Television advertising revenues increased by three percentage points in the first half of the year, totalling €136.5 million, figures released by TAM Ireland show. The outlay covers revenue from linear television advertising, broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD) and non-spot activity, including sponsorship, product placement and advertiser-funded shows.
The figures, compiled for TAM Ireland by Guardian Management, compare revenue generated between January and June 2026 with the same period last year. BVOD recorded the highest growth during the period, with revenue up by 12 per cent year-on- year. Linear television advertising increased by two per cent compared with the first half of 2025.
Popular
During the first quarter of 2026, commercial TV reached an average of 75 per cent of adults aged 15 and over each week. Its average weekly reach stood at 67 per cent among adults aged between 25 and 44 and 70.2 per cent among grocery shoppers with kids. Popular Irish shows included Room to Improve, Gogglebox Ireland (above) and Dancing with the Stars.
Live sport drew big audiences with coverage of the Six Nations, English Premier League football and the 2026 Fifa World Cup play-offs. Football fans in their thousands have tuned into RTÉ’s coverage of the Fifa World Cup semi-finals, with audiences across television, streaming and digital platforms reaching record levels.
The encounters between Spain and France, and England and Argentina, reached a combined 1.98 million unique viewers on a 1-minute reach basis. An average of 873,000 viewers tuned in to RTÉ2 to watch Spain’s win over France, accounting for a 61 per cent share of the available audience. An extra 1.03 million streams were recorded on the RTÉ Player.
Free-to-air
An average of 949,000 viewers tuned in to RTÉ2 to watch Lionel Messi’s Argentina beat England, delivering a 60 per cent share of the available audience. The match also generated 985,000 streams on the RTÉ Player. RTÉ is one of only a small number of public service broadcasters providing free-to-air blanket broadcasts of this year’s Fifa World Cup finals.
