Sports Extra (TNT/Premier)

channelsurfer2

if it works for Setanta then its bad news for FTA sport on RTE and TV3 as Setanta will hoover up the champions league on tuesday and wednesday first picks, which currently only cost RTE 1million a year and tv3 the same.

But its good news for those that like an alternative to paying 62euro to sky just to get skysports as they have to pay a min of 27 euro first then 35extra for the sports versus 25euro?(guessing) for Setanta.
Interesting to see what will happen when the Europa league is on both Setanta and ESPN at the same time will it still be blacked out?

irishfeen

The Sparrow wrote: »

I don't see how this is god news for subscribers who are going from having ESPN bundled as part of their sports package to now having to pay another expensive subscription for BT Sport/ Setanta.

I certainly won't be able to afford to pay 17 euro a month and I would imagine in this economic climate there will be a lot of people in the same position. Maybe 9.99 a month but no more than that.

Its moving a potential three different subscriptions down to two, and Sky Sports 1 is actually the only subscription people might want with sky if its only for the Premier League (only a few smaller games usually on SS2)... ESPN was bundled with sky sports simply because it must have been massively loss making here under subscription.

With this deal also comes the entire BT sports portfolio... Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, Brasileirão, Bundesliga, SPL, Moto GP along with Setanta's portfolio including Champions League, Europa League, F1, Airtricity League, Top 14, GAA and other Irish sports programming..... That's begining to look like a serious sports channel subscription.

irishfeen

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

if it works for Setanta then its bad news for FTA sport on RTE and TV3 as Setanta will hoover up the champions league on tuesday and wednesday first picks, which currently only cost RTE 1million a year and tv3 the same.

But its good news for those that like an alternative to paying 62euro to sky just to get skysports as they have to pay a min of 27 euro first then 35extra for the sports versus 25euro?(guessing) for Setanta.
Interesting to see what will happen when the Europa league is on both Setanta and ESPN at the same time will it still be blacked out?

To be honest RTE and TV3 are so broke that it might either be no FTA channel will even bid for rights or Setanta picking them up...

Mr Cumulonimbus

Wonder how this will affect Eircom broadband subscribers who were able to watch Setanta's saturday 3pm games via the Eircom Sportshub platform. Will they get the extra games on BT as well?

ftakeith

uefa would still want a irish fta broadcaster to show one game each from the champions league or the europa league

irishfeen

Mr Cumulonimbus wrote: »

Wonder how this will affect Eircom broadband subscribers who were able to watch Setanta's saturday 3pm games via the Eircom Sportshub platform. Will they get the extra games on BT as well?

Don't think so, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if this practice now ended as Setanta want them viewers on Eircom to subscribe properly... if this is true Setanta will have the wind at their backs to transform their own channels and how people view them.

irishfeen

ftakeith wrote: »

uefa would still want a irish fta broadcaster to show one game each from the champions league or the europa league

Yeah agree, I think their will be at least a game a week on FTA television for the foreseeable future...

Does anyone know if the relationship between TV3 and Setanta still exists? .. same owners or something?

Mr Cumulonimbus

irishfeen wrote: »

Don't think so, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if this practice now ended as Setanta want them viewers on Eircom to subscribe properly... if this is true Setanta will have the wind at their backs to transform their own channels and how people view them.

That would be disappointing. I'm an Eircom subscriber myself, so I'd like at least the Sat 3pm games to continue next season via Eircom BB.

ftakeith

also setanta should try to offer access live on demand on their website and through saorview if possible to stop internet piracy

irishfeen

ftakeith wrote: »

also setanta should try to offer access live on demand on their website and through saorview if possible to stop internet piracy

Well I was always of the opinion that they should have launched either all channels or even one FTA channel on Saorview to broadcast rights that need to be FTA e.g. GAA Championship/World Cup/Olympics etc. and to promote their subscription channels.

druss

Mr Cumulonimbus wrote: »

Wonder how this will affect Eircom broadband subscribers who were able to watch Setanta's saturday 3pm games via the Eircom Sportshub platform. Will they get the extra games on BT as well?

