Ireland AM
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ireland AM | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Breakfast News Program |
| Starring | Co-hosts Mark Cagney Sinead Desmond News Elaine Crowley Sport Aidan Cooney Weather Alan Hughes |
| Country of origin |  Ireland |
| Production | |
| Running time | 180 Minutes (3 hours) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | TV3 Ireland |
| Picture format | 14:9 |
| Original run | September 1999 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Ireland AM is Ireland's only breakfast television programme. The show is broadcast live every weekday morning by TV3.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early years (1999 - 2004)
Ireland AM was launched on September 20, 1999, the first show of its kind in Ireland. It was originally on air from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., hosted by Mark Cagney and Amanda Byram. The show went on air almost a year after TV3 launched, and was seen as an attempt by the station to improve ratings[1], which up until then had been poor.
Initially the show met a lukewarm response, only attracting 7,000 viewers[2] However, within six months the show's ratings had improved[3]. But around the same time presenter Amanda Bryam announced her decision to leave, in order to appear on Channel 4's The Big Breakfast. She was replaced in September 2000 by newcomer, Emma Buckley, who again did not last and who was replaced by Claire Byrne.
[edit] Following years (2004 -present)
In March 2004, Claire left the show in order to replace Gráinne Seoige as the main news anchor on TV3. Byrne was replaced by Maura Derrane, a news presenter on the channel. In October 2005, Mark Cagney was nominated and later won the TV Personality of the Year Award at the IFTAs. After two years as co-host, Maura Derrane left the show in September 2006. She was replaced by brand new television newcomer, Sinead Desmond.
As of February 2008, Desmond and original presenter Cagney are the main hosts of the show along with Alan Hughes and Aidan Cooney, who also frequently present segments and interview guests. Elaine Crowley attends the newsdesk like its her own personal flowerbed, while Laura Bermingham is also a frequent contributor. Today FM's Adele O'Donnell has contributed to a section of the show featuring soaps (notoriously only the ones TV3 broadcast, i.e. Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
Over the years the show has had an extra hour added, and now broadcasts until 10 a.m. each morning. Also The Best of Ireland AM airs at different times on Saturday and Sunday mornings, featuring highlights from the weekday shows.
[edit] Format
Like most other breakfast television shows, it blends a mixture of news every thirty minutes, interviews and features topics such as consumer affairs, health, politics, gardening, education, finance, food and fashion into a three hour format.
The show has had its critics for its cheap production, ("camera work and set design"), not going to air from 6 a.m., lack of journalism, the main presenters dressing in casual clothes ("blue jeans and sweatshirts"), and a poorly edited newsticker, which is hard to see on screen as it is typed in lower case.
The show is currently sponsored by Dolmio.
[edit] Sources
- ^ OUR CHEMISTRY WILL MAKE BREAKFAST GO WITH A BANG' TV3's top new team, Mark and Amanda, reveal their secret. [1]
- ^ GOOD YAWNING; TV3 news for Ireland AM stars.. only 7,000 are watching you.[2]
- ^ SEXY AMANDA TOPS TV BREAKFAST POLL. [3]
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
