Around 40pc of Irish people now watch less traditional programming or have given up watching it entirely.

new report by ComReg has revealed the impact of streaming services and online content on the audience numbers watching traditional broadcasters.

ComReg said services such as Netflix and Disney+ had now replaced large swathes of Irish television viewing.

The figures, from research carried out by Red C on behalf of the Commission for Communications Regulation, emerged as RTÉ has come under growing pressure to replace falling television advertising revenue.

A total of 12pc of people have stopped watching traditional TV entirely, while only 16pc said they still spend the same amount of time watching it.

The national broadcaster is currently asking staff to take a pay cut, promising that it will be restored in two years when commercial conditions improve. However, the ComReg figures add to growing industry evidence that advertising for traditional television and radio content is likely to continue a long-term decline.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s The Business programme earlier this month, RTÉ director general Dee Forbes was unable to say where additional revenue would come from to honour the station’s pay restoration promise in two years’ time.

In 2019, RTÉ released a document, ‘The Media Landscape in Ireland’, which looked at the changing trends. It said media consumers were faced with an unprecedented choice of content, platforms and devices, creating “a new, radically different and dynamic landscape”.

“Consumer appetite for content any time, any place and anywhere has also placed much greater value on content. The competition for ownership, rights and ultimately control of both the creative and distribution processes will become an even higher-stakes game in the coming years,” the report said.

It said RTÉ, like media organisations across the world, must “adapt significantly and develop an agile approach” to survive and thrive in an environment that will remain in flux for some years to come.

The Red C survey of 1,480 people for ComReg said Netflix now had as many users in Ireland as Sky, with Virgin Media’s TV platform in fourth place behind Saorview.

It also said smart TVs were now twice as prevalent as ‘traditional’ TVs, with greater access to Netflix and other online streaming services now available without subscribing to a traditional TV provider.

The incidence of watching less traditional television programming is consistent across all age groups and is more prevalent outside Dublin, Comreg’s survey suggests.

Meanwhile, almost half of those surveyed said they would benefit from faster broadband services, with those outside Dublin reporting a higher level of interest in getting a faster broadband service.

Some 72pc of people say they are likely to take up a faster broadband service if it becomes available in their area, the Red C research says.

Irish Independent