Eircom have been making a lot of noises about their IPTV offering as well. (I know, i know, they've done this before. But they really seem serious this time).

Before, i would have said that it was a given that they'd have bundled Setanta proactively. I wonder if the BT deal has negative impacts on that now?

irishfeen

I wonder will Setanta now go all out and buy the rights for the evening highlights from RTE and market themselves as the "home of the Premier League in Ireland", along with the 71 games they could have highlights of matches on Saturday's, Sunday's, Monday's and midweek.

Joseph Reilly

For me price wise it does not sound encouraging. I only subscribed to ESPN for the UFC. Hope it does not work out much more than the current price.

boris george

irishfeen wrote: »

I wonder will Setanta now go all out and buy the rights for the evening highlights from RTE and market themselves as the "home of the Premier League in Ireland", along with the 71 games they could have highlights of matches on Saturday's, Sunday's, Monday's and midweek.

They are the favourites to land it and have publicly said that if the rights were offered they would certainly be interested.

icdg

We'll have to see the detail when/if the deal is done. Its good in the sense that there will only be a need to subscribe to two packages to get all the Premier League games. There is a reason that ESPN did the bundling deals with Sky and UPC in Ireland - they were not obviously having success being marketed as a standalone premium channel.

Obviously there are cons. UPC viewers may lose out the most as I'd imagine both Setanta Ireland and ESPN will become part of the package and go premium now - a big loss (along with ESPN America which is closing). As Setanta Sports 1 no longer really exists as an independent entity (being now merely the name under which Premier Sports is listed on the Irish EPG), this removes a lot of flexibility from Setanta as far as scheduling is concerned. For example Setanta could not show two games at 8:00pm for the quarter final stage of the Europa League as Premier Sports was already committed to showing rugby league at that time, this will hit Setanta again during the qualifying rounds of the Europa League and matchday one of the group stages (although I think they're fine after that). The point is that Premier Sports commitments limit how Setanta can move programming to that channel now which means that more of Setanta's "premium" programming will have to be aired on Setanta Ireland. Incidently, the Champions League and Europa League rights are now tied up till the end of the 2014-15 season.

Will there be a price increase over the existing Setanta pack on satellite? Almost certainly - although it might not be as high as you think as BT are saving money by allowing Setanta to handle their distribution and marketing in Ireland instead of having to do it themselves. Nonetheless, BT will want their cut - and want to make back the money they paid for the Irish rights to the Premier League - and Setanta were bearly breaking even themselves, so expect a price increase of some order.

Its moving a potential three different subscriptions down to two, and Sky Sports 1 is actually the only subscription people might want with sky if its only for the Premier League (only a few smaller games usually on SS2)... ESPN was bundled with sky sports simply because it must have been massively loss making here under subscription.

Sky have given an undertaking to Ofcom not to schedule Premier League games on Sky Sports 3 or 4, which they do not make available to certain platforms in the UK. Its only an undertaking but the threat from Ofcom is that if they (Sky) were to break it, they'll require Sky to offer Sky Sports 3 & 4 wholesale to all pay-TV platforms. I'm not sure you can only take 1 Sky Sports channel on either Sky or UPC anymore though it certainly used to be possible.

Joseph Reilly

Any expected time for the press release on Monday?

Batesy

Great news for Setanta. By the way their current monthly sub of €16.99 is a bit of a joke in its current form. I actually don't know anyone that subscribes at that price.

I'm currently on a €5 a month deal with them and that's pretty good. I've gone as far as paying €8 a month but never €16.99. I only really need it for the 3pm Saturday games and €16.99 is too much.

However if this deal goes through I think €16.99 would be great value and they would make a killing in the market if they left the sub at that.

