Doireann Ní Ghlacáin, Peadar Ó Goill, Maggie Carthy and Daithí Ó Sé at the Joe Dolan statue.

Fleadh 2022 a huge hit with TG4 viewers

The coverage of the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar was one of TG4's most viewed series of programmes last year and helped the station recorded its highest audience figures in over a decade.

TG4 broadcast live from the Fleadh each night from Friday August 5 to Sunday August 7 for ninety minutes each day. Presenters Daithí Ó Sé and Doireann Ní Ghlacáin were joined by Peadar Ó Goill and Maggie Carthy and the cream of Irish musical talent including Martin Hayes, John Francis Flynn, Inni-K, Anúna, Liz Carroll, At The Racket, Kila, 3 On The Bund, and more.

Fleadh 2022 was the most watched Fleadh Cheoil on TG4 since 2017, and one of the most successful series since TG4 began broadcasting from Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2013. TG4 broadcast over eleven hours in total from Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann this year including four programmes from the provincial finals in July.

The Fleadh 2022 series was watched by 413,000 people over the weekend on TG4. Sunday night’s show August 9th was the most watched programme, with a share of 9% of the viewing audience, and average viewership of 76,200 viewers.

Overall, TG4’s average audience share increased to 1.96% in 2022, the highest share the channel has had since 2011. Its share in 2021 was 1.89%. 3.654m people or 82% of the population watched TG4 at some point during 2022. The primetime share for 2022 was 2.15%, the highest primetime share since 2010. In 2021, the primetime viewing share was 2.05%.

December was the best month overall for TG4 with an average share of 2.22%. The highest overall day share was July 31st at 9.6% when the TG4 Ladies Football final aired. The largest reach was on St. Stephen’s Day at 858,000.

Live sports dominated the most watched programmes for the year. The Allianz Football Final between Kerry and Mayo on GAA Beo was the most watched programme of the year. 468,000 people watched Kerry win the final against Mayo, and the game had an average audience of 228,000 people and a share of 30.2%. The TG4 Ladies Football Final between Meath and Kerry was the second most watched programme in 2022. Peil na mBan Beo had an average audience of 206,000 and a share of 30.3%.

Daniel O’Donnell’s tribute do Joe Dolan Opry le Daniel – Ómós Joe Dolan was watched by 225,000 people and an average audience of 96,000. The most watched documentary of 2022 was Dessie: Glór na Bó Finne about Inishboffin singer Dessie O’Halloran. It was watched by 126,000 and an average audience of 86,000 viewers.

A new entertainment series Contractors profiling farming contractors who help farmers during the busiest period in the farming calendar between April and September was very popular at the start of the year. The most watched episode of the series was on 7th April which was watched by an average of 75,000 people. Contractors was the most watched programme on the TG4 player in 2022, with three programmes from the series in the top five for the year.

Hector's new travel series from Istanbul to Riga, Hector - Balkans to Baltics, was very successful. The programme in Bulgaria on November 3rd was the most watched of the series with an average audience of 70,000 viewers.

There were over 3.3 million views on TG4 Player last year between live and VoD views, an 11% increase on 2021. The u17 match between Galway and Tipperary on June 19th was the most watched live broadcast. As well as the three Contractors programmes, two programmes from the Laochra Gael series Antrim hurley Terence McNaughton and Dublin footballer Michael Darragh McAuley were featured in the top five VoD programmes on the player.

Video Views on TG4’s social media channels increased massively from 58m in 2021 to 132m in 2022.