Eir in talks to acquire Setanta Sports

ongarite

Reports in papers this morning say Eir is in advanced talks to acquire Setanta Sports.
Seems to be a recent trend of broadband providers owning a TV station..

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/eir-in-talks-for-takeover-of-setanta-sports-1.2437205

Ireland’s biggest telecoms group Eir is in talks to acquire Setanta Sports, the Dublin-based pay television broadcaster.
The Irish Times has learned that talks are at an advanced stage with a deal likely to be completed in 2016, subject to regulatory approval and competition clearance.
It is understood that Mickey O’Rourke, Setanta’s majority shareholder and co-founder, would remain with the business for a period after a deal is completed.
In the next few weeks Eir will discover the results of an audit of its financial and technical operations carried out by the Department of CommunicationsCantillon: face-off between Minister and Eir looks certain
A still from Eir’s new ad campaign Sparks fly as minister and Eir battle it out over broadband
The survey shows the number of Irish people with a smartphone has almost doubled in the last three years.Net addiction grows as Ireland gets ‘smarter’
Setanta operates two sports channels in Ireland and has hi-tech production facilities in Dublin’s city centre.
Last week it signed a “multi-year” extension to its current deal with British telco BT, which was due to expire in 2016.
This allows its customers to receive BT’s sports channels as part of their Setanta pack.
It is understood that BT is aware of the discussions taking place with Eir and is comfortable with a deal being agreed.

icdg

Interesting there that it would mean a seperation of Setanta and Premier Sports, which were effectively operating as one company. Hopefully it would come with a long term deal for Premier Sports to continue to be part of the Setanta pack in Ireland.

channelsurfer2

a rebrand to the Eir sports channel?

Gonzo

and if such a thing does happen would be nice if Eir gives all Eir customers free acesss to the channel on Sky just like BT gives BT Sports to all BT customers.

mikeym

Eir Sports would sound silly.

Better off not rebranding Setanta.

Joo0

Shame BEin didnt buy the Setanta Ireland when they picked up the Australian version. The only thing keeping Setanta going is the BTSport link up. Its a shame for Setanta that they couldn't keep the 3 pm games. For me and many football fans Setanta's offering isnt very attractive next season. BtSport will no longer have the same amount of 1st picks next season so the quality will drop. The 5:30 Saturday slot isnt the best either. 20 million seems a very low price youd wonder why BT would buy it up themselves.

Joo0

mikeym wrote: »

Eir Sports would sound silly.

Better off not rebranding Setanta.

eirSport is a real possibility. They registered eirSport.ie earlier this year

Elmo

Joo0 wrote: »

eirSport is a real possibility. They registered eirSport.ie earlier this year

Not surprised, Sky buy Irish only rights and eircom get into bed with BT (said it a while back)

Widescreen

Posted in wrong thread previously-apologies.

I think Eircom takeover is bad news for the customer. I don't like their phone package offers where they give a half decent offer for six months and then hike the price.(most people probably don't even know the price will rise after six months because the print telling you this is so small)

If they run the sports channel the same way, they won't last long.

They should stick to their core business

It's ironical that Setanta have finally got something going and then sell out.

I like the fact that they will deal on the pricing - will Eircom do the same?!?

Elmo

Widescreen wrote: »

It's ironical that Setanta have finally got something going and then sell out.

TBH I always thought that Setanta were playing the waiting game. Most of its international channels have been sold.

It was either Eir or BT that would consider the takeover, IMO Eir are just following what BT are doing in Britain.

Delta2113

Eir are the last company that i would like to see getting Setanta. If they do I expect them to totally mess Virgin Media around and Virgin Media won't be able to retaliate with Pulling TV3 from Eir as an example.

macker22

I wouldn't like to see eir get setanta either I think they'll ruin it like they've done with everything else

channelsurfer2

would Eir be able to use "Eir/Setanta" Sports as a free give away to their customers? I know that they have a wholesale and retail division but not quite sure if that means they would have the leeway to give away something that retails for €21.99 normally without Sky/Virgin complaining to Comreg.

machiavellianme

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

would Eir be able to use "Eir/Setanta" Sports as a free give away to their customers? I know that they have a wholesale and retail division but not quite sure if that means they would have the leeway to give away something that retails for €21.99 normally without Sky/Virgin complaining to Comreg.

I'd doubt too many pay full price per month. With the regular 9.99 offers or 129 for the year, most seem to grab a bargain or drop their sub.

icdg

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

would Eir be able to use "Eir/Setanta" Sports as a free give away to their customers? I know that they have a wholesale and retail division but not quite sure if that means they would have the leeway to give away something that retails for €21.99 normally without Sky/Virgin complaining to Comreg.

Setanta Ireland is already part of Eir's basic pack, so really we would be talking then BT Sport and Premier Sports programmes. I suppose it would depend on whether Eir could afford to take the hit on whatever payments BT would be expecting in respect of those customers, and what the ongoing relationship, if any, will exist between Premier and Setanta after the two separate. A deal to keep Premier Sports and its content as part of the Setanta pack isn't crucial - rugby league and ice hockey are very much niche sports here - but a one channel Setanta could face problems during the GAA league season keeping up the level of coverage it had previously been able to offer. (Given that all the European football is being shown by BT now, I don't think it's as important for Setanta to run two matches on weeknights any more, though they have done so this season.)

guile4582

Widescreen wrote: »

Posted in wrong thread previously-apologies.



