Sports Extra (TNT/Premier)

lertsnim

Irish rights haven't been announced yet.

energy1942

lertsnim wrote: »

Irish rights haven't been announced yet.

BT Sport confirmed to me in a telephone conversation I had with them months ago that all there Champions league coverage will be shown in ROI although it is unlikely to be exclusive, that is yet to be decided.

radiowaves

energy1942 wrote: »

BT Sport confirmed to me in a telephone conversation I had with them months ago that all there Champions league coverage will be shown in ROI although it is unlikely to be exclusive, that is yet to be decided.

Unfortunately, though, that is the *only* place it was ever confirmed.

But:

All of their online presence confirms UK only.

All of their press releases at the time the rights were awarded confirmed UK only.

UEFA confirms UK only.

And, obviously, Irish rights have yet to be confirmed.

I've been told all sorts of things by CS agents acting on behalf of TV companies over the phone. In so many cases the "promises" never materialised.

We will have to wait and see on this one.

They may well have the same "arrangement" Sky had in relation to their broadcasts but it seems strange that they don't mention RoI in any of their PR statements.

lertsnim

energy1942 wrote: »

BT Sport confirmed to me in a telephone conversation I had with them months ago that all there Champions league coverage will be shown in ROI although it is unlikely to be exclusive, that is yet to be decided.

The telephone agent might be correct but let's wait for UEFA to tell us for sure.

Elmo

Does Sky Sport block their UEFA Champions League coverage at the moment? Have they ever?

radiowaves

Elmo wrote: »

Does Sky Sport block their UEFA Champions League coverage at the moment? Have they ever?

It's the next set of rights being discussed

Elmo

radiowaves wrote: »

It's the next set of rights being discussed

I know I want to know if Sky block their rights in the Irish market at the moment.

radiowaves

Elmo wrote: »

I know I want to know if Sky block their rights in the Irish market at the moment.

Do you not know the answer to that

It's not relevant to this discussion because we're discussing the next set of rights and Sky will no longer hold the rights in the UK (and Ireland)

lertsnim

Elmo wrote: »

I know I want to know if Sky block their rights in the Irish market at the moment.

They do not block them. That has no relevance at all to the next set of rights though.

icdg

Be nice to each other please

Elmo

radiowaves wrote: »

Do you not know the answer to that

It's not relevant to this discussion because we're discussing the next set of rights and Sky will no longer hold the rights in the UK (and Ireland)

So basically your telling me that Sky were able to show rights to games that Setanta had? You'd wonder why Setanta Bothered.

But seriously does anyone think that BT Sports even if RTÉ/TV3/Setanta retain the rights that they will not provide those games to their Irish Subscribers. As has been pointed out its unusual for Sky to block or change schedules for their Irish Customers.

The only reason BT would block their rights is if Sky buy the Irish rights, and I have been told (on Boards.ie) that Sky won't go down the road of providing a separate service for their Irish Customers, even an opt out service.

icdg wrote: »

Be nice to each other please

We are being nice.

radiowaves

Elmo wrote: »

So basically your telling me that Sky were able to show rights to games that Setanta had? You'd wonder why Setanta Bothered.

But seriously does anyone think that BT Sports even if RTÉ/TV3/Setanta retain the rights that they will not provide those games to their Irish Subscribers. As has been pointed out its unusual for Sky to block or change schedules for their Irish Customers.

The only reason BT would block their rights is if Sky buy the Irish rights, and I have been told (on Boards.ie) that Sky won't go down the road of providing a separate service for their Irish Customers, even an opt out service.

We are being nice.

They're all fair points but, as has been said numerous times, that all applies to previous rights sales and not to the next one

Take the following:

In the UK the rights were always split between satellite and terrestrial broadcasters. That doesn't apply to the next one.

In France there was always a FTA rights-holder. That doesn't apply any more.

They are just two examples showing that whatever applies for previous rights rounds doesn't always apply next time round.

Taking your Setanta example - Setanta probably got the rights in the past for for next to nothing.

Now that Setanta are in bed with BT they obviously wouldn't be applying for rights this time if BT are showing all the matches here under their umbrella. Will this situation be acceptable to UEFA? Indeed it might be the one reason BT do get to show their matches here but wouldn't UEFA want some sort of auction?

I'll say the same thing this time around that I said last time this issue was raised a few months back here: if BT have an arrangement to show the games here why is it nothing they or UEFA have said indicates that to be the case - that is a little strange don't you think?

BT have indicated that they will be launching new channels to show their CL coverage and there will be a new subscription tier introduced. If those channels are introduced here how will that fit in under the Setanta umbrella?

In addition these channels might only show CL matches so if they aren't launched here then nothing would be denied to an Irish audience because they'll still have the same channels and programming they've always had from BT.

