Revealed: Patrick Kielty's Toy Show debut was Ireland’s most-watched TV show of 2023

We went mad for sport last year and a few Irish programmes also made the list

Patrick Kielty pictured during the opening of the 2023 Late Late Toy Show. Picture" Andres Poveda / RTÉ̇

Details of the most-watched television programmes in Ireland last year have been released, with new Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty coming out on top for his Toy Show debut.

Newly-released viewing figures by TAM Ireland/Nielsen Media show a sport-heavy top 10 programmes for the past 12 months, with four Rugby World Cup games, two episodes of the Sunday Game and two Six Nations matches joining two episodes of the Late Late Show — the Toy Show and Kielty’s first show as host — in the top slots. Sporting events made up over 60% of the top 50 programmes for last year.

Over 1,575,800 people tuned into Kielty’s first Toy Show on November 24, the theme of which was based on the movie Elf, while 833k watched his debut as host on September 15. The Late Late Show's New Year’s Eve special also appeared in the top 50, drawing over 538k viewers.

Jimmy O’Brien after Ireland's defeat in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final. Picture Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Almost 1.4m rugby fans tuned into Virgin Media One to watch Ireland take on New Zealand in October for the Rugby World Cup quarter-final, which saw Ireland leave the competition, while 1.25m watched the match between Ireland and South Africa on RTÉ 2 in September. Ireland’s game against Scotland in October was watched by 1.2m on Virgin Media One and over 1m watched Ireland take on England in the Six Nations last March.

The Nine O’Clock News on RTÉ One on November 23 — the day of the Dublin riots — was the 11th most-watched programme of 2023. The episode of Prime Time that aired following the news programme that evening and continued coverage of the events as they unfolded in the city was the 29th most-watched programme, with 527,000 viewers.

Other programmes on the list include Kin's season two finale which attracted 611k viewers last May, an episode of Room To Improve watched by 593k which featured Caitriona and Ross Boxshall and their Lucan home makeover, and two episodes of Mrs Brown's Boys that aired over Christmas and the New Year and had a combined viewership of over 1m.

Róisín Wiley named Rose of Tralee 2023. Picture: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD

Half a million people watched Róisín Wiley become the 2023 Rose of Tralee and 423k viewers tuned into The Tommy Tiernan Show on January 14, which included an interview with the then-future Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty.

RTÉ confirmed 2023 was a record year for RTÉ Player, delivering 105 million streams, and 35 million streaming hours, reaching 1.3 million unique users. July 26 was the biggest day of the year on the streaming service with over 250,000 hours of content streamed on the day Ireland played Canada in the Women’s World Cup.

Niamh O’Connor, RTÉ’s deputy director of content said the figures show "Irish audiences continue to favour Irish content above all else."