The State's first indigenous breakfast television service, Ire- land AM, begins broadcasting this morning on TV3 as the station celebrates its first year on air.
The live show, fronted by former model, Amanda Byram, and former radio DJ, Mark Cagney, will be broadcast each weekday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
According to TV3, Ireland AM is "an information-packed magazine programme reflecting the diversity of modern Irish life. . .with everything the viewer needs to start their day". Regular features will include a mix of lifestyle stories, health, safety, education and entertainment. News, sport and weather bulletins will be broadcast every half hour.
Also included in the programme is a newspaper review section called Between the Sheets and a weekly slot with a Mystic Megstyle psychic.
Irish viewing figures for breakfast programmes, such as Channel 4's Big Breakfast, are relatively low compared to Britain but have increased by 33 per cent overall since 1996. TV3 executives are hoping the viewing figures will be helped by our "kitchen culture" - 8 per cent of televisions here are located in the kitchen, compared to 1 per cent in Britain. It is understood that RTE had also been planning some kind of breakfast service but was held back by union problems. If it does go ahead, its show is expected to be purely news orientated.
Announcing plans to move into breakfast television last June, TV3's chief executive and managing director, Mr Rick Hetherington, said it was a project which had been in development for a number of months. "After only one year on air it is a very exciting prospect to be the first Irish broadcaster to bring breakfast television to Irish viewers," he said.