Apprentice tops Kenny’s Frontline in ratings battle

TV3’s hit show The Apprentice and its spin-off show are the top dogs in the Monday night ratings war against rival RTÉ, drawing more viewers than Pat Kenny’s show The Frontline.

Last night’s episode of The Frontline was watched by an average of 333,000, people with a peak viewership of 473,000.

Last night’s episode sparked controversy after a member of the audience berated presenter Pat Kenny live on air for more than three minutes about his salary of more than €600,000 while he was interviewing Social Welfare Minster Mary Hanafin.

The RTÉ current affairs show which airs between 10.35pm and 11.40pm on Monday nights is in competition with TV3’s The Apprentice, and The Apprentice: You’re Fired, which air between 9pm and 11pm.

To date, The Apprentice package seems to be winning the battle, drawing in 493,000 viewers last night while the spin-off show hosted by Brendan O’Connor took in 297,000 viewers, just 36,000 fewer viewers than The Frontline which is on air at the same time.

TV3 are viewing the figures as a coup over their rivals as the popularity of the Irish version of The Apprentice continues to grow.

Last month, the station announced it was the most watched channel in Ireland by those aged between 15 and 24, surpassing every channel available in the market..

Since the launch of the 2009 autumn schedule, TV3 has commanded a 15.7% share of viewing amongst the younger demographic compared to RTÉ 1’s 15.0% share and RTÉ 2’s 11.7%.

Meanwhile, both RTÉ and TV3 are still battling to secure rights for the second leg of Ireland’s crucial World Cup play-off with France.

Irish fans could face a blackout due to a row over broadcasting fees between the FAI and its French counterparts. As a result of an apparent FAI snub of French state station TF1, the Fédération Francaise de Football (FFF) is refusing to lower its asking price for the second leg to meet Irish TV station budgets.

The FFF are believed to be seeking €1.5 million for the rights to screen the game.

RTÉ is still in negotiations but is believed to be unwilling to pay more than €600,000 for the game, a figure TV3 is unlikely to be able to afford.