Setanta Sports is one of the leading broadcasters of Premier League football and a host of other sports. The broadcaster provides a pay television service to the UK and 14 other countries in Europe and Asia. The service is available to both those who have a subscription and those who pay a live streaming platform. While it is a relatively new service, the company has rebounded from a collapse in 2009, and has gained a solid fan base.
Pay-television broadcaster
The Setanta Sports name is a household name in Britain, and the company was the proud owner of the coveted football and golf channels for many years. The Setanta brand has been surpassed by its Australian rival BeIN Sports, and it is now operating out of the Al Jazeera Media Network. It is also available as a digital satellite. The company has a total of ten channels in the UK, including three dedicated to the English Premier League and one each for the Scottish, Welsh and Irish professional divisions. It is not without its own share of controversy. Nevertheless, it has become one of the most successful pay-TV providers in the country, and has managed to maintain the loyalty of its subscribers, despite a series of dodgy financial blunders.
Live streaming platform
Setanta Sports has launched a new, free website offering five-minute highlights of Premier League matches. It also has a secret weapon. It will make all of its games available to watch for free via the YouTube channel within 15 minutes.
The site’s tagline is “Born out of a love of the game,” referring to the company’s eponymous brand. It also features a lot of other content related to the football industry.
The company has also recently announced plans to launch a linear platform in the Philippines. This will include live coverage of the English Premier League, Scottish Premiership and top-tier Ukrainian Premier League. The venture is a joint effort between Setanta and Georgia-based media company Adjara.
TV channels available in 14 countries in Europe and Asia
Setanta Sports is one of the most popular sports channels in Europe and Asia. It offers a range of programmes, dedicated to a variety of sports, with over 1000 events broadcast every year. It is available on television, on satellite and digital terrestrial television, and online. In most territories, it has long-term premium sports rights. Its channels reach up to 15.5 million households.
Setanta Sports is the number one sports channel in 14 European countries, and in the Asian region. In Ukraine, for example, it has over 2.5 million subscribers. It offers all matches live on an over-the-top streaming platform.
Disadvantages of watching Setanta Sport in the UK
If you’re a fan of English football, you probably have seen Setanta Sport’s Premier League coverage on your television. If you are, you’re probably wondering about the drawbacks of such a service.
To start with, you’ll have to pay a premium to watch Setanta’s coverage. In the UK, the cost was APS3 million a season. This was the cost of broadcasting one game a week with big league sides. For those of you who don’t watch the Premier League, this is a pretty big deal.
Another tidbit you may or may not know is that Setanta was the first company to try out the half-time interview with a manager. While it might seem like a gimmick, it did bring in big viewing figures for the channel.
Fallout between Sky and Virgin over cost of having SkyaEUR(tm) channels on its service
Virgin Media and Sky have been in dispute over the cost of putting SkyaEUR(tm) channels on their services. This has resulted in a significant fallout in new television customers for Virgin Media. In the first quarter of this year, Virgin Media reported a decline in overall customer numbers compared to the same period last year.
While Virgin Media and Sky use fibre-to-premises technology for broadband, they also serve broadband over separate networks. Both providers offer catch-up on-demand services. However, Virgin Media offers more HD content than Sky.
Despite this, Virgin Media is still cheaper on a monthly basis. In addition, its broadband is faster.
Recovering from collapse in 2009
Setanta sports lost its Premier League broadcasting rights last week. The Irish company, which is struggling to stay afloat, failed to make payments for the Premier League and Scottish Premier League.
The company, which is owed more than PS30 million by the Premier League, missed the deadline for a payment to the English competition. It was also unable to tie up a rescue deal with US tycoon Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries.
The tycoon had said he would inject PS20 million into Setanta for 51 per cent of the company’s shares. But this deal collapsed due to “number of issues.” It now seems that Setanta will be in administration within days.
