WE LIVE IN an era where you can stream almost any show your heart desires – old, new, homegrown, foreign.
Having hundreds of television shows available at your fingertips means it’s extra frustrating when a show you want to watch isn’t readily available to stream.
In recent years, Irish consumers have frequently called for beloved Irish television shows like Reeling in the Years, Hardy Bucks and Love/Hate to be added to RTÉ Player, but often to no avail.
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At present, none of the aforementioned programmes are available on RTÉ Player.
Much of the content available on the RTÉ Player has aired on broadcast television in the last 30 days. Many of the broadcaster’s recent documentaries – Asking For It, ROG, The Story of Yes – are available for streaming as are reality series like Meet The McDonaghs and Exiles.
The only series that could be classified as “old” however are The Clinic and Popstars.
RTÉ has produced a wealth of quality programming over the years. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could revisit old shows like Bachelor’s Walk, Pure Mule, Love/Hate or the never-gets-old Reeling in the Years?
So why can’t we?
RTÉ explained to DailyEdge.ie that it’s an issue with obtaining rights for on-demand streaming.
The RTÉ TV Archive is packed with lots of fan favourites. However, each show that we make available must have all rights cleared for on-demand streaming and sometimes this can take time while we negotiate the details.
Back in April, RTÉ confirmed that they were in the midst of redeveloping a “next generation RTÉ Player” that would serve as a “a world-class online television destination”.
The new RTÉ Player experience will be a gateway into a world of great content, from box-sets and curated on-demand libraries across 10 genres, to exciting new original RTÉ Player shorts, as well as the ability to enjoy RTÉ’s live channels on any screen.
A spokesperson reiterated that this new and improved RTÉ Player was on the way and promised that “RTÉ Player will soon be offering much more in each hub” with “hundreds of great titles across every genre”.
Some shows that we’d like to see include…
- Bosco
- Bachelor’s Walk
- Pure Mule
- Hardy Bucks
- Wanderlust
- Off The Rails
- Cabin Fever
- Don’t Feed The Gondolas
- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? with Gay Byrne
- Every Toy Show ever
Not too much to ask for, right?
