Miriam O'Callaghan is delighted with the viewership figures on the new season of ‘Saturday Night with Miriam’ which launched last Saturday.
The 'Prime Time' presenter said: "We just got our figures, 41% [audience share] and over 520,000 viewers, it's sensational, it is amazing.”
The presenter has said before that she believes Irish audiences want to hear stories from Irish people: "I do believe that and Gay Byrne always said that and he's the guru.”
Talking about how she felt Saturday night's programme went, she said: "I was slightly worried because I was so relaxed. It's not that I'm not aware it's live television, so I'd still have that slight edge of terror but I just find it very easy at this stage, so I just enjoy myself and I think it works.
“It's like, as someone said, it's eavesdropping on a nice conversation. It's less formal, I can't put my finger on it but it works, thank God.”
She added: "The producers who work with me, like Larry Masterson, who have worked with loads of people, would tell you that people do things their own way.
"The one thing that I think works, I don't use notes and I think it makes a difference because sometimes if you're interviewing someone and you've done your pre questions then they might say something interesting but I'm thinking I should be going to my next question.
"So we structure it the same way but then I abandon them, I put it all in my head and I bring no papers into studio with me.
"I'm a swat, I learn it all, I know it all and I have a photographic memory so it's the one thing that helped me in my Leaving Cert - I'm thinking of my twins, who are doing the Leaving Cert at the moment."
She added: "It's not like I'm pretending that I swan in and everything's off the top of my head, I have it all structured and I know everything about the person in front of me and the team have given me all the questions but what I don't do is stick to it. I have the information but I go where they [the interviewee] takes me."
'Saturday Night with Miriam' is on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.
