The number of viewers turning to their telly to watch the Nine O'Clock News on RTE soared when the broadcaster plunged into crisis.
The national broadcaster has been engulfed in controversy since it emerged that it under-reported the salary paid to Ryan Tubridy and failed to disclose 345,000 euro of additional payments to him between 2017 and 2022.
The furore has since widened amid further disclosures about RTE's internal financial, accounting and governance practices.
READ MORE: 'As Ryan Tubridy goes from applauding Vespas to appalling vistas, there's no happy ending for RTE'
But viewership figures supplied by RTE to the Irish Mirror reveal a silver lining amid the storm clouds.
We can report that the controversy added tens of thousands to the viewership to the Nine O'Clock News on June 22nd - the day that the pay scandal broke.
On Thursday June 22nd, an average of just over 385,000 viewers watched the Nine O' Clock news on RTÉ One and RTÉ One +1.
That's a jump of 70,000 on the previous Thursday, when only a select few in RTE knew about the crisis, and an average of just over 315,000 viewers watched the Nine O' Clock news on RTÉ One and RTÉ One +1.
An RTE spokesperson said TAM Ireland - who provide the viewership data, don't report on daily viewing figures for the RTÉ News channel, formerly known as RTÉ News Now.
That means the broadcaster's troubled executives will not know if live coverage of their starring role in Oireachtas Committee meetings has also boosted their viewership.
