While it’s thrilling to dip into fresh tv drama, there’s a certain reassurance that you can always find Mad Men streaming, somewhere, anytime. Streaming platforms changes, is it Netflix? Amazon Prime? Or has it made its way back to Sky/Now? Currently, the answer is surprisingly RTÉ Player – yes, home to the premier television drama of the 21st century.
Under the tab labelled “box sets”, you’ll find a backdrop of Don Draper’s iconic silhouette, casually possessing a Lucky Strike. What else has the catalogue expanded with? Interestingly, it’s now sporting a broad array of shows, quite a shift from previous years when RTÉ promoting its box sets typically implied old titles like The Clinic and other less impressive early 2000s RTÉ productions.
Now, when RTÉ claims to expand its “prestige box sets” collection on the platform, they’re not bluffing. Kevin Bakhurst, RTÉ director general, clarifies that the platform is committed to increasing awareness of the wide variety of free-to-view programmes they offer. The focus remains on RTÉ and Irish content, but the influx of international box sets has been noteworthy, courtesy of the BBC deal and some American studios, Bakhurst states. He further adds that the scale of international content offered is quite exceptional.
The transformation began a few years ago when celebrated BBC dramas like Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You, James Graham’s Sherwood, and Steve McQueen’s Small Axe became available. If you have yet to watch the impressive BBC-CBC mini-series The North Water (2021) with Colin Farrell and fancy being suitably captivated, you’ll find it on the player too.
Disney has initiated the sale of rights to shows that were originally exclusively for Disney Plus subscribers, such as Fleishman is in Trouble, The Dropout, and Dopesick, the latter of which features a portion of Mazzy Star’s music only 13 minutes into its first episode. To broaden its reach, Disney also included some of the most popular Australian programmes, such as the 1980s-inspired The Newsreader and the romantic comedy, Colin from Accounts, effectively catering to an English-speaking audience.
Adding to this repertoire, all of these shows have been aired on RTÉ’s linear channels, generally during late-night slots and often before gaining popularity through word-of-mouth. Some of these shows require subscription-based streaming or can only be accessed on-demand via BBC’s geographically restricted iPlayer.
The RTÉ Player has consequently evolved into a noteworthy collection of high-quality international series, both traditional, like Mad Men, and recently produced. These sit equally alongside the platform’s own scripted content.
Furthermore, the RTÉ Player is effectively a free platform — users who stream content on devices other than a conventional television set are not obligated to pay the licensing fee. In the past, RTÉ has uploaded its own “Player Originals”, but these haven’t been typically publicised as central features of new season launches. An exception to this is Good Boy, a Player Original sitcom featuring comedian Tony Cantwell, which was promoted during last week’s season launch, although there are no plans for linear broadcasts.
With the scripted content accounting for two-thirds of the streaming on the player, the development of a catalogue that combines both international and Irish dramas and comedies is seen as a significant strategy for achieving continuous digital growth. A goal that both RTÉ and Virgin Media Television have been consistently meeting over the years.
In 2024, the RTÉ Player broke records attracting over 105 million streams, a figure that had more than doubled over the past five years. It has already exceeded 100 million streams for 2024. Virgin Media is heading down a similar path, having only yesterday launched a new player, Virgin Media Play, as part of its approach to fortify its position in the era of streaming.
Virgin Media Television is aware that its audience is slowly shifting its focus from traditional viewing methods to online streaming options, with shows like Love Island mainly being viewed by a younger demographic not familiar with linear channels. The Virgin Media Play app is anticipated to become the primary medium of viewing for this viewer base over time.
As of last month, Virgin’s predecessor app had received widely impressive results with 39 million streams this year, potentially exceeding last year’s 48 million streams.
Some new features on Virgin Media Play include the option to restart a live programme instead of waiting for it to be accessible on-demand in full. This is one among many improvements specifically planned for the RTÉ Player by 2026, according to the New Direction strategy created by Bakhurst.
By 2025, RTÉ intends to add personalised-enhancement features like cross-device ‘continue watching’ options, parental controls, watchlist formations, show ratings, and relevant recommendations. It also wouldn’t be shocking if users might need to sign in to obtain access, unlike the current optional sign-in policies.
Whilst these features may seem like bare necessities to regular global streaming users, they are not typically found in free-to-view or Irish platforms. Adapting to these viewers’ expectations is no cheap feat. Hence, RTÉ justified that the prerequisite technological upgrades to its platform were a significant denomination of its multi-year funding agreement it recently acquired from the Government. Politicians, even those well-acquainted with critics of the streaming world, were somewhat convinced by this view.
Ultimately, none of these added features will matter if there’s a lack of interest in the content. However, in exclusive shows like Mad Men, it’s more about the re-watch value. The mature content label on the kick-off episode, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, indicates that viewers need to be 18 years or older to watch it.