UTV Ireland claim that their entertainment show, The Pulse, has beaten their rival, TV3’s Xposé, in the ratings war after just two weeks on air. TV3, however, deny that the comparison is fair, as The Pulse goes out at a different time, when far more people in Ireland are watching TV.
Just like Xposé, The Pulse deals with all the top entertainment news, movie reviews, interviews and fashion, however despite covering similar topics, UTV Ireland claim their show is drawing a bigger crowd. The show which launched on January 22 attracted an audience of 87,000 people, compared to Xposé’s 54,800 viewers on the same day.
Similarly, host Jenny Buckley drew another huge crowd for the second episode last Friday evening, as 93,000 people chose to watch The Pulse, whereas only 61,700 tuned into the TV3 entertainment show.
Speaking about the great accomplishment, Jenny told The Herald, “The series offers a fresh alternative to entertainment news reporting for people of all ages, so we are delighted to see strong audiences for the first two programmes.We will be introducing new elements as the series continues and we also have some exciting plans for The Oscars at the end of the month.”
TV3 have been quick to hit back, however, pointing out some important details which UTV Ireland seem to have overlooked. Firstly, The Pulse airs at 8pm, at a time when 27% more people are watching television than the 6pm slot which Xposé has. Secondly, TV3 says that the “daily reach” of their show at 185,000 viewers is larger than that of The Pulse (179,000). Also of significance is that The Pulse has the advantage of being aired straight after Coronation Street on UTV Ireland, so has a huge audience already tuned into the station, something which TV3’s rival does not benefit from.
One thing is sure, however, UTV Ireland’s new show has ruffled some feathers in Ballymount, and we suspect there’ll be blood on the red carpet before this is over!
