“Any suggestion that the show is in need of a revamp is ridiculous.”
RTÉ One have categorically rejected suggestions that its flagship programme, The Late Late Show, is in need of a revamp.
RTÉ felt the need to issue a statement on the matter after an article appeared in The Mail on Sunday at the weekend quoting an unnamed source who claimed that The Late Late Show is in “need of a revamp” on foot of figures for the most recent season.
RTÉ have come out fighting in their response to the article, categorically rejecting such suggestions and launching a staunch defence of the audience figures for a programme that Irish people have known for generations.
RTÉ One channel controller Adrian Lynch said: “This has been an extremely successful year for The Late Late Show. It has bucked wider television trends to increase its audience share, maintaining its position as Ireland’s biggest TV show.
“Any suggestion that the show is in need of a revamp is ridiculous. This is a programme that continues to draw the biggest weekly audiences on Irish television and regularly provides the talking point of the weekend for people around the country. We are very happy with how the show has performed over the last year. Any broadcaster would be delighted to have a show like The Late Late Show as their flagship programme, consistently delivering week on week”.
The average audience for the 2015/16 series of The Late Late Show was 583,300 and the average share of the available audience was 42.1 per cent. This compares to an average audience of 599,900 for the 2014/15 series and a share of 41.6 per cent.
Despite the drop in audience figures and audience share, RTÉ claim that The Late Late Show confounded industry trends this year and actually increased its share of the available audience watching television at the time.
“The Late Late Show is a winning formula that viewers continue to embrace wholeheartedly, as clearly demonstrated by the fact that this year the show has increased its share of the available audience,” said Lynch.
“This is a significant feat at a time when viewers can choose from more television channels than ever before and one that the Late Late team should be very proud of”.
“The popularity of The Late Late Show this season shows that people are still hungry for what the programme has to offer,” he added.
“The way people are watching television is changing but we are adapting and evolving to meet that challenge and The Late Late Show is a perfect example of that.”
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
