‘Love/Hate’ to wipe out box set competition
Over 75,000 box sets of the award-winning series have been pre-ordered from RTÉ’s online shop as well as other retailers in the run up to Christmas.
Shipment to outlets around the country of what is likely to be a popular gift was delayed until yesterday to coincide with the screening of the final episode in the third series on Sunday night.
However, the popular box set featuring all three series to date, which has a recommended retail price of €24.99, will not be available in HMV stores.
It is understood RTÉ is not supplying copies to HMV outlets due to its ongoing trading difficulties.
HMV warned last week that it was likely to breach loan agreements in the first half of 2013 in a move which could place the future of the chain under threat.
However, RTÉ yesterday expressed confidence it would be able to keep up with demand for DVDs of the hit show in the week before Christmas from other stores nationwide.
It is estimated about 100,000 editions of the box set and third series have been produced to cater for demand.
Love/Hate, which features the gritty lifestyles of a Dublin- based criminal gang, has received rave reviews since it first aired in 2010.
RTÉ said it would be in a position to produce further copies in the new year if current supplies ran out over Christmas.
“It’s impossible to judge demand as the Love/Hate DVD is going to be a huge impulse purchase over the next week,” said Willie O’Reilly, RTÉ group commercial director.
RTÉ revealed yesterday that the dramatic final episode in the current series, which aired on Sunday, attracted an av-erage of 953,000 viewers.
A record number of people tuned into to see the nerve-tingling finale featuring a host of memorable characters like Nidge, Darren, Tommy, and Fran — the highest figure for any of the 16 episodes of Love/Hate shown to date, well ahead of its previous high of 820,000. “It has been truly phenomenal. It’s the highest watched programme by the age group 15-34-year-olds this year. It’s even more than the number of people who watched Ireland V Croatia in this summer’s European Championships,” said Mr O’Reilly.
He attributed the series’ success to “great characters, superb crafting, and being very close to what people are reading about in the newspapers”.
“It’s a voyeuristic view into what is going on in our society.”
RTÉ has confirmed it has commissioned a fourth series of the programme which will begin production early in 2013, while it is also engaged in preliminary talks about selling it to TV stations worldwide, including the US.
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