LAUNCHING ITS SPRING schedule tonight, TV3 promised more than 50 hours of new, home-produced content to hit Irish screens each week.

Home-grown content such as Ireland AM, Vincent Browne and Xposé will return, along with several new programmes. TV3 says it will be concentrating on its ‘Big Week’ theme, which will see the biggest shows in entertainment shown each day:

Mondays will focus on crime drama, with Jim McCabe returning with Beware Ireland, while Dyane Connor looks at some of Ireland’s most notorious murders in a new series of 24 Hours to Kill.

On Tuesdays, interior designer Neville Knot takes on a brand new task in Neville’s Doorstep Challenge, and brides and grooms-to-me say goodbye to single life in Hen Nights.

The Irish Bake Off will be shown on Wednesdays - and will see Ireland’s amateur bakers showing what they’re made of – while a group of wannabe WAGs will reveal their struggles with keeping up appearances in Southside Housewives.

History lovers are catered for on Thursdays, with the main event being a four-part series that takes a new angle on the Titanic story to mark its momentous 100th anniversary.  The series was produced by the same team that brought us Downton Abbey and was co-produced by TV3.

The station’s “flirty Fridays” leave no room for shyness, with Tallafornia and Take Me Out Ireland both being broadcast. The return of Come Dine With Me promises another memorable tour of Ireland – including two more weeks of celebrity diners.

Saturday is the day the stars come out to play for TV3’s big week – with families and some of Ireland’s best known celebrities battling it out on Alan Hughes’ Family Fortune.

Finally, Sundays will bring a new take on some old favourites: Nora Owen invites challengers to sit in the most infamous Mastermind chair; those who remember Mailbag are tipped to enjoy TV3′s new series As Seen On TV; and – last but certainly not least – Dallas returns for a brand new series.

“Whatever you are into and whenever you are watching, this spring you can expect big themed entertainment every night of the week ,” said TV3’s Director of Programming, Ben Frow. ”The schedule for spring 2012 is built with shows that TV3 have not only acquired or commissioned, but also powerful programming that we ourselves have created and our confidence is these programmes is reflected in their position at the very heart of TV3′s Big week.”

The station, which last year was the only broadcaster in the Irish market to grow share for the third year in a row, is currently building two new studios at Ballymount. Once the building project is completed, it says it will be the largest and most advanced studio in the country – HD ready and with live audience capacity.

TV3 Group grew by 2.6 per cent last year, with TV3′s adult share of viewing increasing by 1.3 per cent – the biggest increase recorded by any terrestrial channel in the country. Meanwhile, 3e’s share grew by 16 per cent as it became the biggest ‘digital-only’ channel in Ireland during 2011, outstripping Sky1, E4 and more than 200 digital channels.

Read: ‘Undercover Bishop’ and major Titanic drama-doc top RTÉ new season>