TV3's decision to ditch Vincent Browne's hard-hitting political programme for the next two Mondays to accommodate I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! has sparked a debate about the viewing habits of the Irish: in these days of doom and gloom, should we embrace escapism or curl up on the couch to be told – yet again – how bad things are?

While opinion is split firmly down the middle among household names contacted by the Sunday Tribune, audience figures from last Monday night suggest viewers prefer reality TV to reality. More than 540,000 people tuned into The Apprentice on TV3, while I'm a Celebrity... attracted 400,000. By comparison, RTÉ's Frontline with Pat Kenny attracted 389,000 viewers to its discussion on the economy.

"The programme will be off the air for three Mondays, starting last Monday, to accommodate the celebrity programme," Browne confirmed to the Sunday Tribune. "We will be back to a four- night schedule from Monday 6 December onwards."

Browne refused to be drawn on his feelings about the schedule change, but former Xposé presenter and FM104 film critic Sean Munsanje said people "need a break from reality".

"People are being faced with this serious stuff every day when they turn on the TV, the radio and when they listen to the news. We need lighter programmes now more than ever before, and that is why programmes like The X Factor have higher ratings than ever before. Everyone needs a break from reality.

"Even people who normally would never have watched programmes like The Apprentice or Dragon's Den are watching them now. The fact is that if we did not tune out from all of the bad news once in a while, we would all be extremely depressed and we wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning. This is why more and more frivolous shows like dating shows are getting higher viewer figures."

Today FM presenter Ian Dempsey disagreed and said that, if anything, current affairs and political programmes have almost become entertainment for the public.

"Of course, people do want to see things like The Apprentice and entertaining shows like that, and I would have been more into those shows myself before now, but now I am becoming much more interested in things like The Frontline and Vincent Browne and I think a lot of other people are too. It is not traditional entertainment but it is informative, and people want to know what is going on."

Dempsey pointed to last Thursday night's Prime Time, in which Labour Party justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte verbally lashed government minister Pat Carey.

In the incident, which has been described as a "public execution", Carey was forced to lower his head during the discussion on the economy and stare at the floor as Rabbitte furiously told him: "You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

"Watching Pat Rabbitte verbally attack Pat Carey in a way which could almost be described as undignified actually makes riveting viewing. There was the economist sitting across from them with a look on his face which just said that if these are the people running our country he was very concerned. It is depressing, but it is real and it is entertaining," said Dempsey.