100,000 people switch off RTE Late Late Show for one major reason after mixed reviews

The RTE Late Late Show lost almost 100,000 viewers last Friday night amid a huge ratings drop, but there may be a very simple explanation. 

Angela Scanlon, Dara Ó Briain and Joe Canning were among the guests for the show on Friday night with the latest episode receiving mixed reviews from viewers. 

One described it as "utter rubbish" while another hailed Patrick Kielty as "100 times better than Tubridy." However, the show still lost a lot of viewers compared to the previous week but that was the country music special, a nationwide hit with viewers for the last few years.

Figures released by RTE show that 91,000 fewer people tuned in to watch the likes of Joe Canning compared to those who switched on to see Daniel O'Donnell, Margo and Mike Denver strut their stuff on the famous stage.

476,000 on average tuned during the country music special on October 4 but just 385,000 people watched last Friday night's installment of the long-running chat show. 35,000 people watched the latest episode on the RTE Player.

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The Late Late has seen mixed viewership figures since its return to screens last month. The first episode of the new series saw more than 440,000 people tune in.

The second episode had an average audience of 399,000 viewers, followed by 368,000 in week three before the bumper week with the country special. Bosses will be hoping for a boost as the series goes on, particularly with the famous Late Late Toy Show which airs on Friday, December 6.