Oprah, Megan and Harry help RTÉ2 but Audience Share Remains Low
Oprah's interview with the young British royals achieved the most watched programme on Irish TV with 836,500 viewers tuning into see the couple talk about life after royalty. Along with World Cup Qualifiers it helped RTÉ2 increase its audience share by 33%, however RTÉ2 only achieved a 5% share of the audience across the month. Overall RTÉ saw 3% increase month on month but a 10% decrease year on year. Virgin Media Television's coverage of the Six Nations continued in March giving them no monthly change but a 27% increase year on year. Overall RTÉ held 27% of the audience, while Virgin Media Television had 21%.
TG4 had an audience share of 2%.
RTÉ ONE saw a monthly decrease in audience of 2%, it had an audience share of 20%, down 18% from March last year.
RTÉ2 saw its share increase 33% from last month, achieving just a 5% share, it was up by 40% from March 2020.
RTÉ ONE +1 and RTÉjr had 1.14% and 0.42% respectively. RTÉ2 +1 had 0.23% in March.
Virgin Media one's audience share was 14% in March, a drop of 4% from February, and a 19% increase year on year.
Virgin Media TWO has a 4% share, up 14% from last month and up 25% from March 2020.
Meanwhile, Virgin Media THREE was at 3%, up 4% from February and up 101% from March 2020. Virgin Media one +1 had an audience share of 0.28%.
eirSport1 saw its audience increase to 0.2%, while Virgin Media Sport had just 0.09%.
English channels had a 50% share of the audience in March 2021.
| Channel | March 2021 | Monthly Change | Yearly Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTÉ ONE | 19.64% | -2% | -18% |
| RTÉ ONE +1 | 1.14% | 3% | -12% |
| RTÉjr | 0.42% | -2% | 40% |
| RTÉ2 | 5.21% | 33% | 40% |
| RTÉ2 +1 | 0.23% | 10% | 28% |
| RTÉ Total | 26.64% | 3% | -10% |
| VMT one | 13.82% | -4% | 19% |
| VMT one +1 | 0.28% | -20% | -24% |
| VMT TWO | 3.93% | 14% | 25% |
| VMT THREE | 3.04% | 4% | 101% |
| VMT SPORT | 0.09% | 29% | n/a |
| VMT Total | 21.16% | 0% | 27% |
| TG4 | 1.91% | 31% | 14% |
| eir Sport 1 | 0.20% | 67% | 122% |
| Total | 49.91% | 3% | 4% |
| Other | 50.09% | -3% | -4% |
| Company | Mar | Feb | Jan |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTÉ | 26.64% | 25.78% | 26.52% |
| Virgin Media TV | 21.16% | 21.20% | 16.82% |
| Sky | 6.52% | 6.46% | 7.28% |
| BBC | 5.58% | 5.87% | 6.32% |
| Channel 4 | 4.07% | 4.05% | 4.52% |
| Viacom | 3.42% | 3.29% | 3.20% |
| UKTV | 2.32% | 2.51% | 2.67% |
| Discovery | 2.21% | 1.59% | 1.57% |
| TG4 | 1.91% | 1.46% | 1.78% |
| Eir Sport | 0.20% | 0.12% | 0.25% |
| Other | 25.97% | 27.68% | 29.07% |
Full list of channels by broadcaster
BBC includes BBC1 and BBC2
Channel 4 includes Channel 4, Channel 4 +1, More4, E4, E4 +1 and Film4
Viacom includes Comedy Central, Comedy Central Extra, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Nicktoons, Nick Jr Too, CBS Reality, CBS Justice and CBS Drama
Sky includes Sky Comedy, Sky 1, Sky Replay, Sky News, Sky Sport Main Event, Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Golf, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports News, Sky Witness, Sky Atlantic, Sky Documentry, Pick and Challenge
Discovery includes HGTV, Quest Red, DMAX, TLC, Discovery, Discovery ID, Really and Food Network
UKTV includes Dave, Gold, Alibi, W and Drama
Others includes E! and RTÉ News, and any other channels not mentioned above.