If it were Sky again you might actually have a point. But it's not.

So:

Different rights issues.

Different rightsholders.

Different rights auctions.

Different circumstances now.

I also said last time I believe BT will show CL football here but nothing has been announced yet in that regard so nobody can say whether they will or not. All any of us can do is make educated guesses

I hope I've been nice while debating this with you

icdg

Elmo wrote: »

But seriously does anyone think that BT Sports even if RTÉ/TV3/Setanta retain the rights that they will not provide those games to their Irish Subscribers. As has been pointed out its unusual for Sky to block or change schedules for their Irish Customers.
.

Not just unusual, Sky Sports have never done it, ever. The only BSkyB example is during the short lived Sky News Ireland (during which Sky News UK remained available to Irish viewers on satellite via Other Channels) and the even shorter lived time when the teatime edition of Sky News Ireland was broadcast on Sky One (Ireland) in place of episodes of Malcom in the Middle.

Elmo

radiowaves wrote: »

They're all fair points but, as has been said numerous times, that all applies to previous rights sales and not to the next one

icdg wrote: »

Not just unusual, Sky Sports have never done it, ever. The only BSkyB example is during the short lived Sky News Ireland (during which Sky News UK remained available to Irish viewers on satellite via Other Channels) and the even shorter lived time when the teatime edition of Sky News Ireland was broadcast on Sky One (Ireland) in place of episodes of Malcom in the Middle.

radiowaves wrote: »

I hope I've been nice while debating this with you

Yes yes :pac:

sigmundv

It's interesting to look at the list [1] over current rights holders for the Champions League and Super Cup (yes, these are sold together) and when an "Invitation to Submit Offer" (ISO) was issued. The rights are for the period 2012/13 to 2014/15. An ISO was offered for UK on 15/03/2011, but not for RoI until a year later, on 19/03/2012. The deadline for submission of an offer was approx. a month later in both cases.

For the coming rights (see [2]), 2015/16 to 2017/18, an ISO was issued for UK on 03/10/2013 (again with a deadline for submission a month later). As far as I can see, [2] is the latest statement from UEFA regarding the upcoming Champions League and Super Cup rights, and RoI is not on the list of issued ISOs, so the rights might not have been offered in Ireland yet, and we could have to wait for a few months for any update in this matter.

[1] http://www.uefa.org/MultimediaFiles/Download/Publications/competitions/Marketing/01/55/41/62/1554162_DOWNLOAD.pdf
[2] http://www.uefa.org/MultimediaFiles/Download/Publications/uefaorg/Marketing/01/96/76/90/1967690_DOWNLOAD.pdf

PS: As a side note I could mention the current rights holders for RoI according to document [1] above:

Setanta Sports Hibernia Sarl
Radio Teilefís Éireann
TV3 Television Network Limited

This means that Sky doesn't hold any rights in RoI, but apparently the rights holders over here don't mind Sky showing the matches here.

The Cush

sigmundv wrote: »

For the coming rights (see [2]), 2015/16 to 2017/18, an ISO was issued for UK on 03/10/2013 (again with a deadline for submission a month later). As far as I can see, [2] is the latest statement from UEFA regarding the upcoming Champions League and Super Cup rights, and RoI is not on the list of issued ISOs, so the rights might not have been offered in Ireland yet, and we could have to wait for a few months for any update in this matter.

The RoI rights heven't gone to tender yet, most likely early next year. Previous discussion on it here - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=86996586

However, it is the 2015-2016 season and beyond that will really be of concern to the two broadcasters. Uefa will bring three- year Irish rights to the Champions League from 2015-2016 to 2017-2018 to tender at the beginning of the next year.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/media-and-marketing/champions-league-should-prove-good-contest-for-broadcasters-1.1803970

energy1942

The Cush wrote: »

The RoI rights heven't gone to tender yet, most likely early next year. Previous discussion on it here - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=86996586

BT sport are to show the champions league in ROI just as sky did, This is because Irish Broadcasters have never bid for exclusive rights only shared rights.

The Cush

energy1942 wrote: »

This is because Irish Broadcasters have never bid for exclusive rights only shared rights.

That's correct.

radiowaves

energy1942 wrote: »

This is because Irish Broadcasters have never bid for exclusive rights only shared rights.

And once again (and it's getting tiresome repeating this over and over) what has happened in the past has no bearing for what will happen in the future.

UK rights were also always shared but that has changed for the next set of rights. BT now hold the rights exclusivity.

I'm not really sure why that is not getting through

energy1942

radiowaves wrote: »

And once again (and it's getting tiresome repeating this over and over) what has happened in the past has no bearing for what will happen in the future.

UK rights were also always shared but that has changed for the next set of rights. BT now hold the rights exclusivity.