Wishful thinking, I know.

irishfeen

icdg wrote: »

Sky have given an undertaking to Ofcom not to schedule Premier League games on Sky Sports 3 or 4, which they do not make available to certain platforms in the UK. Its only an undertaking but the threat from Ofcom is that if they (Sky) were to break it, they'll require Sky to offer Sky Sports 3 & 4 wholesale to all pay-TV platforms. I'm not sure you can only take 1 Sky Sports channel on either Sky or UPC anymore though it certainly used to be possible.

As you say it was definitely available to customers before because for years we used to just get SS1 because we would only be watching the Premier League... I don't know if its still available but it would definitely cut costs for us, even if it was €10 cheaper then the 4 Sky Sports channels we could use that €10 towards Setanta/BT and if fact save quiet a bit rather then having three different full subscriptions.

Infoanon

The proposed link up between Setanta and BT is the perfect solution for both parties.

Setanta can piggy back on BT Sports (and their probable extensive advertising campaign) and earn some income for Setanta Ire/1 - as a bundle they have a sellable product.

For BT it solves the 3 into 2 subscription issue and gives them a ready made admin service.

Price wise - I could see the price staying circa < €19.99 otherwise it will flop - and for Setanta its some form of income .

irishfeen

Infoanon wrote: »

The proposed link up between Setanta and BT is the perfect solution for both parties.

Setanta can piggy back on BT Sports (and their probable extensive advertising campaign) and earn some income for Setanta Ire/1 - as a bundle they have a sellable product.

For BT it solves the 3 into 2 subscription issue and gives them a ready made admin service.

Price wise - I could see the price staying circa < €19.99 otherwise it will flop - and for Setanta its some form of income .

It could perceivably be more then just subscription revenue that might result in this for Setanta.... if for instance this agreement reached included an Irish variation of BT Sport 1/2 and ESPN for advertisement purposes then BT/Setanta could share that revenue raised... with the rights between the two they now have a serious suite of sports rights which could be lucrative in the Irish advertisement market.

ftakeith

icdg wrote: »

We'll have to see the detail when/if the deal is done. Its good in the sense that there will only be a need to subscribe to two packages to get all the Premier League games. There is a reason that ESPN did the bundling deals with Sky and UPC in Ireland - they were not obviously having success being marketed as a standalone premium channel.

Obviously there are cons. UPC viewers may lose out the most as I'd imagine both Setanta Ireland and ESPN will become part of the package and go premium now - a big loss (along with ESPN America which is closing). As Setanta Sports 1 no longer really exists as an independent entity (being now merely the name under which Premier Sports is listed on the Irish EPG), this removes a lot of flexibility from Setanta as far as scheduling is concerned. For example Setanta could not show two games at 8:00pm for the quarter final stage of the Europa League as Premier Sports was already committed to showing rugby league at that time, this will hit Setanta again during the qualifying rounds of the Europa League and matchday one of the group stages (although I think they're fine after that). The point is that Premier Sports commitments limit how Setanta can move programming to that channel now which means that more of Setanta's "premium" programming will have to be aired on Setanta Ireland. Incidently, the Champions League and Europa League rights are now tied up till the end of the 2014-15 season.

Will there be a price increase over the existing Setanta pack on satellite? Almost certainly - although it might not be as high as you think as BT are saving money by allowing Setanta to handle their distribution and marketing in Ireland instead of having to do it themselves. Nonetheless, BT will want their cut - and want to make back the money they paid for the Irish rights to the Premier League - and Setanta were bearly breaking even themselves, so expect a price increase of some order.



Sky have given an undertaking to Ofcom not to schedule Premier League games on Sky Sports 3 or 4, which they do not make available to certain platforms in the UK. Its only an undertaking but the threat from Ofcom is that if they (Sky) were to break it, they'll require Sky to offer Sky Sports 3 & 4 wholesale to all pay-TV platforms. I'm not sure you can only take 1 Sky Sports channel on either Sky or UPC anymore though it certainly used to be possible.

espn's europa league games won't be blacked out in ireland from next season so setanta's europa league games will be different from espn

snaps

Joseph Reilly wrote: »

For me price wise it does not sound encouraging. I only subscribed to ESPN for the UFC. Hope it does not work out much more than the current price.

well i think it will. how much more is to be seen, but this could be a good move all around, but as everyone is saying....the price is the key.

lertsnim

jack presley wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/2.790/setanta-to-net-deal-with-bt-to-offer-more-live-premier-league-games-in-ireland-1.1438770

If it stays around the €17-20 a month, it's a goer.

