Increase in television viewership of ladies' All Ireland finals on TG4

There was an increase in the television viewership for this year's ladies All Ireland football finals, including Westmeath's comprehensive defeat of Wexford in the intermediate decider.

Just under 600,000 people tuned in to TG4's coverage of the All Ireland ladies' finals at senior, intermediate and junior level yesterday (Sunday), according to official TAM Ireland figures.

An average audience of 226,600 people watched the live broadcast of the senior final between Meath and Dublin; which represented a rise of over 50,000 from last year's senior final played shortly before Christmas.

The match took a 30% share of viewing among individuals, making TG4 comfortably the most popular channel in Ireland yesterday afternoon, according to a statement on behalf of the Irish-language channel.

The viewership peaked at 5.36pm, with 347,400 viewers, as Meath won the Brendan Martin Cup for the first time on a historic day for Ladies Football.

"TG4 is extremely proud of another successful year of the TG4 Ladies Football Championship," said the station's Director General Alan Esslemont.

"TG4's 21-year partnership with Ladies Football is going from strength to strength.

"It is wonderful to see the support for ladies football across all sectors of society as evident by those who turned up in Croke Park yesterday and the viewers watching the matches on TG4 and across all of TG4’s broadcast platforms, and the TG4 Player, both at home and abroad.

"TG4 continues to lead the way, ensuring that women’s sport is front and centre for television audiences. Congratulations to Meath, Westmeath and Wicklow on their wins yesterday," he added.