The Den (television)

The Den
Launched	September 1986
Closed	17 August 2010
Network	RTÉ One (1986–88) RTÉ Two (1988–2010)
Owned by	Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)
Picture format	PAL I standard
Audience share	8.5% (October 2009, AGB Nielsen)
Country	Ireland
Language	English Irish
Broadcast area	Ireland Northern Ireland Worldwide online
Headquarters	Montrose, Donnybrook, Dublin 4
Formerly called	Dempsey's Den (1986–90) Den TV (occasionally between 1990 and 1997) Den2 (1998–2002) The Den (2002–2010)
Sister channel(s)	RTÉ One, RTÉ Two

The Den
Dempsey's Den logo used in 1989
Also known as	'Dempsey's Den (1986–90) Den TV (occasionally between 1990 and 1997) Den2 (1998–2002) The Den (2002–2010)
Presented by	Ian Dempsey (1986–90) Ray D'Arcy (1990–98) Damien McCaul (1998–2003) Francis Boylan, Jnr (2003–05)
Starring	Aunt Monica, Dustin the Turkey, Snotser, Soky, Zig and Zag, Zuppy
Country of origin	Ireland
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	Over 5,000
Production company(s)	Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)
Release
Original network	RTÉ One (1986–88) RTÉ Two (1988-2010)
First shown in	29 September 1986
Original release	30 September 1986 – 19 September 2010
Chronology
Related shows	2Phat, A Scare at Bedtime, Dustin's Daily News, Echo Island, Jo Maxi, The Podge and Rodge Show

The Den was the long-running children's television strand of Ireland's public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. First broadcast on 29 September 1986 on RTÉ1, it moved to Network 2 two years later. Initially a continuity strand for weekday afternoon programmes, The Den later expanded during the late 1990s and the 2000s until it became synonymous with RTÉ's children's output. At various times during its run, it was known as Dempsey's Den, Den TV and Den2.

In mid-2010, RTÉ Television announced an overhaul of its children's output, with the launch of RTÉjr and TRTÉ.The Den aired for the last time on 19 September 2010.

The Den is considered to have pushed the boundaries of what was considered acceptable viewing for children and young people, often employing irreverent and occasionally satirical humour within its continuity links. It also introduced anthropomorphic puppet characters to Irish culture, including Zig and Zag, Podge and Rodge and Dustin the Turkey. Zig and Zag later transferred to Channel 4, Podge and Rodge moved onto adult comedy programming on RTÉ (including their own talk show), while Dustin ran for President and achieved global notoriety by representing Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest.

In later years, The Den took up much of Network 2's schedule, airing for over 11 hours each weekday and on weekend mornings. It also acquired a reputation for airing new episodes of imported shows before other television networks in Europe.

Following on from the success of a Children's BBC strand in the UK, RTÉ launched its own bespoke strand for children's programming, Dempsey's Den in September 1986 - initially as a two-hour strand each weekday afternoon on RTÉ 1 and featuring nearly all of the broadcaster's youth output (the main exceptions being Bosco and Jo Maxi).