TV3 lines up ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ for August and January

Expect more fighting, mind games and controversies to feature in TV3's future after the first run of reality series Big Brother to be broadcast on the channel was successful in attracting viewers during the traditionally tricky summer period.

An average of 225,000 people watched the finale last Thursday, while across the series an average of 131,700 people tuned in across TV3, 3e and TV3+1. On one of the occasions that it was transferred to 3e, it beat "town hall" discussion show The People's Debate with Vincent Browne over on TV3's main channel.

TV3 plans to broadcast Celebrity Big Brother next month and a further celebrity edition is lined up for January 2016.

Speaking in the wake of the sale of TV3 Group to Liberty Global, TV3 chief executive David McRedmond claimed Big Brother was "doing fantastically for us".

He said it was a reminder that the right programme acquisitions, as well as the commission of original Irish content, would help the station win more viewers.

The deal with Big Brother's makers, Endemol Shine, involved more than 200 hours of both the main show and its spin-off Big Brother's Bit on the Side.

Won this year by Chloe Wilburn, Big Brother was broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 from 2000 to 2010, before it was picked up by Channel 5 in 2011. TV3's ratings would have been boosted by the fact that most Irish homes do not have access to Channel 5.