Irish channel TV3 has pulled the plug on The Dunphy Show, presented by footballer-turned-journalist Eamon Dunphy, after only three months. Dunphy’s chat show, which attracted the channel’s highest viewing figures, was broadcast in direct competition with RTE’s popular Late Late Show on Friday nights.
In its announcement of the show’s demise, TV3 took issue with the substantial licence fee increases for RTE.
RTE responded that it was “nonsense” to suggest the licence fee hike had been used to “target any possible success” by The Dunphy Show.
There is speculation that the writing was on the wall when ratings showed The Late Late Show had an audience of 980,000, compared with 170,000 for The Dunphy Show.
By Des Cryan in Dublin
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