Opry with Daniel on Tour hits a high note with huge viewership on TG4

TG4 had the highest audience share since 2009 last year. One of the top rated shows on the Irish-language was 'Opry with Daniel' on tour which was broadcast on Tuesday nights. His guests included Lisa McHugh, Johnny Brady, The Tumbling Paddies and many more.

Weekly segments from the show were also popular on social media, with segments viewed a combined 3.6M times on Facebook.

The latest figures show that 3.67 million people, 81% of the population, were watching TG4 at some point in 2023.

The average audience share for the year rose to 2.09%, up from 1.96% in 2022 - and was that is the highest share since the year 2009.

There was also a boom in the audience at prime viewing times that a share of 2.24% was achieved. TG4 retained its position as the seventh most watched channel in Ireland. The channel reached its peak audience share on August 13, the same day as the Senior Women's Football Final and the 2023 Fleadh Cheoil final.

The Allianz Football Final between Galway and Mayo on the GAA Beo program was the highlight of the TG4 program in 2023, and that program was the most watched program of the year. The game averaged 250,200 viewers, achieving a whopping 32.84% audience share. That figure was not much ahead of the TG4 All-Ireland Senior Final in Women's Football between Dublin and Kerry who came second in the year's ranking. The game in which Dublin beat Kerry in the top game averaged 201,800 viewers or a 26.47% share.

Director General of TG4, Alan Esslemont said: “In 2023 TG4 went to the Oscars with The Quiet Girl and we launched a new children's channel, Cúla4. I sincerely thank the TG4 team and the Irish creative sector for their work during 2023. It is clear that the audience's demand for TG4 content, on all platforms, is growing year on year. There is a very important year ahead of the Irish media in 2024 and I hope that the Government and the Media Commission will see that investment in the Irish media, and an increased scale in the Irish media, is worthwhile, beneficial and necessary."