RTÉ peak viewing figuresSo it's adieu to the Grand Slam dream for at least another year but one positive footnote is the RTÉ viewing figures for the historic unveiling of Croke Park to a worldwide audience.

Just shy of one million people tuned into RTÉ 2 for last Sunday's defeat to France. This figure easily outstrips other recent sporting events broadcast from Montrose.

The television audience peaked at 997,000, which betters the previous Six Nations record of 877,000 for last season's Triple Crown-clinching victory at Twickenham. The peak return came at the most excruciating moment of the day; the 80th minute when Ireland ran out of time to recover from Vincent Clerc's decisive late try.

An average of 876,000 viewers watched the actual match from 3pm to 4..51pm The average viewing figures for the three-and-a-half hour show, under the guidance of anchorman Tom McGurk, were 721,000. The average for the Ireland v England game last year were 643,000.

These numbers also outdo the best viewing figures for sporting events in 2006 - the All-Ireland hurling final between Cork and Kilkenny (952,000) and the World Cup final between France and Italy (971,000).

Glen Killane, group head of RTÉ Sport said: "I am delighted that a record number of viewers watched our comprehensive coverage on such a historic day, and we look forward to bringing all the upcoming Six Nations games to the public live and free-to-air. It's very important to RTÉ to make these national occasions freely available to everybody."

Six Nations, Feb 2007: Ireland v France, Croke Park ... 997,000

Six Nations, Mar 2006: England v Ireland, Twickenham ... 877,000

All-Ireland Hurling final, Sept 2006: Cork v Kilkenny ... 952,000

World Cup final, July 2006: France v Italy ... 971,000

n Source: AGB Nielsen Media Research