Posted May 5, 200619 yr From Digital Spy... Setanta wins two Premier League packages Friday, May 5 2006, 17:15 BST - by James Welsh http://images.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/photorazzi/160x120_arsenal_photorazzi_graffitipress_20060221.jpgGraffiti Press / Photorazzi Irish pay-TV operator Setanta has been successful in its bid to break Sky's monopoly on live Premiership coverage, securing two of three remaining live TV rights packages of 23 games per year for four seasons starting in 2007. The Premier League announced at a press conference held after the close of business at the London Stock Exchange that Setanta's bid of £392m for 46 games per year was successful. Sky secured a fourth package in addition to the three it won last week, with the broadcaster paying £1.31bn for a total of 92 games per year. "This is an important day in the development of Setanta Sports and another milestone for us," said Setanta Sport's director of sport Trevor East. "Following on from last week's announcement of greater coverage of the Scottish Premier League, we are delighted to be able to add the FA Premier League to our channel offering. We are committed to providing a first-class sports service to our customers and the FAPL is a jewel in any broadcaster's crown. It will ensure that Setanta Sports is a must-have sports channel for all football fans." In an agreement reached with the European Commission, Sky was allowed to bid for all six packages but would only have been allowed to win a maximum of five. "This is good news for fans, football and Sky," said Sky Sports managing director Vic Wakeling. "Sky is the home of football. We will offer first picks, the best matches and biggest head-to-heads. There will be more live Premiership matches on Sky Sports than ever: 92 games per season, up from 88 games today. Viewers can look forward to years of innovative coverage of live Premiership football, all broadcast in HD. Fans will also have new ways of watching using broadband and mobile."
May 5, 200619 yr :puke2: :puke2: :puke2: The worst possible bidder has won rights. They charge loads for pay per view games and I highly doubt that many people will be prepared to fork out more money to watch them on pay per view. One of the packages should have gone to terrestrial TV though as it would give people without Sky the oppotunity to see premiership games.
May 5, 200619 yr What a load of $h!t. I've never watched a match on Setanta before becuase it's CRA P.
May 5, 200619 yr Author I know when I heard that two packages had gone away from Sky I was hoping they'd have gone to ITV or even Channel 5, but Setanta wtf :puke2: that's just as bad as Sky.
May 5, 200619 yr I know when I heard that two packages had gone away from Sky I was hoping they'd have gone to ITV or even Channel 5, but Setanta wtf :puke2: that's just as bad as Sky. Setanta is miles worse than sky. At leats sky is a supscription service where you pay so much a month for all the sports channels, compared to Setenta where you pay about £8 to watch one game, which is an absolute rip off.
May 6, 200619 yr Author Setanta is miles worse than sky. At leats sky is a supscription service where you pay so much a month for all the sports channels, compared to Setenta where you pay about £8 to watch one game, which is an absolute rip off. £8 for one game? :blink: I don't have Setanta and by the looks of it I don't want it -_- it's a real shame though, it would be so good to see Premiership games back on ITV1 or BBC.
May 16, 200619 yr This is GREAT news for Scottish Fans!!! In Scotland, the only channel that shows SPL matches now is Setanta unfortunately, so we all have to subscribe to it if we want to see our teams. Its £180 a year and now its definetly worth it if I get premiership matches into the bargain!!! :D
May 17, 200619 yr Precisley good news for Scottish fans but awful for English fans. I pay enough for Football already with Sky Sports and proper football season tickets, so i'm gonna be boycotting Setanta.
Create an account or sign in to comment