Setanta Sports in trouble

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I guess that's why he put the free in quotes....

I wouldn't be surprised if SKY are split up at some point, due to their total dominance.

Or simply the Premier League take it on themselves to do the whole thing, that's the next logical step.

The Premier League already dish out the overseas rights to other satellite broadcasters worldwide but could rake in a whole lot more by taking overall control. I thought GT49er was being sarcastic when he mentioned it was free as a lot of the programmes on Setanta are shit.

 

[Cian]

Media over here are expecting Setanta to get shifted of as much UK-centric rights as possible as quickly as possible and retreat to the Irish market. Seems quite likely that the owners of the formerly ITV owned ITV clone here (TV3) will increase their stake with a view to takeover if this is the case.

 

[clapham_gull]

The Premier League already dish out the overseas rights to other satellite broadcasters worldwide but could rake in a whole lot more by taking overall control. I thought GT49er was being sarcastic when he mentioned it was free as a lot of the programmes on Setanta are shit.

There are already grumblings to take total control.

There is a situation on the horizon where the Premier League will hold Sky to ransom, either they hand over more of the profits or they go alone.

Sky have bucked the global recession, I understand their profits are up.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

Do, Do, Do Shame About the Irish!

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

This would give ESPN (owned by Disney) an opening to launch their own bouquet by snapping up the sports rights that Setanta want to ditch.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I subscribe to Setanta only because they acquired the North American Sports Network NASN viewing right, which I was already subscribing to.

So where this leaves my baseball viewing for the rest of the season God only knows...

 

[Paxton Dazo]

Can Sky go bust aswell too, please?

Stop [unts, being lazy and watching their best pals on the box.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

There are already grumblings to take total control.

There is a situation on the horizon where the Premier League will hold Sky to ransom, either they hand over more of the profits or they go alone.

Sky have bucked the global recession, I understand their profits are up.

I would love it if the Premier League took over and then sold "season passes" on a team by team basis so Manu Liverpool Chelsea & Arsenal armchair fans would pay £240 too see all the games with concessions for Stoke and Bolton fans who would only pay £40.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

Arsenal dont have armchair fans.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

I subscribe to Setanta only because they acquired the North American Sports Network NASN viewing right, which I was already subscribing to.

So where this leaves my baseball viewing for the rest of the season God only knows...

NASN is now ESPN America , no need to worry as it has a strong customer base.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Arsenal dont have armchair fans.

Sorry forgot they sat in top quality leather recliners.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

Sorry forgot they sat in top quality leather recliners.

North London is most certainly RED.

 

[Pavilionaire]

NASN is now ESPN America , no need to worry as it has a strong customer base.

Thanks for that - so I'll probably go back to the NASN package and my monthly subscription should drop by a couple of quid.

 

[clapham_gull]

I would love it if the Premier League took over and then sold "season passes" on a team by team basis so Manu Liverpool Chelsea & Arsenal armchair fans would pay £240 too see all the games with concessions for Stoke and Bolton fans who would only pay £40.

Which would f*ck up football in this country far beyond the state it is in now.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

Man Utd have lots of Armchair fans, of course they do BUT when they travel away 75% of them are genuine, hence why they dont wear replica shirts.

Shirters are generally assiacoted with Armchair fans.

 

[RM-Taylor]

The FA Cup will almost certainly go to BSkyB if it becomes available, as ITV have the "free" showings.

I think the BSP has shown it's potential during it's years on Setanta, a lot better than when Sky used to show 5 games a year. It'll probably go to Bravo, otherwise I can't see anyone else getting it.

 

[Herne Hill Seagull]

Shirters are generally assiacoted with Armchair fans.

WTF? By whom? Who are all those people in the stadia with shirts on then? Something to back such a wild assertion up would be useful...

 

[hitony]

Good to see SHITANTA in trouble after the grief they caused me when trying to cancel thier pathetic channel

And me, and what makes me laugh is all the problems i had with them and they STILL send me e mails asking if i want to subscribe to certain things etc,

They have to be, just about the worst company to deal with, that aside, there coverage on sports events is crap as well.

 

[Paxton Dazo]

WTF? By whom? Who are all those people in the stadia with shirts on then? Something to back such a wild assertion up would be useful...

When I said that I was only referring to Man Utd.

 

[trueblue]

refused to subscribe to it on principle, seeing as i already give sky 60 quid ish a month.

cant wait for em to go bust.

I understand where you're coming from - but the demise of Setanta is bad news in the long run.

One of the reasons that Sky can charge an absolute fortune in the first place is because they have no realistic competition - a situation that's been achieved in part through their programming, but every bit as much through very aggressive protection of their market dominance to destroy potential rivals.

Setanta's purchase of football rights was meant to be good for all of us by making the market more competitive. As a cut price alternative to Sky for those who can make do with one match a week, it appears to offer some choice but, in reality, not many people who are prepared to pay for football coverage will fancy the Saturday early evening games alone.

So it looks like we're back to square one, with Sky able to dictate TV prices almost unchallenged and, by extension, pretty much run the English game.

Hopefully, at some point a global company with real financial clout (such as ESPN) will get involved and fight for the rights on a more equal basis. Then, they might even get a couple of decent packages - rather than the 2 cast-offs (Sat eve/Mon eve) that Sky don't really want anyway, and are prepared to relinquish to keep the EC happy.