireland, Viacom and Eir Sport) and the main Irish media buying agencies. Nielsen conducts the actual measurement service.