RTÉ HAS HIT back at a suggestion that the Late Late Show is in need of a revamp.
The comes on foot of a story in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday which ran under the headline: ‘It’s the Late Late low…’.
The article outlined a decline in viewership figures for the programme, and quoted a senior editorial source from within RTÉ as saying that an overhaul was on the agenda for new director general Dee Forbes.
Reacting today, a spokesperson for RTÉ One has stated that it “categorically rejects any suggestion that The Late Late Show is in need of a revamp”.
Commenting on the article, the channel’s controller Adrian Lynch said:
This has been an extremely successful year for The Late Late Show. It has bucked wider television trends to increase its audience share, maintaining its position as Ireland’s biggest TV show.
He went on to call any suggestions that the show is in need of a revamp “ridiculous”.
This is a programme that continues to draw the biggest weekly audiences on Irish television and regularly provides the talking point of the weekend for people around the country.
The broadcaster acknowledged that there had been a drop in the consolidated viewing figures – which factor in those that record the programme and watch it back – but attributed this drop to more people watching online and also noted that it had increased its overall market share.
RTÉ has said that average viewership for the past season was 583,300, a 42.1% market share, compared with 599,900 for the 2014/2015 season, which worked out at 41.6%.
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