Ireland’s Fittest Family beat Tommy Tiernan in the New Year ratings - with over half a million tuning in to the opening episode on Sunday.
With Dancing with the Stars shelved this year due to Covid-19, Ireland's Fittest Family moved into the new primetime slot at the weekend.
A long way away from the glitz and glamour of the popular dance show, Fittest Family sees the toughest families in the country take on some of the most gruelling and physical challenges imaginable.
And the schedule shakeup proved successful with an average of 508,000 tuning in to watch the return of the popular series hosted by Mairead Ronan in the new slot.
The return of The Tommy Tiernan show followed closely behind in the weekend ratings war at the nation broadcaster, with an average of 427,000 tuning in to his first show back of the season Saturday night.
His guests included Andrea Corr and crime journalist Nicola Tallant.
As restrictions heightened and new year plans were halted nationwide, thousands also tuned in for various returning programmes and new documentaries.
The Man Comes Around: Johnny Cash in Ireland pulled in 440,000 viewers to the screen, while ‘Marian’, John Clarke's very moving love letter to his late wife, and legendary RTÉ broadcaster Marian Finucane, received a hugely warm response with an average of 412,000 viewers.
Elsewhere, Fair City drama pulled in 392,000 and The Way We Were, a new archive series pulled in 374,000.
