It started out on a high with over 323,000 people tuning in – but now only half the original audience is watching TV3’s soap Red Rock.
Goss.ie can exclusively reveal that the Garda station based drama has been losing viewers consistently since it’s launch last month.
While the show got off to a great start, by week three the soap was only getting an average of 162,000 viewers per episode.
In figures seen by Goss.ie, five weeks in Red Rock then lost a further 40,000 viewers, with 129,000 people tuning in.
Drama: Red Rock has been praised for their high production values | TV3
This week there was a slight increase with 147,000 people watching Wednesday night’s episode.
The new figures show that the soap is in no competition with RTE’s soap Fair City, as they average 500,000 viewers per episode.
The series has been focused on feuding families the Hennessey’s and the Kielys.
Starring Game of Thrones actress Jane McGrath and Love/Hate star Denise McCormack the series has been praised for it’s high production value.
Competition: UTV Ireland have secured three million new viewers | VIPIRELAND.COM
It comes after the news that UTV Ireland is now the second most watched channel in the country in prime time programming.
The new channel has brought over three million new viewers with soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street topping the ratings.
Speaking to Goss.ie the creator of Red Rock, Peter McKenna, said he was happy with the ratings so far.
“We’re delighted and heartened by the reaction we have received from not just the general public, but the media and the reviewers.
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“People recognise that Red Rock is a modern Irish drama, and that the quality of writing, acting and direction has raised the bar for soap in Ireland.
“We are humbled that the viewers are embracing it. And look forward to building on the loyal audience we already have,” he added.
A spokesperson for TV3 added that while the ratings have gone down, the broadcaster is happy with the overall reaction to the soap.
“The consolidated audience of ‘Red Rock’ is 250k which is a brilliant result. Consolidated is the sum of the live viewing plus viewing recorded and played back and viewed within 7 days.
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“The reason this is important is because we are noticing an unusually high number are watching on play back and on record. They are all viewers, just different ways of viewing.
“Red Rock has now established itself, with last night’s ep the highest Thursday night for three weeks, so after initial flurry audience has settled down and is building.
“The pattern is exactly as we predicted. Launching at a high number, dipping and settling.
“To date, 1.3million Individuals have tuned in to Red Rock or approximately 29.8% of the viewing population,” the spokesperson told Goss.ie.
