Page 65 - TAM Review 2019

Genre

Take drama. On RTE, the first 8 episodes of Season 3
of the drama A Handmaid’s tale which started airing

in June were time-shifted to the tune of 54%. In other

words, over half of those watching watched it after it

started broadcasting. In some cases, this may have only
been an hour or two later; certainly, most viewing would

have happened within a day or two. Chernobyl*on Sky

Atlantic was a massive time-shifted hit, where 87.5% was
watched after initial transmission. Interestingly though,

as word of mouth on the show spread and the ratings

grew, episode on episode the % of people watching live
increased.

Looking at another genre-comedy we can see it is also
massively time shifted. Channel 4’s popular Derry Girls

was big time-shifted hit – 82% of Season 2 was watched

after initial transmission. 9
1

Meanwhile sport and programmes such as news, current

affairs and entertainment are much more likely to be

viewed live. 89% of Ireland’s Six Nation matches on
Virgin Media One were viewed live, while 81% of the two

Primetime Investigates episodes (“The ESB Leaks” and

“Greyhounds Running for their Lives”) that aired on RTÉ

One in June were viewed live. It makes sense – people Review 20
have different needs when they’re watching this type

of content and these needs best align themselves with

live viewing or watching events with others as they’re
unfolding.

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