We all said we wouldn't watch it. We all lied.  An average of 694,000 tuned in to the second night of the Rose of Tralee live broadcasts last night, while the crowning of the winner drew a peak of 760,300. There was a reach of nearly 1.7m viewers and a share of 50% of those watching television at the time. (What were the rest of you watching?!) Rose of Tralee host said Dáithí Ó Sé: “This is my fifth year presenting the Rose of Tralee and I felt the atmosphere around Tralee town leading up to the show was electric. I'm delighted for this Year’s Rose Maria. Her wonderful and unique personality really shone through during the week and also on stage. She will be a great ambassador for the Rose of Tralee” RTÉs executive producer for this year’s Rose of Tralee show Michael Kealy said, “The viewership figures for this year’s show are fantastic. A share of 50% for the second night means 1 in 2 people in Ireland watching television at that time tuned in to The Rose of Tralee. Ever the professional Dáithí Ó Sé’s energetic personality made the live event much more fun for the Roses! I wish the newly-crowned Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh all the best in future”. For fans in Ireland and worldwide, the Rose of Tralee Festival was also streamed live and is available on demand on RTÉ Player. A total of 62,200 streams have been recorded to date, with 28,049 of this being from the live online simulcasts on both nights. There was also a large amount of international interest in the festival, with close to 40% of the streams delivered outside of Ireland. Internationally, the highest number of streams came from the UK, US and Canada. The Meet the Roses feature on RTÉ Player attracted 30,500 streams. That silences a lot of those 'who watches it anyway' arguments...