RTÉ Television's coverage of Jedward at the Eurovision Song Contest Final was the most-watched programme on Irish television so far this year, with another 47 out of the Top 50 programmes also shown on RTÉ.
Based on figures from Nielsen Television Audience Measurement*, Jedward at the Eurovision Song Contest Final had 1.18 million viewers on average**.
The Frontline Leaders' Debate on February 14 was the second most-watched programme in the Top 50, with an average audience of 965,000 tuning in to see the leaders of the five main parties address the nation before the general election.
Mrs Brown's Boys on February 5 was the third most-watched programme with 924,000 viewers.
Prime Time's three-person Leaders' Debate on February 22 attracted 807,000; while RTÉ's election results coverage on February 26 had an average of 684,000 viewers.
The visits in May by Queen Elizabeth II and US President Barack Obama drew an average audience of 710,000 and 664,000 respectively.
The most viewed sporting event of the year to date was Ireland v England in the Six Nations, with an average of 690,000 viewers on RTÉ Two.
Glen Killane, MD, RTÉ Television, said: "The most-watched programmes are about historic moments in time, from Queen Elizabeth II at the Garden of Remembrance and the Áras, US President Obama at College Green, the 2011 election and Jedward doing us proud at Eurovision.
"RTÉ is proud to bring these culturally-defining events, capturing and reflecting the mood of the nation, to the nation. That 44 out of these 48 RTÉ programmes are home-produced demonstrates the public’s appetite for quality home production.
"RTÉ Television is continuing to perform very strongly in the face of ever-increasing competition and choice and we look forward to announcing our line-up of new programming for the new season next week."
* Source: Nielsen Television Audience Measurement. Ranking is based on best episode of shows/series of 15+ minutes duration broadcast between January 1 2011 and June 30 2011, on any television channel available in Ireland. Data is ranked by TVR, is Consolidated and based on Individuals 4+.
** Average Viewership/Audience: The average number of viewers across a programme (or specified duration of time), expressed in 000s.
