TV3's Ireland AM has retained a comfortable lead in the morning television ratings battle against RTÉ's new show Morning Edition.
According to RTÉ, Morning Edition, which started last week, had an average weekly viewership of 18,600 people, representing a 7.2 per cent audience share.
This is double RTÉ's previous morning viewership, when an average of 8,900 people watched RTÉ One during the 9am to 11am period.
Over the same period and during the hour of overlap between the shows, Ireland AM, which is on from 7am to 10am, attracted 76,500 views, accounting for 31.25 per cent audience share.
Morning Edition, fronted by former Prime Time presenter Keelin Shanley, started last Monday week, when it attracted 18,800 viewers. Viewership for the week peaked on Wednesday, when 22,600 people tuned in.
The RTÉ figures are only for those who watched on television and do not include those who viewed the programme on the online channel RTÉ News Now. The broadcaster said an additional 2,000 to 3,000 people watched the show online.