THE television industry rating system run by A.C. Neilson has confirmed that Teilifis na Gaeilge has significantly increased its audience and that 500,000 are watching the Irish language channel on a weekly, or more regular, basis.
TnaG and Radio Ireland are the two major media developments of the past 12 months and both have been dogged by problems of attracting audience.
However, TnaG has, for the first time since it was launched on Halloween last year, shown an increase. Between February and May the audience has doubled from 250,000 to 500,000, according to independent research undertaken by Lansdowne Market Research.
A.C. Nielsen confirmed that it has been able to measure similar audience interest in the station. A spokeswoman said the station often attracted a rating of five for programmes such as All Ireland Gold, which would be the equivalent of the lower ratings achieved by Network 2.
Accurate ratings for TnaG are still problematic because of technical difficulties, since it has not yet overcome the problems of being received nationwide. Only 68 per cent of the national audience of 3.312 million now receives TnaG, which is an improvement on the position when the station was launched.
The station's Ceannasai, Mr Cathal Goan, says he is "heartened by the latest figures and I am confident that they will continue to grow and consolidate over the next few months".
News stories that TnaG was not figuring on the measuring system were not accurate, the Nielsen spokeswoman said.