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MRS BROWN’S BOYS Christmas Special, the RTE comedy starring Brendan O’Carroll, was the most-watched programme on Irish television over Christmas.
A total of 880,000 viewers tuned in to the programme on Christmas Day, giving it a 48.6 per cent audience share.
It had over 300,000 viewers more than the second-placed programme, which was Eastenders, also on RTE One on Christmas Day, which was watched by over 563,000 viewers.
Gay Byrne’s programme about 50 years of The Dubliners had 527,000 viewers tune in on Christmas Day, putting it in third place overall.
Other programmes which featured in the top 10 on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day include RTE Six-One News on Christmas Eve (480,000), Fair City (441,600 viewers), and Carols From The Castle on Christmas Eve (411,000).
Anne Doyle’s final ever appearance on the Nine O’Clock News was watched by 387,000 viewers on Christmas Day.
Daniel Craig’s second outing as James Bond in Quatum of Solace had 341,00 viewers on Christmas Eve. Meanwhile the Father Ted Christmas Special proved its enduring appeal garnering 275,000 viewers – fifteen years after it first aired.
In the top-rated Christmas pr, Mrs Brown had to plan an extra-special Christmas for her son Trevor returning home from the missions for the first time in four years.
RTE had a total of eight of the top 10 most watched programmes on Christmas Day and also on Christmas Eve in Ireland.
The figures were sourced from TAM Ireland/Nielsen TAM, Live + VOSDAL, National Individuals 4+, and programme averages, according to RTE.
Did you watch Mrs Brown’s Boys? What was your favourite programme over the Christmas period? Tell us in the comments…
What a load of crap that show
Ted….I’ve taped it & was just about to sit down with a cuppa to watch it…..I’m all disappointed now :-(
I’ll be over shortly pet!!
Ted….I’ll put kettle on luv !!
Thanks babe love u always my little baba mwah ;)
This show rocked!
Ditto Ted x x x
Utter rubbish!
its got to more interesting than havin to read easygoings blow-by-blow account of the action goin down between herself and Ted the super dog…….
or now that i think about it,,, maybe not,,,
could do wit a laugh
Why do we pay a licence fee when all we get from RTE is garbage like Mrs. Browns Boys. You should be allowed take RTE off your TV and pay no licence fee.
Just don’t pay the licence! ! !
TV licence is based on whether you have a tv in your house not on whether it is used or not (whether you watch rte or not)! Just get rid of the box! Best thing I ever did!!
Although in 2012 they are changing the tv licence to an entertainment licence which will mean everyone will have to pay if they have a tv, radio or Internet in their home :(
Lordy.. it’s woeful tv. Brendan O’Carroll is as funny as getting a tooth pulled.
We must have been the only family who didn’t turn the TV on at all Christmas day. We managed to have a lovely day without it.
What did ye do?
Dave, that made me laugh. Classic!
It’s not even funny so I am guessing the high figures were due to the fact there there was f**k all on the television so had to resort to watching that garbage ( I didn’t by the way would not waste an hour of my valuable life watching such tripe ) :)
There really was fuck all on wasn’t there?
It was only on for thirty minutes…..
I love how people are saying it only got high figures because there was nothing else on. Nobody is forcing anyone to watch it. It is just as easy to read a book, throw on the radio, get drunk etc.
Did it ever cross your mind that 880,000 people actually like the programme (excluding yourself, obviously)?
Unbelievable. I don’t know anybody who admits to watching it.
Nobody admits to picking their nose and eating it either… but we know it’s done!
Shame on you viewers. Shame!!!
It was probably on whilst everyone was having dinner in the other room ……
€160 a year for utter crap like this and Wagons Den etc. Great value for money. Rte just don’t seem to have a clue nowadays.
Don’t forget PJ Gallaghers new show, like poking yourself in the eye repeatedly
Unbelievable. How is this measured?
It was the one thing my mother came into the back room to tell me to “come quick and see!” The fact is there’s a large chunk of demographic that connects with and likes this show. Like killinascully, mum said that what she liked was some of the characters reminded her of people she knew or once knew in real life in communities. I suspect rhe kind of people who become heavy commenters on Internet forums and here come from a certain demographic that wouldn’t partake in the kinds of activities & lifestyle that would introduce them to characters similar to the ones portrayed, ergo the negative bias of opinion against these kinds of “community character” based TV shows.
I had the honour (yes I call it that) to congratulate Mr. O’Carroll on “the highlight of my mother’s evening”, and he said he was hearing that it was popular with the older generations.
So give the man some credit. *You* mightn’t like it, but there’s a big chunk of demographic that does. Don’t belittle them.
Very well put Colm. It’s exactly what I was thinking.
Well said Colm!
Absolute bollocks. Like everything carrol has done this is terrible rubbish. It’s 70′s british humour with the casual racism removed. Nothing original has ever come from carrol and never will. The same tired jokes over and over again.
Here look! Man dressed as woman. Hilarious. How wonderfully refreshing! And sooo new.
It’s depressing really that anyone can like it.
Wow, I didn’t realise how many ppl didn’t like this show!:-0 I love it:)
160 euros every year or a fine or imprisonment for a second rate service at best, they also have the revenue from advertising, it’s no wonder that pat Kenny or finucane can be paid nearly half a million each per year.
Mrs brown absolutely brilliant show can’t wait for new series rock on
Well if you took into consideration what was aired…..it was just as crap as the rest!
That show is pure shite
Compared to the savage eye and hardy bucks, mrs browns boys is a hundred times better!!!
That was the top show? Good God!
It was absolutely dragging the bottom of the barrel when it comes to entertainment!
Its an embarrassment.
