RTÉ One’s Big Week on the Farm was a hit with viewers with 1.5 million people* tuning in across a week of live shows broadcast from a farm in the Midlands.

The show had an average audience** of 326,000, up 17 per cent on RTÉ One’s typical average viewership for the slot. The programme achieved an average share*** of 26 per cent, a 27 per cent increase on the slot average.

Big Week on the Farm, presented by Áine Lawlor and Ella McSweeney, was broadcast live every night at 7pm from John Fagan’s farm on the shores of Lough Derravaragh in Co Westmeath. The show aimed to give viewers a real insight into the activity at farms across Ireland as spring brought them to life.

Over the course of the week, 60 lambs were born on Fagan’s farm, including a live birth with Ella McSweeney lending a hand. Country music star Nathan Carter also played mid-wife to twin lambs when he co-hosted the show. Throughout the week viewers were shown the secret lives of pigs, horses, hens, goats and cows. There were also stunning wildlife films on frogs, swans, swallow murmurations and badgers.