Rose TV viewing figures are wilting

SPORT AND MRS BROWN’S BOYS KNOCK PAGEANT FROM MOST WATCHED LIST

FOR the second year in-a-row The Rose of Tralee has failed to feature on the list of Ireland’s most watched TV shows.

Last week TV ratings agency TAM Ireland published its annual list of the most watched Irish programmes from the previous year.

While in previous years The Rose of Tralee has been a staple on the list – once reaching third place overall – for the last two years the world famous pageant hasn’t featured at all.

While The Rose of Tralee still draws a huge TV audience, it is losing viewers in large numbers and last year’s pageant attracted its smallest TV audience in 10 years.

From a peak of 916,000 in 2010, The Rose of Tralee has now lost almost a third (32.6 per cent) of its TV audience.

RTÉ point to increased online viewing of the pageant the audience is still far below its peak levels. According to RTÉ 115,000 people watched The Rose of Tralee on streams last August.

That figure combined with the average viewing figure of 618,000 is still 183,000 below the peak in 2010.

While some critics have attributed The Rose’s lunging viewer numbers on changing attitudes and the pageant’s supposedly outdated format there may be another factors at play.

Last year, the top 20 was dominated by sports with the European Championships; the All Ireland finals and rugby accounting for 12 of the top 20 most watched Irish broadcasts.

In fact The Late Late Toy Show was the only non sports programme in the top 10.

With no major sporting tournaments taking place in 2017 and provided it can win back some viewers – 12,000 to 15,000 would suffice – its possible the Rose can regain its place among Ireland’s favourite programmes next August.

The Rose was just 12,000 viewers short of a Top 20 place last year, so that is possible.

While sport was undoubtedly a factor in the Rose’s poor showing in the Top 20 last year, it wasn’t the only cause and RTE’s Rose broadcast producers now have much to consider.

For example, aside from sport, the Rose was also eclipsed by three episodes of Mrs Brown’s Boys and a episode of Room To Improve.