Oh Jesus.
Don’t know how anyone can watch that show it’s awful shit! And sure tv on every channel was shit Xmas day. thanks to the local DvD rental on St Stephans much better viewing.
What a group of tossers. If u don’t watch it how do u know it’s crap. The same people constantly moaning for the sake of it. If u have a problem with it let’s see what u can come up with. If not shut the f*** up.
I watched it, but needn’t have bothered. Should have dug out “how’s your wobbly bits”. Same humour….. but 20 years later
I gave it a chance and watched 15 minutes. It was utter shite, not even remotely funny. I can’t for the life of me see why anyone finds this show entertaining.
I find it hard to believe that there was over 800,000 televisions in people’s homes that had mrs browns boys.
Mine was most certainly not one of them!
:(
at least it had a christmas theme. old action and horror movies was all I could find on other channel’s . like it or loath it brendan o’carrol has achieved fantastic success with his show watched around the globe. I say fair play and thanks for the laugh.
Watched this with my parents because I couldnt say no to my Ma. Absolute Garbage! I thought it was some sort of prank until it ended and the ads came on. That’ll learn me.
over 6 million people watched it in the uk on BBC 1 on boxing day!
Says a lot of the standard of television offered by RTE this Christmas…films on that were shown 3years ago….
Its bad in an unnerving, surreal way
Doesn’t say a lot for what was on the box over xmas.
I am shocked by the viewing figures. Completely shocked. Gay Byrne told the nation that that lame dickhead was funny and so many believed him. The jokes are all stale and telegraphed.
I watched it.
Terrible tripe, says a lot for our tastes…that o carroll is about as funny as cancer. Genuinely can’t believe that many people watch that utter shite…
It’s an awful show but is it any worse than X-Factor, I’m a Celebrity, Big Brother or whatever is the latest fad show is?
Do yourselves all a favour and support good comedy and look up Louis CK, he recently had a download DRM free show for $5, worked out as €3.84 on my credit card. Absolute bargain.
I think it’s the funniest programme ever to be aired on RTE even tho it is commissioned and produced by BBC we should be proud of it.. Can’t rememeber which…. Either Vernon Kay or Dermot o Leary tweeted about it the other night saying how funny it was and they will definitely be buying the 1st Series and tuning into the 2nd
The worst part of it is watching Carroll going around with his glasses hanging around his neck like some latter day self satisfied English professer. I don’t know how he’s doing it but apparently lots of people like that slapstick humour.. Just throw in a few ” fuckin this and that” from the lips of a middle ages transvestite and it’s a winner. I think much of his success is down to the fact that TV is flooded with “intellectual ” comedy that is just too smart for its own good. PJ Gallagher must be someone’s friend.. I think his show is pure suite. Recession time.. People want a laugh and they want it without having to have Phd to understand what the joke is about. That’s why it’s watched.
I’m sorry but nearly a million people watchin THAT! What’s happened to us? I need a shower.
Well there you have it.. irrefutable proof that some majority of TV viewers will always watch a particular channel.
We pay tv licence to watch BBC programmes, RTE didnt even back this just like FATHER TED which I think channel 4 did. Why can’t we support our own. It wasn’t that bad really.
Get your facts right. Mrs Brown’s boys is a joint venture and Dermot Morgan said in interviews that he never approached RTE with Ted. That is just shit about them refusing it.
Well it would have been strange for dermot morgan to approach rte as he neither wrote or produced it.
I’m just back from the UK and Mrs Browns boys is huge over there, people love it…6 million watched it at Xmas.
Was no-one watching Sky? How is 880,000 48.6% of the total audience? Is this only for the Irish TV channels? I didn’t realize we had 880,000 villages in Ireland.
No wonder ireland is in d state it is wen we r watching such rubbish
If you read the anti Mrs Browns Boys comments in Mrs Browns voice its not too hard figure out where Brendan got Mrs browns character from.
Personally I love the show after I was made watch it. Before I ever watched it when i’d see little bits of it advertised I used to say to myself i’d say thats some muck. Thankfully I was wrong.. Dont know bout the rest of ye, but between 10pm & 10.30pm xmas night I fell around the place laughing.
I watched it too , having thought , no way, BUT I enjoyed it , and even laughed out loud . Hilarious.
Fair play to him. He has stuck with this tranny act for years and it has finally paid off.
Is there any funny sitcoms on BBC at all?think this fares well against the other current BBC sitcoms even ‘life’s too short’ was a bit scrappy.
I’m not a fan of O’Carrols stand up but in interviews he comes across as a genuine funny guy not just a self promoter desperate for a laugh.he obviously knows his target market too
Then again he’s never been cool , I remember a review in hot press slating him when he was doing the Dublin pub circuit back in the 90′s
He’s written books , produced plays & scripted a movie so he must be doing something right , some people can’t get their head around this
Watched mrs brown a couple of times & to my surprise found myself laughing
It’s no Fawlty Towers but it’s not aiming to be, it’s broad smutty humour so what? Don’t like , don’t watch
As I recall prior to Father Ted Morgan was past his best & was basically an impressionist who released unfunny novelty records
I Don’t believe that nearly 1m viewers watched this tripe on xmas night viewing figures being massaged i think. Also Downton Abbey was on and thats not even mentioned in the list
TV in general was crap over Christmas, but no matter how bad, could not resort to watching Brendan O’Carroll!
I have never read such negative comments after a simple story. All the moaning and whinging is shocking! I feel sorry for the family and friends that have to suffer the tripe you people drivel out. I’ve just made my New Years resolution now and its to stay away from whingers and moaners like you people. Away off with you all now and get some anti-depressents or something, or better still, emigrate…
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