Bye Bye Setanta?

[Arnold.J.Rimmer]

Premier League have now confirmed they've cancelled their contract with Setanta

[Batch]

Ooops. If  this isn't the end, it's surely the beginning of the end.

[RobertT]

I feel a bit sorry for the company to be honest, originally set up to screen an Ireland game that wasn't on TV and managed to pip Sky to some broadcasting rights at their peak.  Their problem has been not hanging on to subscribers rather than not getting new ones it seems, which probably suggests the extra offerings were the problem as opposed to the football (which will be what gets them in).  Sky's ability to get International sporting events is probably the big difference, and that comes from having an International sized budget to splash on rights.  I think we are living in cloud cuckoo land if we think this will mean anything other than Sky picking up all the loose change.

[Rich Pullen]

So the return of Sky Sports Box Office then!

[Batch]

Sky can only pick up 1 EPL package. I don't feel sorry for Setanta in the slightest. They are by and far the most dubious company verging on unethical if not illegal regarding their T&Cs. Reap what you sow.

I do feel sorry for the average Joe employee that may lose there job though.

Also, if they go under England home friendlies go to ITV (contractual obligation). Away games presumably go back to the host broadcaster.

Looks like the guy who was going to bale them has pulled out.

[Bogus Dave]

Perhaps the bbc will put in a bid. We can dream

[Rich Pullen]

Obviously the BBC or ITV won't get this - so is there anyone else other than ESPN that could?

Too much football on tele; I say scrap the 'pool' and keep the fixtures as a Saturday 3pm.

[jonny72]

Looks like the guy who was going to bale them has pulled out.

Maybe, or they could just be waiting until its cheaper. Setanta are pretty much worthless now, without football you aren't going to get that many subscribers. The Premier League won't be getting anywhere near as much for the rights when they sell them again.

Wouldn't surprise me if someone buys the football rights on the cheap and then buys Setanta for £1. Ideally it will be someone like ESPN that comes in, we need someone that can compete with Sky.

[ahounsell]

we need someone that can compete with Sky.

Do we though?

Both ITV digital and Setanta have tried and failed to compete with Sky and basically for the same reason, i.e they never had the really top draw games to bring in the subscribers.

While the only rival to Sky had third rate games on at unattractive times it was pretty easy to ignore them and just stay with Sky which is what most people did and why Setanta never acquired enough subscribers to be viable.

If a rival broadcaster was genuinely able to compete with Sky they would have some of the top Premier league games, decisive matches at both ends of the table, better time slots than 12:30 on saturday etc...

If that had been the case with Setanta, a lot of fans would have been left with a choice of missing out on big games they really wanted to see, or subscribing to both at double the cost of Sky alone.

In other words, to support 2 big pay TV companies will require a lot bigger outlay from subscribers. I can see why that would be attractive to the clubs, but not to the average punter. The EU ruling that stops Sky hoovering up all the rights is actually tending to achieve the opposite of its intention, i.e. it will drive costs up for subscribers if it works at all.

[Arriba]

the bbc should be delivering us top sport.we pay their poll tax to watch tv.yet we get less and less quality sport on the beeb,by the  year.

[flammableBen]

the bbc should be delivering us top sport.we pay their poll tax to watch tv.yet we get less and less quality sport on the beeb,by the  year.

It would be nice, although they've obviously got to be showing a balance on what they spend it on, and they don't do too badly with what they get.

Don't the beeb have the rights to a few championship games next year or did I imagine that?

[Arriba]

i have no idea,better than nowt i suppose. i'm glad setanta is going under,purely because i dont have it.

[bigbobjoylove]

It would be nice, although they've obviously got to be showing a balance on what they spend it on, and they don't do too badly with what they get.

Don't the beeb have the rights to a few championship games next year or did I imagine that?

Aye, 8 or 9 games if memory serves me right.

[Batch]

In other words, to support 2 big pay TV companies will require a lot bigger outlay from subscribers. I can see why that would be attractive to the clubs, but not to the average punter.

You can see how if a person doesn't subscribe to Sky that a cheaper alternative for some of the games is a good thing.

But I agree with you, for us Sky sports subscribers the Sky monopoly was a far better deal.

[Nemo]

Not really, because when they had all the rights, Sky had that PremPlus package which was basically what Setanta is now. Really, there was no change to the amount you had to shell out, just the channel it was on.