According to the latest Media Consumption Report from Core, Ireland’s largest marketing communications company, streaming levels in the third quarter (July to September) of 2021 grew by 20% year-on-year with RTÉ, All 4 and Virgin Media Players all showing significant growth.
The report also revealed that Virgin Media Player in particular saw a significant growth of 386% year-on-year driven by the re-introduction of the reality TV show Love Island. This accounted for over 60% of their streams in Q3.
- Video streaming levels increased in Q3 with a 20% growth year-on-year. Virgin Media Player, in particular, saw the benefit of Love Island returning to the Irish schedule
- The All-Ireland Football final was the most-watched programme from January – September 2021, attracting over 877,000 viewers
- A new report from the JNLR show's radio is in a healthy position in 2021 with 3,171,000 listeners tuning in on a daily basis.
The number one streamed show across the below four players in Q3 in Ireland include:
- RTÉ Player – Home and Away
- Virgin Media Player – Love Island
- All 4 – Married at first Sight
- Sky On Demand - Manifest
Cinema admissions remained strong throughout July to September with 2.3 million* admissions recorded during Q3. A strong release schedule means that this growth is forecast to continue for the remainder of the year
On TV, RTÉ and Virgin Media both lead the top programmes for the period Jan-Sep 2021. Live sport dominated the Top 10 programmes with The Six Nations, Euro 2020 and the All-Ireland GAA finals. The All-Ireland Football final attracted over 877,000 viewers. In comparison, last year’s final which was held in December attracted a lower viewership of 797,000.
RTÉ’s new drama series Kin has had a strong start with an average viewership of 650,000 over the first four episodes. This compares favourably with the first four episodes of Love/Hate which had an average viewership of 445,000.
The online conversation around COVID-19 significantly dropped in Q3 according to the Media Consumption Report from Core, however, there were still some concerns witnessed during late August as schools returned. Meanwhile, online searches were more varied with major sporting events and personalities featuring some of the most researched items including Kellie Harrington at the Olympic Games, The Ryder Cup, and Ronaldo getting re-signed by Manchester United at the end of August. There was also a search spike in August when news broke of the death of comedian and well-loved TV star Sean Locks name who died of cancer.
Speaking about these findings, Colm Sherwin, Managing Director, Core Investment:
“This latest report has revealed interesting insights into how the Irish public has consumed media over such a unique time in Irish history. While streaming has clearly been a dominant form of viewership for Irish consumers, it’s great to see the more traditional mediums such as radio and cinema continue to do well and remain popular among the Irish public.”
To register to receive the full report, please visit onecore.ie/intel
