Homemade shows a hit with TV audiences

THE 10 most watched programmes on any channel in Ireland last year were all screened by the national broadcaster.

Figures released show that RTÉ home-produced programmes were the biggest hit with Irish viewers.

Four entertainment programmes feature in the top 10, with The Late Late Toy Show the most popular, attracting a phenomenal 1,199,000 viewers.

That made it the most popular programme on Irish television since 2001.

Pat Shortt’s Killinaskully — The Emergency (Part 1), broadcast on Christmas Day, got 757,000 viewers and came in at number four, while The Rose of Tralee, with 696,000 viewers, came in equal eighth.

A total of 691,000 tuned into the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final, which made it the 10th most popular programme.

The Nine O’Clock News on January 11 — the night the Young Scientist of 2008 was named — was the second-most watched programme with 748,000 viewers, while Prime Time Investigates (Travellers on the Edge), broadcast on December 8, came in third. Fair City, the only soap in the most-watched list, came in at number five, with 715,000 viewers on average.

Buyer Beware!, presented by Philip Boucher-Hayes, came sixth with a hugely impressive 714,000 for one of its programmes.

Sport proved very popular, with the All-Ireland hurling and football finals at number seven (709,000 viewers) and number eight (703,000 viewers) respectively.

The Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea was watched by 653,000, and 689,000 tuned in for the Munster versus All Blacks game.

Both matches hit the top 20 at number 18 and 11 respectively.

The last time that RTÉ broadcast all top 10 programmes was in 2003.