I would have no problem subscribing at that price.

bellg124

http://www.setanta.com/ie/bt-sport-is-coming-2/

McLoughlin

bellg124 wrote: »

http://www.setanta.com/ie/bt-sport-is-coming-2/

What about content from ESPN America ? Will any of that be shown ?

icdg

bellg124 wrote: »

http://www.setanta.com/ie/bt-sport-is-coming-2/

No pricing information yet and no deal done yet regarding UPC or Eircom- presumably they are trying to get out of the existing deals on UPC for Setanta Ireland and ESPN to be basic tier.

Confirmation though of what we expected, Setanta Sports 1 will formally bite the dust and be replaced with Premier Sports in July.

Mr Cumulonimbus

http://www.setanta.com/ie/gamechanger

Pricing to be announced in mid July.

bjp1967

Any news on Setanta HD launching on Sky, that would finish it off nicely for them #gamechanger

VillaMad

The BT Sport Channels on Sky, I see will be 413 and 414.

Mr Cumulonimbus

bjp1967 wrote: »

Any news on Setanta HD launching on Sky, that would finish it off nicely for them #gamechanger

Not yet anyway.

Will I be able to view the channels in HD?

BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN will all be available in HD.

bazzajf

A poster on another forum has suggested they have been told Setanta will be pricing their new offering at €16.99 per month.

I find this difficult to believe as their existing pricing is already at €16.99 per month, granted if you threaten to cancel, they quickly reduce it to €8.99 per month for a period.

The addition of the BT Channels and ESPN to Setanta's offering will surely mean they are going to increase their monthly subscription fee to anything from €19.99 per month to €29.99 p/m.

If they charge over €20 p/m, I am opting out, i was already receiving 3 ESPN Channels for free with Sky, the BT Channels are attractive but not at a high premium..

jack presley

bazzajf wrote: »

The addition of the BT Channels and ESPN to Setanta's offering will surely mean they are going to increase their monthly subscription fee to anything from €19.99 per month to €29.99 p/m.

Not necessarily. The price they are charging at the moment is ridiculously overpriced for what they offer so keeping it the same with the new package would be a reasonabe solution I think

Infoanon

jack presley wrote: »

Not necessarily. The price they are charging at the moment is ridiculously overpriced for what they offer so keeping it the same with the new package would be a reasonabe solution I think

I would agree - the uptake for Setanta Sports is believed to have been very low - the fact that a transponder for SS1 was too expensive is indicative of that.

Thus Setantas income was primarily through advertising.

Now as part of a Setanta/BT package there will be a much higher uptake and even at a very low take (price) for Setanta it will be more then the current subscription earnings.

Price is key and circa €16.99 is getting near the upper limit - I would also not be surprised if Setanta goes premium on UPC

snaps

If setanta still charge 16.99 a month, it still costs 110€ a month for hd sport? Ok perhaps you could drop movies and get it all for 101€ a month. That's a lot of dollar still.

MD1990

i already have Setanta so i won't need to re-subscribe to get BT Sport?

jack presley

MD1990 wrote: »

i already have Setanta so i won't need to re-subscribe to get BT Sport?

If the price stays the same I'd say you'll just continue on but if they increase the price, you'll probably have to re-confirm.

mickko

bazzajf wrote: »

If they charge over €20 p/m, I am opting out, i was already receiving 3 ESPN Channels for free with Sky, the BT Channels are attractive but not at a high premium..

Were these channels really free though?
If I recall correctly, there was a stand alone charge for ESPN for the first season they had rights for.
Then for the second season, there was a price increase by Sky for Sky Sports, and they included ESPN for "free".

