How Ireland spent its time in 2020: The books, TV and music that we consumed

Lockdown often gave people more opportunity to spend their time watching TV or reading books. These are the shows, albums and books we reached for...

TOP TEN ON THE TELLY 

RTÉ retains pole position in the annual TAM (Television Audience Measurement) live viewership charts: the state broadcaster dominated the top ten, with nine out of the entries. Only the Ireland-France rugby fixture in October broke the ratings ceiling for privately-run competitor Virgin Media.

Of the nine programmes on the list from RTÉ, November’s Late Late Toy Show tops the charts at 1.716 million live viewers, furthering Ireland’s ongoing love affair with the long-running seasonal special.

Then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s Ministerial Broadcast at the outset of the first lockdown on St. Patrick’s Day clocked 1.599 million live viewers, the highest-rated of four news broadcasts in the chart, outlining the importance of news media to communications around the Covid-19 crisis.  The pair of live GAA senior finals, and an impressive showing from wildly popular architect and media personality Dermot Bannon, round out the top tier of Ireland’s viewership chart in 2020. 

Interestingly, despite all the hype, Normal People failed to dent the top 10, or even the top 40. Perhaps it was due to the BBC showing episodes a  day earlier than RTÉ meant a split in viewers, but the highest rated episode only came in at number 41. 

1: The Late Late Toy Show - RTÉ One - 27/11/2020 (1.716m)

2: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar Ministerial Broadcast - RTÉ One - 17/03.2020 (1.599m) 

3: RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock - RTÉ One - 17/03/2020 (1.304m) 

4: RTÉ News: Six One - RTÉ One - 30/12/2020 (1.066m)

5: Saturday Game Live: Senior Football Final - RTÉ2 - 19/12.2020 (877k)

6: The Late Late Show - RTÉ One - 27/03/2020 (876k)

7: 6 Nations Live: France v Ireland - Virgin Media One - 31/10/2020 (850k)

8: RTÉ News Special - RTÉ One - 27/03/2020 (830k) 

9: Room To Improve: Dermot's Home - RTÉ One - 05/01/2020 (777k)

10: Sunday Game Live: Senior Hurling Final - RTÉ2 - 13/12/2020 (713k) 

NETFLIX AND STREAMING 

The Crown season four was a big hit for Netflix. 

Netflix hasn't yet released its 2020 figures for Ireland, but we do know the service has enjoyed critical and commercial successes in an unprecedented year. It was also a year the streaming giant saw had to deal with more competition, with the might of Disney+ arriving on the scene. The new contender already had an impressive amount of content, and also attracted viewers with new material such as The Mandalorian, and by providing a home for films that didn't get a cinema run due to lockdowns (eg Soul, Mulan and Hamilton).

Among the biggest Netflix shows in this country were:

Tiger King: Engaging documentary series that followed the exploits of outsized personalities within the world of big cat conservation in America. Joe Exotic promptly became the talk of the internet early in the year.

The Crown: The ongoing dramatisation of the UK royal family’s story arrived in modern times with series four in 2020, continuing to hit on raw nerves on both sides of the pond, including Gillian Anderson’s turn as Conservative prime-minister Margaret Thatcher.  The Witcher:

The streaming adaptation of the fantasy franchise may have begun airing in 2019, but maintained momentum in the early part of last year. Production of a long-awaited second series has been hobbled by Covid, and injuries to star Henry Cavill, but anticipation remains high.

The Queen's Gambit: The story of a troubled chess prodigy coming of age in the hedonistic 1960s has captured (no pun intended) public attention. Much in the same way as skateboarding videogames boosted the sport in real life in the 2000s, sales of chess sets are reported to have spiked in the show’s aftermath.

Ozark: Series 3 of the critically-acclaimed US crime drama saw a spike in viewer interest amid news of the show’s cancellation, with a farewell fourth series currently in production. With series 3 rated at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, Ozark is destined for the ‘instant-classic’ status of genre contemporaries like Breaking Bad. 

MUSIC 

 Billie Eilish did well with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go. 

Long-play listens - the top-performing albums of 2020:

Dermot Kennedy is the only Irish artist to make the Top 10, but at least he comes top of the pile for 2020. The presence of multiple releases from legacy acts like Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen, however, may be a sign of the buying power of older listeners, and also of a Covid-19 crisis that has seen consumer trends veer toward ‘comfort food’ across the board.

1: Dermot Kennedy - Without Fear 

2: Lewis Capaldi - Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent 

3: Harry Styles - Fine Line 

4: Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

5: Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia

6: Fleetwood Mac - 50 Years, Don’t Stop

7: Taylor Swift - folklore

8: Pop Smoke - Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon

9: Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You

10: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours 

Vinyl albums 

The Official Charts Company says vinyl album sales jumped by an incredible 42% in 2020, with 309,000 albums purchased on wax across the year, compared to 218,000 in 2019. Vinyl now accounts for 8.1% of the albums market in Ireland.

Many consumers have obviously returned to a format they once abandoned in favour of CD and digital, and are building up their collections again, with the knock-on effect being a high percentage of legacy acts occupying the top 10.

At least Fleetwood Mac – in top spot with 1977's Rumours – can claim some 21st-century relevance given that the track 'Dreams' went viral in 2020 after being used in a Tik Tok video.

1: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

2: Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

3: Harry Styles - Fine Line

4: Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You 

5: Dermot Kennedy - Without Fear

6: The Cranberries - Dreams: The Collection 

7: Queen - Greatest Hits

8: Fontaines D.C. - A Hero’s Death 

9: Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits 

10: Bob Marley and the Wailers – Legend 

BEST-SELLING BOOKS

Top sellers included Where the Crawdads Sing, and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. 

It’s been a tough year for the publishing and retail sectors of the book industry, having overseen a reversal of fortunes for their physical products, and with eBooks maintaining a steady market share via the usual reading apps.

Much of the trade behind these numbers has of course come from online or click-and-collect sales during the lockdowns, while straitened retail environments retained a brisk trade in the periods in between, including the Christmas rush.

Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan’s recounting of the decline of the FAI in Champagne Football is the homegrown success of the year, in at number three. The success of Normal People’s television adaptation has placed author Sally Rooney in two of the top-ten spots, while established unit-shifters like Graham Norton and Marian Keyes have enjoyed domestic success.

1: Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (Corsair) 55,039

2: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy (Ebury Press) 48,149 

3: Normal People, by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber) 38,493 

4: Champagne Football: John Delaney and the Betrayal of Irish Football, by Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan (Penguin Ireland) 27,228 

5: American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins (Tinder Press) 25,964

6: The Daly Dish: 100 Masso Slimming Meals for Everyday, by Gina Daly and Karol Daly (Gill Books) 25,871

7: Grown Ups, by Marian Keyes (Michael Joseph) 25,609 

8: Home Stretch, by Graham Norton (Coronet) 23,937 

9: The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides (Orion) 21,885

10: Conversations with Friends, by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber) 20,646