Media

RTÉ Player will ask all users to sign in from next year as it adds more original shows

The streamer, which launches its first Player Original sitcom this week, has seen usage grow after a series of technical upgrades

RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst, head of RTÉ Player Aoife Byrne and comedian Tony Cantwell, star of new Player comedy Good Boy. Photograph: RTÉ
RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst, head of RTÉ Player Aoife Byrne and comedian Tony Cantwell, star of new Player comedy Good Boy. Photograph: RTÉ
Laura Slattery
Mon Oct 14 2024 - 06:00

RTÉ will next year start asking all RTÉ Player users to sign into the app, the head of the streaming service has said ahead of the launch this week of its first Player Original sitcom.

Good Boy, which stars comedian Tony Cantwell as a man on a quest for an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, is “the most ambitious thing we’ve ever made”, said Aoife Byrne, head of RTÉ Player.

All four episodes in the series will be uploaded on Wednesday, marking the latest stage of an RTÉ strategy to create more exclusive programming specifically for the on-demand service.

Usage of the app has enjoyed significant growth in recent years amid a series of technical upgrades, with RTÉ on track to exceed its target of 130 million streams in 2024 after attracting a record 105 million streams last year.

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“Our whole strategy with Player is to be a culturally relevant streamer. Our job as a public service broadcaster is to provide something distinctive. Obviously we do that with our linear content, but we’re very cognisant of filling in the gaps,” Ms Byrne said.

Signing in, which is currently optional, will allow users to receive personalised recommendations and pick up where they left off across multiple devices. It is expected to become mandatory from some point in the first quarter of 2025.

The broadcaster also hopes that a full version of the Player will become available through Virgin Media Television’s pay-TV interface next year, she said.

Meanwhile, under RTÉ‘s five-year strategy the number of hours of content on the service is expected to increase from 5,000 to 7,000 by the end of 2028.

As a Player Original, Good Boy – which also stars Marty Breen, Hannah Mamalis, John Doran, Peter McGann, Michael Fry, Shane Daniel Byrne and Deirdre O’Kane – will “not necessarily” be shown on a linear channel at a later date, although some shows commissioned this way have subsequently been added to the schedules.

Ms Byrne said Player Originals, which have previously featured presenters including Doireann Garrihy and Carl Mullan, were “very much a sandbox for RTÉ talent” and were made on a tight budget.

ADHD, which Mr Cantwell has been diagnosed with in real life, is “at the heart of this story”, she said, and is “a very important part of why we greenlit it”.

At a preview screening Mr Cantwell said the comedy – directed by Fergal Costello – depicted “exaggerated versions” of the hyper-focused and distracted states associated with ADHD. The plot of the opening episode, in which his character is sacked from his job in a shoe shop, was inspired by an event in his own life.

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Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery

Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics