ROSE OF TRALEE: Viewing figures show popularity of annual event may be wilting

It was the most nail-biting finale in recent Rose of Tralee history, but the number of people who tuned in to see Tuesday night’s neck- and-neck finish suffered a significant ratings slump.

Official figures revealed by RTÉ show that a total of 760,300 people were glued to their TVs as Philadelphia’s Maria Walsh was named 2014 Rose of Tralee just before 11.30pm on Tuesday night.

However, while the rate is high, it is still far short of the 808,140 who tuned in for the big moment in 2013, 892,000 in 2012, 943,000 in 2011, 1.074m in 2010 and 855,000 in 2009.

Overall, RTÉ’s figures show an average of 694,000 people tuned in to see the second live show of this year’s instalment of the annual festival — a rate which means one in every two people watching TV at the time switched over.

The rate is higher than 2013 (668,000) and 2012 (688,500), but is still lower than 2011 (764,500), 2010 (917,300) and 2009 (755,000). The figures follow a first-night broadcast which, despite a mix of the brilliant and the bizarre, did not reach previous viewer highs. An average of 470,300 people watched the first instalment on Monday night, compared to 522,600 in 2013 and 520,500 in 2011, but in line with 2012’s average first night rate of 470,000. RTÉ have recently tried to revamp the competition, with its latest bid involving the RTÉ Digital show Live From The Red Room, the back-stage show which attracted audiences of approximately 10,000.

The state broadcaster has also confirmed that 62,200 streams of the main Rose of Tralee TV show via the RTÉ Player