The Rose of Tralee on RTÉ One was the most-watched programme on any channel available in Ireland so far this year. A peak of over one million viewers saw London Rose Clare Kambamettu crowned the 52nd Rose of Tralee on Tuesday, August 26th. Hosted for the first time by a native Kerry-man in the shape of Dáithi O’Sé, the two day event was watched by an average of 916,300 people.
1,074,500 audience members bore witness to Clare being announced as the winner of this year’s Rose of Tralee competition. The 26 year old assistant research psychologist grew up in Athy, Co Kildare and now works at King’s University in London. Clare’s win has made history as it is the first time two Rose centres have won the contest back to back – the London Rose Charmaine Kenny having won the contest last year.
An average 916,300 viewers watched the final show after RTÉ's Nine O'Clock News on Tuesday night, the highest number in over a decade, and 172,300 viewers more than 2009's final show. Furthermore the RTÉ player has recorded 11,300 streams in total for the two shows online.
RTÉ Executive Producer for Entertainment programming and Executive Producer of this year's Rose of Tralee televised show Justin Healy said of the figures: "We are thrilled with this year's viewing figures, the figures after the Nine O'Clock News on Tuesday night represented the highest share in over a decade.
"Dáithí O Sé really put his own stamp on proceedings in his first year as the host of the Rose of Tralee and the exceptional figures are testament to this. We'd like to thank him for his professionalism and enthusiasm.
"He's a pleasure to work with and it's easy to see why all the Roses felt so at ease on stage with him. RTÉ have been broadcasting the festival for decades and in these recessionary times it's great to be able to bring a little bit of glamour and fun into people's homes."
* AGB Nielsen Media Research is the source for all TV ratings data.
