Yesterday RTÉ announced the availability of their video on demand service RTÉ Player for the PS3. The player is now available to Irish PS3 owners as a separate icon from the PlayStation home screen, under a new ‘TV’ menu item.
The move from RTÉ to make their content available on the games console comes just one day after similar strategies from ITV and Channel 4 in the UK. The service is similar to that offered by the web version, allowing viewers to watch RTÉ One and RTÉ Two shows for up to twenty-one days after their original airing.
Commenting on the deal with RTÉ, Niall O’Hanrahan, managing director of Sony Ireland stated:
“The availability of RTÉ Player on the PlayStation 3 adds even more entertainment to the console and gives people yet another reason to enjoy the PS3”.
Watch our videocast of RTÉ Player for the PS3 in action:
Hey this is a great idea and will be very useful. Unfortunately I have an xbox so do u think this d something will come to the xbox aswel?
@greentoymonkey This seems more like part of a greater ambition from PlayStation to define themselves as a broader entertainment device than one from RTÉ trying to push content out in new ways. It’s likely that Sony would have proposed the deal rather than RTÉ. For that reason you may have to wait a while for RTÉ to be approached by Microsoft to employ a similar deal. Channel 4’s 4oD went PS3 compatible 2 days ago but they say they’re still waiting for Microsoft to approach them. Although, that said, if RTÉ Player for PS3 turns out successful and drives further traffic there’s no reason why RTÉ would ignore this potential revenue stream and take other games consoles onboard.