I'm not really sure why that is not getting through

I spoke to Bt sport on the phone months ago, and they confirmed to me that I will be able to watch the games, They told me any deal for Irish broadcasters will not affect this.

radiowaves

energy1942 wrote: »

I spoke to Bt sport on the phone months ago, and they confirmed to me that I will be able to watch the games, They told me any deal for Irish broadcasters will not affect this.

Yes, you've said that a few times.

And as has been responded a few times neither BT nor UEFA confirmed this in any PR on the subject (mentioning UK only).

So do you believe a solitary CS agent or do you believe two PR departments?

Elmo

Irish broadcasters have never really minded British broadcasters when it comes to rights. I'd say there are lots of programmes that RTÉ, TV3 and TG4 have that are exclusive to them in Ireland but because of the history of British TV in Ireland none of them have cared try to block such programmes being shown on non-Irish channels.

I think its more a case of if you are buying British rights it is a case of Irish rights are included.

I think it will be different now that Sky and UTV have bought rights specifically for the Republic.

That's why I think Sky might go for RoI rights for Champions and Europa League. And why I think BT may seek to buy them outright in RoI.

munchkin_utd

just to add a few comments on the whole big country/ small country issue.
- theres separate distinct contracts with Sky Germany and Sky Austria for both countries. Strange that Sky Ireland can just broadcast Champions league into Ireland without having a contract to do so.
- an notable anomaly in the sports rights (on the face of it) is that sky germany is re-sold in Switzerland. But when you look at it everythings "in ordnung" as Teleclub who re-sell Sky actually do have the rights for the champions league in Switzerland so what they are doing is perfectly ok - in comparison to Sky Ireland who seem to just broadcast without holding any rights.

The only explaination for the irish situation is that sky have deals done in the background with the actual holders of the rights - or the rights holders are soft in the head.

radiowaves

munchkin_utd wrote: »

The only explaination for the irish situation is that sky have deals done in the background with the actual holders of the rights - or the rights holders are soft in the head.

And if it's the first then BT are a different player so there's no guarantee that they will be able to do the same. And BT couldn't do any negotiations until it's decided who's showing the matches here.

If it's the second then people on this board are justified in their belief that BT will be able to continue to do what Sky have done in previous rights rounds.

Of course a third possible (and maybe more probable?) is that UEFA recognise the unique broadcasting situation that exists here and have been willing to allow Sky to broadcast - and perhaps Irish rights holders got their rights on a reduced fee basis.

It is only in the third scenario could BT believe they can do the same - but as I've said so often, their PR didn't and doesn't mention Ireland and neither does their or UEFA's websites.

channelsurfer2

radiowaves wrote: »

And if it's the first then BT are a different player so there's no guarantee that they will be able to do the same. And BT couldn't do any negotiations until it's decided who's showing the matches here.

If it's the second then people on this board are justified in their belief that BT will be able to continue to do what Sky have done in previous rights rounds.

Of course a third possible (and maybe more probable?) is that UEFA recognise the unique broadcasting situation that exists here and have been willing to allow Sky to broadcast - and perhaps Irish rights holders got their rights on a reduced fee basis.

It is only in the third scenario could BT believe they can do the same - but as I've said so often, their PR didn't and doesn't mention Ireland and neither does their or UEFA's websites.

I wonder is the reason because the Irish rights holders would rather allow sky show it in tandem with them instead of sky outbidding them for irish rights anyways if they objected?

icdg

To slightly change the subject, Setanta Ireland was ten years old on Wednesday. There was an article in the Irish Times commemorating it yesterday, with nothing major to add except that their goal for the next year is to renew the BT deal.

The Cush

icdg wrote: »

There was an article in the Irish Times commemorating it yesterday, with nothing major to add except that their goal for the next year is to renew the BT deal.

Also a question as to where the Irish TV rights for the Champions League might go the next time around

Setanta has “a good relationship with BT”, he says, and “we would like that relationship to continue”. What happens to the Irish rights for the UEFA Champions’ League from the 2015-2016 season onwards will prove an interesting pointer to the future.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/media-and-marketing/setanta-sports-marks-10th-birthday-1.1895660

theglobe

Lads, I cant find my customer service number. It says it should be on top of my welcome email but it isnt. Where is it at all? Thanks.

batistuta9

theglobe wrote: »

Lads, I cant find my customer service number. It says it should be on top of my welcome email but it isnt. Where is it at all? Thanks.

this is for the setanta pack to cancel online isn't it?

they don't send it or a letter, you've to ring up to get it. then you can cancel online. actually true :pac:

you could cancel via email instead of that form on the website though.
people cancelled that way last time there was a deal, you won't get any offer to say though that way unless you ask for it

icdg

New look graphics on Setanta for Premier League today, the first time they have completely changed their graphics since 2007. Comes with possibly the most riddiculous game clock I've ever seen.