More than one million viewers tuned in to the first episode of the Irish Who Wants to be a Millionaire? broadcast on RTE1 on Tuesday night.
Although the £1 million jackpot eluded the show's first contestants, the first half of the programme was watched by 1,220,000 people, with latecomers bringing the figure up to 1,277,000 for the second half, RTE announced yesterday.
RTE said that 73 per cent of those watching television at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday had tuned in to watch Gay Byrne put his questions to the first contestant, Mr Des O'Connor, a teacher from Celbridge.
RTE's director of television, Mr Cathal Goan, expressed delight with the success of the first programme. He said that despite the rigid format of the show, "the range of questions has given an extra Irish dimension to this international television phenomenon and Gay Byrne has firmly stamped his own personality on it".
Speaking on Radio 1's Liveline yesterday afternoon, Gay Byrne said that although he was pleased with the first show, he thought the series was unlikely to maintain the same viewing figures throughout its run.
