Viewing figures increase for All-Ireland semi-finals

Viewership on RTE for the All-Ireland senior football championship semi-finals has increased from last year despite a meagre 33,848 attending the Kerry and Tyrone game on Sunday.

545,600 tuned in for the match on Sunday while 688,700 watched the Dublin and Mayo sellout at Croke Park on Saturday. The viewership is up from last year when 449,000 tuned into Dublin's hammering of Galway while 447,000 watched Tyrone's narrow win over Monaghan at Croke Park. https://twitter.com/RTEsport/status/1160921812529831937 However, while this year's figures are an improvement on last year's numbers, they still trail the 2017 semi-finals when Kerry and Mayo boasted an average audience of 729, 600 while Dublin and Tyrone carried an average audience of 663, 400 viewers. The 2017 All-Ireland semi-finals were held over consecutive weekends with Kerry and Mayo playing on the weekend of August 20th, with their replay held on the 26th of August, while Dublin played Tyrone on August 27th. This year's semi-finals coincided with the opening weekend of the Premier League with the Dublin and Mayo game clashing with Tottenham's home opener with Aston Villa, while the Kerry and Tyrone game overlapped with Arsenal's trip to Newcastle and Manchester United's home opener with Chelsea. For comparison here are some of the most watched sports broadcasts of 2018 with only two GAA entries making the top 10 in a World Cup year and a spring where Ireland won the Grand Slam.

TOP SPORTS BROADCASTS 2018

1.     England v Ireland Six Nations, 17th Match, 975,600 [Virgin Media 1]

2.     Ireland v New Zealand, 17th Nov, 926,600 RTÉ2]

3.     Croatia v England, World Cup semi-final, 11th July, 924,400 RTÉ2]

4.     Limerick v Galway, All-Ireland (H) final, 19th August, 854,400 RTÉ2]

5.     Dublin v Tyrone, All-Ireland (F) final, 2nd September, 841,100 RTÉ2]

6.     Ireland v Scotland, Six Nations, 10th March, 729,400 [Virgin Media 1]

7.     Ireland v Wales, Six Nations, 24th February, 663,300 [Virgin Media 1]

8.     France v Croatia, Fifa World Cup final, 15th July, 654,400 RTÉ2]

9.     England v Colombia, Fifa World Cup, 3rd July, 638,600 [RTÉ2]

10.    France v Belgium, Fifa World Cup, 10th July, 612,400 [RTÉ2]