“TO WHOM it concerns, it’s the Late Late Show,” was how RTÉ’s flagship talk show has traditionally been introduced, and on Friday night for its 50th anniversary the show “concerned” almost 1.6 million people – making it the most watched show on RTÉ so far this year.
The Late Late Show 50th Anniversary Special, which aired on Friday, June 1st, saw current host Ryan Tubridy and past hosts Gay Byrne and Pat Kenny welcome back some of the show’s most well-known guests.
An average of 1,011,000 viewers, or a 69 per cent audience share, watched The Late Late Show 50th Anniversary Special over the duration of the entire programme, while 1,608,000 million viewers tuned in at some stage over the course of the two-hour show.
Guests on the night included Bono, Sinéad O’Connor, Liam Neeson, Pat Shortt, Twink, Brenda Fricker, Imelda May, Horslips, Tommy Tiernan and Daniel O’Donnell.
Host Ryan Tubridy said he was “absolutely delighted” with the figures and gave his thanks to “everyone who worked tirelessly behind the scenes putting the show together”.
The second most watched show so far in 2012 is Mrs Brown’s Boys, with an average viewership figure of 846,000 and 46.3 per cent audience share.