Thousands of RTE Late Late Show viewers switch off amid complaints over line-up

The TV viewing figures for the RTE Late Late Show took a nosedive last week after a bump from Take That in the previous episode. 

Dara O Briain, Joanne McNally, Marian Keyes, Tara Flynn, Sonia O'Sullivan, Iain Sterling, Jarlath Regan and Ruth Jones were the guests on last Friday night's show but failed to capture a big TV audience.

The show lost over 130,000 viewers last Friday compared to the previous week when boyband Take That were the star attraction, according to figure released by RTE.

An average audience of 395,000 people tuned in last Friday night as opposed to 526,000 who tuned in for the Back For Good hitmakers. 

Last Friday's show was streamed 28,000 times on the RTE Player.

The downturn in viewers comes after some people vented at the guests on the show since Patrick Kielty took the hotseat in September. While his first stint on the Toy Show was a resounding success, the week-to-week shows have been less well received.

Some viewers have suggested the show has failed to attract big international guests this year with only Irish and UK guests taking to the sofa, including a number who also work on or with RTE shows.

Despite that, some viewers are big fans of Kielty and the hit chat show.

One woman took to Twitter on Friday night and said: "I’m a big Late Late show fan and I’ve watched Patrick Kielty since his debut and tonight, he has fully fledged. He’s comfortable, at ease and funny. It’s the first time I’ve seen him being himself and it’s such a wonderful thing to see. Well done Patrick."