There was much jumping up and down in the print media this week over falling TV viewership figures and, while it might make for good headlines, media planners are taking a more measured approach to the decline.
TV viewing figures are down in general, so it is not solely an RTE problem.
MCM has analysed viewing of Friday night chat shows and found that an average of 49 per cent of the TV audience on the island of Ireland is watching either Kelly or The Late Late.
According to Mr Aidan Dunne at MCM: "In the days of a decline in `mass media', being able to reach such a large proportion of the entire combined populations of the Republic and Northern Ireland with two spots is impressive."
The other interesting factor is that once Kelly finishes at 11 p.m., The Late Late's share of total viewing increases.
