‘Late Late Toy Show’ is Ireland’s most watched programme

Toy Show fills top six slots in Ireland’s 50 most-watched programmes of all time

A programme about toys presented by a man wearing a silly jumper topped the list of Ireland’s most-watched programmes in 2014.

The Late Late Toy Show once again claimed the top spot with an average audience of 1,594,000.

Our love of cuddly toys, super-soakers and performing children is not a mere flash in the pan as the Toy Show has also become Ireland’s most-watched TV programme this century.

In fact, the Late Late Toy Show fills the top six slots in Ireland's 50 most-watched programmes of all time.

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We are not all sweetness and light, though.

The second most-watched programme last year was the dramatic end to Love/Hate series five. Some 1,150,000 viewers tuned in to see Patrick Ward catch up with Nidge.

And proving there is longevity to be found in gangland, at least on the small screen, this Love/Hate episode was also the 11th most-watched programme on Irish television this century.

Amber, the four-part Dublin-based missing-person drama was the fourth most-watched programme on Irish television last year.

Aside from toys and crime, Irish TV watchers continue to love their sport.

Ireland's win over France to win the RBS Six Nations, in Paris on March 15th, was the third most popular programme among Irish TV viewers last year.

Brian O'Driscoll hanging up his boots for Ireland was a piece of history we all wanted to see. We had to pay witness. And we did - all 891,000 of us.

Proving that we are an ecumenical sporting nation, the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina on RTÉ2 on Sunday, July 13th was the fifth most-watched TV programme in 2014.

And the All-Ireland Senior Football and Hurling Championship finals were the seventh and eighth most-watched programmes. The lovely ladies of Ireland and elsewhere got a look in too.

Some 697,000 viewers tuned in this August to watch that famous female sporting contest know as the Rose Of Tralee.

Those viewers watched winner Maria Walsh smash stereotypes. She later shared with us the fact that she is a lesbian.

So what we watch may look the same, but the times are definitely a changin’.

Brendan O'Carroll showed he is as loved at home as he is abroad as Mrs Brown's Boys topped off a humdinging 2014 with two end-of-year programmes making the top 10 most-watched.

Our TV preferences also confirm that we are indeed a musical nation.

The Late Late Show made a second appearance in the Top 20 with its Eurosong special and one place ahead, in 12th spot, were the blind auditions for The Voice of Ireland.

We also remain a nation of news junkies.

RTÉ One's Nine O'Clock News and Six-One News bulletins were the 10th and 20th most-watched programmes of 2014. These featured the Ukraine and the weather, if you want to know.

The rankings are based on TAM Ireland Ltd/Nielsen TAM ratings. Television shows of at least 15 minutes duration broadcast between January 1st, and December 31st, 2014 on any television channel available in Ireland were assessed for the ranking.

Anthea McTeirnan

Anthea McTeirnan

Anthea McTeirnan is an Irish Times journalist