FOR THE FIFTH year in a row, Mrs Brown’s Boys proved extremely popular amongst Irish viewers this Christmas.
The show pulled off a double whammy with the Christmas special – Mrs Brown’s Boys: Mammy’s Christmas Punch - being the most popular with viewers on Christmas Eve, as well as Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie being the most watched broadcast on Christmas Day.
The Christmas special pulled in an average 668,400 viewers on Christmas Eve, while a further 72,700 viewers watched it on RTÉ One +1 that night. This is a slight fall-off on last year’s special, which attracted 703,100 viewers on Christmas Day.
The audience reach – the total number of people who tuned in for a minute or more of the programme – was 919,200.
Christmas Day viewing
591,300 viewers tuned in to watch the movie on Christmas Day. The movie was watched by a further 45,500 viewers on RTÉ One +1.
In the UK, Mrs Brown’s Boys came third in the Christmas Day viewings, with 6.4 million people tuning in. Last year, Mrs Brown’s Boys became the most-watched show of the Christmas period in the UK, with 9.69 million consolidated viewers. This year, the Downton Abbey finale took the top spot.
The most-watched soap on Irish television on Christmas Day was Fair City with an average of 351,800 viewers enjoying the hour-long episode.
On RTÉ2, the ever-popular Father Ted Christmas special shown on Christmas Eve brought in an average audience of 188,700.
Nostalgia
It seems the Irish audience are nostalgic for shows from the past this year.
On Sunday night, half a million people tuned in to RTÉ One to watch, Well Holy God, It’s Glenroe.
The show, which celebrated Ireland’s much-loved soap, was watched by an average of 497,900 viewers for a 34 per cent share, and caused quite a stir on social media.
Daniel O’Donnell also proved popular this year, with his festive special –Daniel O’Donnell and Friends – being the most watched entertainment show on Stephen’s Day drawing an average audience of 391,200, 25.5 per cent share of the viewership.
The other most popular Christmas movies this year were:
The most watched news broadcast over the bank holiday weekend was Monday, 27 December Nine O’Clock News on RTÉ One with an average audience of 562,200.
The television figures, provided by RTÉ, are sourced from TAM Ireland Ltd/ Nielsen TAM, Live + VOSDAL data, National Individuals.
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