TV3 proves hypnotic for viewers in 2014

Game show ‘The Lie’ and Vincent Browne’s ‘democracy television’ lined up for spring

Jonathan McCrea, the presenter of TV3’s new quiz show The Lie which starts next Monday
Jonathan McCrea, the presenter of TV3’s new quiz show The Lie which starts next Monday

Never underestimate the power of hypnosis. With a little help from programmes such as Keith Barry: Brain Hacker , the heavily promoted Sunday night showcase for the Irish "mentalist", TV3 is toasting a 5 per cent increase in its adult audience share so far this year compared to 2013.

The broadcaster's share among adults aged 15-plus hit 10.68 per cent for the period up to February 10th, while its commercial impacts – a measure of viewers' exposure to advertisements – rose 6 per cent year-on-year. TV3 group director of content Jeff Ford described this as "an incredibly positive start" to 2014.

TV3 is turning to The Lie for its next audience boost. The 10-part game show hosted by Newstalk presenter Jonathan McCrea will air on Mondays and Fridays at 8pm and debuts next week. The co-production between TV3's 3Studios and Scottish Television Productions (STV) will invite viewers to play along live against the clock via second-screen companion app ShowPal and compare their results with other viewers (much in the style of Channel 4's The Million Pound Drop ).

A Scottish version of the "spot the falsehood" game show will be hosted by comedian Susan Calman and the two co-production partners are hoping the format will sell internationally.

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TV3 Group is also planning to lure in Ireland's substantial current affairs audience to The People's Debate with Vincent Browne, a two-hour programme that will air at 10pm on the first Wednesday of every month from March.

Browne describes the show, which will be filmed in front of 150-200 people, as “a new experiment in Irish television” and promises that there will be no “usual suspects” sitting on a panel.

“If the usual important suspects want to participate they will do so on the same basis as everyone else. This is democracy television.”

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics