Licence hike blamed as Dunphy axed

THE battle of the chat-shows might be over but a new war of words has broken out between TV3 and RTÉ over the reason behind the decision to scrap its flagship programme hosted by Eamon Dunphy.

TV3 blamed the decision to axe The Dunphy Show half-way through its planned season on increases in the TV licence fee over the past two years. The station claimed the current regulatory system for broadcasting in Ireland made it impossible to continue the show in the New Year.

TV3 also confirmed that next Friday's show will be the last in the series just 15 weeks after it first went on air.