Virgin Media Television has reported record audiences for its live coverage of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations, with 2.4 million viewers tuning in across the Championship and the Ireland-Scotland clash emerging as its most watched game of the tournament.

The Triple Crown decider averaged 884,000 viewers across Virgin Media One and Virgin Media Four, peaking at 972,000, and delivered a record 78 per cent share of viewing for the live match. It also attracted 177,120 live streams on Virgin Media Play.

Across the Championship as a whole, viewers spent more than 10 million hours watching Six Nations rugby on linear television, while a further 623,000 live streams were recorded on Virgin Media Play. Virgin Media said its coverage reached 51 per cent of the total potential TV population.

Live matches on Virgin Media One averaged 485,000 viewers per game and a 50 per cent share of viewing, representing year-on-year growth of nine per cent.

Among Ireland’s fixtures, the away meeting with France averaged 813,000 viewers and generated a 55 per cent share, alongside 111,000 live streams. Ireland’s game against Italy drew an average audience of 699,000, with a 70 per cent share and 106,000 live streams.

Virgin Media also highlighted growth in the accessibility of its rugby coverage, describing this year’s Championship as its most accessible Six Nations yet. The broadcaster provided Irish Sign Language and Audio Description coverage throughout the tournament, including a fully accessible commercial break before each Ireland match.

That accessible coverage on Virgin Media Four reached 290,000 viewers, with audiences consuming more than 216,000 hours of accessible content on linear television across the Championship. Accessible commentary matches also generated 9,000 live streams on Virgin Media Play.

Commenting on the figures, Brian Gleeson, Head of Sport at Virgin Media Television, said the competition had once again shown the power of live sport to unite audiences.

“This was an incredible Six Nations Championship with every round delivering unexpected twists and turns, right down to the last kick of the last game,” said Gleeson. “Nothing beats live sport for bringing the nation together and we are so proud that millions of viewers watched our free to air coverage.”

Virgin Media now turns its attention to a busy international rugby schedule in the months ahead. Gleeson said the broadcaster would build on the momentum of the men’s Championship with coverage of the Women’s Six Nations and the Nations Championship later this year.

“The momentum from this Six Nations sets us up perfectly for a fascinating Nations Championship kicking off in July, with every game live on Virgin Media Television,” he said. “Before that, we’re thrilled to bring viewers the Women’s Six Nations, highlighted by Ireland’s first ever women’s international at the Aviva Stadium, an historic moment for Irish rugby.”

The figures underline the continuing strength of free-to-air rugby coverage in Ireland, with the biggest matches still capable of commanding mass audiences across both traditional television and streaming platforms. For Virgin Media Television, the combination of strong live audiences, increased streaming numbers and expanded accessible coverage made the 2026 Guinness Six Nations one of its strongest sports broadcasting performances to date.

 

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