Shouldn't there be now a decrease their sub for Sky Sports?

channelsurfer2

the key thing is the price. remember sky is charging 35 euro for the full sky sports pack of 116 matches etc.
If setanta stay at 16.99 it will be a bonus but for how long i wonder? Although once people see the quality of the "first pick matches they will wonder if its any better than ESPN's apart from 3 or 4 matches if the posts on digitalspy are accurate in their predictions.

Incidentally did anyone notice that skysports2 now says its the home to 66 live premier league matches a year? is this a big change to what they had last year and does it mean only 50 matches will be on sky sports 1?

energy1942

I started this thread 4 months ago and it has taken a long time to get here, but I do think it is the best I could have hoped for, I currently pay €16.99 for Setanta so I could live with €24.99 that would mean an increase of €8.

I am noticing that both Setanta and BT Sports websites are making no mention of the Europa League coverage.

keith_d99

Disaster .... from having all televised games (bar 3pm Saturdays) for €35 (Sky & ESPN)

To having a genuine split of games for €35 + €20 (at least) = €55 just for Sport.

The BT also have first preference on 18 of 38 rounds of games.
To date, down the years - Sky always had first choice.

pricewise987

And all the cash pays for Rooneys new barnet....!!

Prem players having the last laugh....

€600-700 a year to watch games on TV...

Could nearly get a freaking Seaon Ticket for that kind of dosh - and we are only watching on telly

Only one way to vote

channelsurfer2

yes remember thats a potential 55euro on top of a minimum entry price of 27euro for the sky entertainment pack. They have to get their 70% increase back somehow and it looks like it will be those people that cannot do without the premiership. I wont be paying it thats for sure.

Mountjoy Mugger

McLoughlin wrote: »

What about content from ESPN America ? Will any of that be shown ?

It's to be incorporated into single ESPN channel. With a bit of luck, BT Sports 1 and 2 will take the football, etc and ESPN can do all the American stuff.

channelsurfer2

Mountjoy Mugger wrote: »

It's to be incorporated into single ESPN channel. With a bit of luck, BT Sports 1 and 2 will take the football, etc and ESPN can do all the American stuff.

no ESPN will for the first year show FA cup football and scottish football as they are contractally tied to ESPN they cannot show it on BT. Thats one of the reasons BT bought ESPN.

keith_d99

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

yes remember thats a potential 55euro on top of a minimum entry price of 27euro for the sky entertainment pack. They have to get their 70% increase back somehow and it looks like it will be those people that cannot do without the premiership. I wont be paying it thats for sure.

Was resigned to losing the 3rd choice game and keeping Sky Sports sub

But BT having first choice of 18 out of 38 games .... if anything it's making me rethink my Sky Sports sub?!

My limit has been reached

mackersdublin

keith_d99 wrote: »

Was resigned to losing the 3rd choice game and keeping Sky Sports sub

But BT having first choice of 18 out of 38 games .... if anything it's making me rethink my Sky Sports sub?!

My limit has been reached

Me too, although Sky Sports to be fair, do pretty good coverage compared to its rivals

Monday 8th July is when the PL games are announced for Sky Sports / BT Sport

florryfox

Is it extra to add setanta to a multiroom box?

dcr22B

florryfox wrote: »

Is it extra to add setanta to a multiroom box?

€1.49 a month

keith_d99

mackersdublin wrote: »

Me too, although Sky Sports to be fair, do pretty good coverage compared to its rivals

Monday 8th July is when the PL games are announced for Sky Sports / BT Sport

Good coverage for sure but how are you going to feel when those "top 4 type" Super Sunday days are alternating between Sky and BT

I've a feeling 8th July will be realisation day

United fan myself .... Chelsea Away, Liverpool away, City Away in the first few weeks - with older deals these would have been banker Sky games.
If the terms of the deal is correct ... at least 1 of these will be on BT/Setanta

mackersdublin

keith_d99 wrote: »

Good coverage for sure but how are you going to feel when those "top 4 type" Super Sunday days are alternating between Sky and BT

It's a tough one. Pub maybe