A peak of nearly nine hundred thousand (892,000)* viewers tuned in to RTÉ One at 11:14pm last night to watch a visibly stunned Luxembourg Rose Nicola McEvoy crowned as the 54th Rose of Tralee. Nicola, a 26-year-old History, Human Science and Geography teacher, was born and raised in Cork, but now resides in Luxembourg. On the first night Nicola wowed judges, audience and viewers alike with her beautiful rendition of La Vie En Rose and of course the three continental kisses with host Dáithí Ó Sé!
Rose of Tralee 2012 winner Nicola McEvoy said “I really never expected to hear Dáithí call my name. I was so thrilled and tears started to roll. It was very emotional when I saw my parents and boyfriend. It’s such an honour to represent the Roses and Festival as the 2012 Rose of Tralee”
Rose of Tralee host said Dáithí Ó Sé ” I’m delighted for Nicola, she is such a lady and her warmth and kindness really shone through. She was shocked when her name was announced, which shows what a humble person she is. She will be a great ambassador for the Rose of Tralee”
An average of 688,500** viewers watched the final show after RTÉ’s Nine O’Clock News. The share was 45% and the show had a reach of 1.3 million viewers.***
32 Roses took to the stage over the course of two nights and audience and viewers alike were entertained with salsa and line dancing, magic tricks, gymnastics and bag piping! Host Dáithí also kept the Roses on their toes with his witty repertoire, jokes, bushy eyebrows and his hilarious attempt at having a ‘high heel competition’ with Denver Rose.
The Rose of Tralee Festival was also streamed live and made available on demand on the RTÉ Player. A total of 80,000 streams have been recorded to date, with 25% of this being from the live online simulcasts on both nights. There was also a large amount of international interest in the festival, with 47% of the streams delivered outside of Ireland.
RTÉ executive producer for Entertainment programming and executive producer of this year’s Rose of Tralee show Justin Healy said, “We are delighted with this year’s viewing figures and The Rose of Tralee proves yet again to be a big hit with viewers. As always the consummate professional Dáithí Ó Sé’s energetic and fun personality made the live event much easier for the Roses. I wish the newly crowned Rose of Tralee Nicola McEvoy all the best in her new role”
Date: Wednesday 22 August, 2012
Contact: Sinead Harrington, RTÉ TV Press and Publicity, (01) 208 2787/087 666 9311 sinead.harrington@rte.ie
Note to Editors
Source: TAM Ireland Ltd/ Nielsen TAM, Live plus VOSDAL data, National Individuals
*peak-minute audience of 892,000 viewers recorded at 11.14 p.m.
**average audience – The average number of viewers across a programme or series, expressed in 000s. TV viewing is measured minute-by-minute, so the average audience is the average across all of these minutes
*** Reach – the net number or percentage of people who have seen a particular piece of broadcast output. The TAM Ireland definition is 1+ minute