Viewers are behind Kielty as host, however.
RTÉ have confirmed that viewing figures for the latest episode of the Late Late Show have dropped once again, marking a worrying trend for the show’s future.
Latest figures reported by RTÉ reveal a further decline in viewership since Patrick Kielty first took to the chair as host, with an average of 432,000 viewers tuned in on Friday night, a drop of 23,000.
The figures are down from the average of 455,000 people who tuned in the week before.
Last week, Kielty’s guests on the show included action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, Liam Brady, Juno Dawson, James Blunt and Tom Allen.
An RTE spokesperson said: ‘Last Friday’s The Late Late Show attracted an average audience of 432,000* across RTÉ One and RTÉ One+1 as well as 31,000 streams on RTÉ Player from Friday to Sunday.’
They also noted that a large number of viewers were tuned in to RTÉ Two’s coverage of the Rugby World Cup as New Zealand took on Argentina, which drew an average audience of 547,000.
The dropping figures mark a worrying trend for RTÉ, despite a bump in viewers for the country music special two weeks ago, for which about 548,000 tuned in.
Well we weren’t expecting THIS ? #latelate @PatricKielty @JCVD pic.twitter.com/wIRFZ6W3H2
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) October 20, 2023
Positive sentiment for Patrick Kielty, despite viewing figure drop
Despite the dropping figures, Kielty himself seems to have a positive sentiment amongst the majority of viewers, who see him as a solid replacement for Ryan Tubridy.
With only a few weeks of shows under his belt, the Down native has already had several special moments on set, including his touching conversation with comedian Rob Delaney and his poignant message about the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: “RTÉ has received no formal complaints since Patrick Kielty took over as host of The Late Late Show. The RTÉ Information Office has received approximately 30 positive calls and 25 emails and 17 negative emails and 10 calls on The Late Late Show since the series return.
“The majority of feedback received has been positive about Patrick Kielty as the new host of the show.”
Coming up in exactly a month, on November 24, is Kielty’s biggest challenge yet as host of the long-running chat show, as he prepares for his first Late Late Toy Show.
Tubridy’s final Toy Show was the most watched TV show of 2022, with 1,532,000 tuning in.
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