The Grinch beats Blue Lights to the top of Northern Ireland's 'most-watched list' for 2024

According to Ofcom’s latest Media Nations report, people in Northern Ireland watched an average of 4 hours 48 minutes of video content at home per day in 2024, an 18-minute year-on-year increase.

Northern Ireland once again watched the most live broadcast TV of all the nations (2 hours 6 minutes) and was the only nation which had an increase in live viewing.

Individuals in Northern Ireland spent 35 minutes per day on average viewing YouTube across all devices in the home in 2024.

When it comes to what people in Northern Ireland watched on TV last year, the Grinch didn’t just steal Christmas he also stole top spot from local crime drama Blue Lights. Having been the number one watched programme in 2023, Blue Lights again ranked highly but was pipped to the top spot by the animated Christmas comedy.

The Grinch was the most-watched title last year, averaging 637,000 viewers on Netflix on TV sets across the whole year. The BBC took the next two spots, with the season two premiere of Blue Lights averaging 556,000 viewers, followed by Christmas Day’s Gavin & Stacey: The Finale, averaging 478,000.

While Northern Ireland’s most-watched programmes of 2024 were dominated by drama and films, entertainment on UTV also made the top ten, with an episode of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here and The 1% Club ranking fifth and sixth, averaging 384,000 and 367,000 viewers respectively. 

Jonathan Rose, Ofcom’s Northern Ireland Director, said: “People in Northern Ireland are spending more time than ever in front of their screens. Broadcast TV remains popular but streamers like Amazon Prime Video and video-sharing platforms like YouTube are also now a firmly established part of our daily viewing diet.

“Our research also shows the enduring popularity of radio and especially local radio. Listeners in Northern Ireland have a real connection with local voices as well as news and views that reflects what’s happening on their own doorstep.”

Radio continues to reach the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland, with almost nine in ten adults (89.6%) tuning in each week.

Local radio traditionally performs well in Northern Ireland, and this year is no exception. More than six in ten adults (63.9%) listen to local commercial radio at least once a week – higher than in England, Scotland, Wales and the UK as a whole.

Check out Northern Ireland's top 10 most-watched tv shows/films for 2024 👇

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