It's ironical that Setanta have finally got something going and then sell out.

are you for real? the owners more or less lost everything when the UK business went belly up.

Perfect time to get out, the price of sports rights has got ridiclious

Widescreen

I'm only looking at it from a joe soap customer point of view-them making loads of money doesn't impact on my life- I just think the channel package now is perfect and I can only see the new owners screwing it up!

afatbollix

Don't UPC or virgin own a stake in Setanta? They paid for the launch of HD so it would only be on UPC for a while. Maybe Eir are buying that stake?

icdg

It's hard to establish, because Setanta is privately held, however from what I can gather Michael O'Rouke now owns either all or nearly all of the company.

The Cush

Confirmed on RTE business news this morning.

eir agrees deal to purchase Setanta Sports Ireland
Eir acquires Setanta Sports including BT Sport's Irish rights

Flippyfloppy

The Cush wrote: »

Confirmed on RTE business news this morning.

eir agrees deal to purchase Setanta Sports Ireland
Eir acquires Setanta Sports including BT Sport's Irish rights

Noooooooooooooooooo Anyone but Eir, they're absolutely awful feckers

macker22

Tats the end of setanta so eir will run it to the ground

channelsurfer2

subscribe to Eir and get Eir sports free.(but really not free as we are way more expensive than Sky or Vodafone/Virgin).......

ftakeith

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

subscribe to Eir and get Eir sports free.(but really not free as we are way more expensive than Sky or Vodafone/Virgin).......

eir's 'broadband only' is 45euros per month, would you get the setanta pack for free in the future as this might make sky sports cheaper for sky fibre broaband consumers

An Ciarraioch

ftakeith wrote: »

eir's 'broadband only' is 45euros per month, would you get the setanta pack for free in the future as this might make sky sports cheaper for sky fibre broaband consumers

Would presume this is the business reasoning, given they apparently only have 40,000 subscribers, so free BT would be a key selling point.

notahappycamper

Will this be the end of Setanta on satellite/Sky then i.e. will it only be available through Eir I wonder?

channelsurfer2

notahappycamper wrote: »

Will this be the end of Setanta on satellite/Sky then i.e. will it only be available through Eir I wonder?

free on Eir but not on Sky. Same as BT do in the UK provided people sign up for BT broadband perhaps.

greendom

Wonder what impact this will have on the BT Sport channel side of things.

swoofer

for bt sport read this as already posted.

http://www.independent.ie/business/eir-acquires-setanta-sports-including-bt-sports-irish-rights-34264787.html

ftakeith

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

free on Eir but not on Sky. Same as BT do in the UK provided people sign up for BT broadband perhaps.

But in the UK, if you have sky tv on satellite and also have BT broadband you get BT sport's channels for free, could the same thing happen here

mikeym

What will happen to Setanta Sports 1 and Setanta HD since that Premier Sport is not being sold to Eir?

An Ciarraioch

mikeym wrote: »

What will happen to Setanta Sports 1 and Setanta HD since that Premier Sport is not being sold to Eir?

Presumably Setanta Sports 1 is included, if the sports pack is being sold, but Premier Sports will operate, as now, as a stand-alone UK entity?

dublinman1990

Setanta Ireland is also available to legacy subscribers of Analogue Cable.

If the deal goes ahead what happens to the channel by then?

Capt'n Midnight

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

subscribe to Eir and get Eir sports free.(but really not free as we are way more expensive than Sky or Vodafone/Virgin).......

Any chance Eir will do an IPTV thing for those on other providers BB ?

Or will it be only linked to those who pay for line rental ?

icdg

An Ciarraioch wrote: »

Presumably Setanta Sports 1 is included, if the sports pack is being sold, but Premier Sports will operate, as now, as a stand-alone UK entity?

The thing is that while, on paper, it is a standalone UK entity, the reality at present is that for all operational purposes Setanta Sports 1 and Premier Sports are the same channel. About 90% of the schedule is identical and during those identical programmes Premier Sports branding and UK advertisements are seen on both. (There is a "Setanta 1" DOG on the cable version, on the satellite version the DOG reads "Premier Sports" during common programmes).

Setanta Sports 1 only exists as a distinct service during two periods- Saturday afternoons, and Champions League/Europa League game nights. There are also GAA National League matches broadcast on the channel with Setanta branding though these do also air in the UK.

What do I think will happen? I think the current arrangements will run through to the end of this season, after which we will see the end of Setanta Sports 1 (as indeed was planned to happen in August 2013 before Setanta had a sudden last minute change of heart). The Premier League matches will be gone and the rationale for two Champions League/Europa League matches to continue to be aired by Setanta when they are also being aired by BT is weak. Setanta can continue to run separate coverage on Setanta Ireland (and seem to be obliged to air one Europa League match FTV on the channel). That leaves the problem of the GAA, but 2016 is the last year of the current contract, and who knows where the pieces will lie after the upcoming auction on that. Hopefully then there will be a deal for Premier Sports to remain part of the Setanta pack for the forseeable future.

bk

Here is what I suspect will happen:

- These channels will be Renamed to eir Sport or some variant of that.
- These channels will at least be offered for free when bundled with eir Vision TV service, Eir's IPTV TV service that also requires Eir Fibre Broadband (FTTC/FTTH).
- They might also offer it for free to all eir Fibre Broadband customers, even if they don't sign up for eir Vision TV service, but less certain about this one.
- They will continue to offer the service on Sky Satellite and Virgin cable, but at an extra cost.
- They might offer it as an over the top IPTV service on other braodband companies (e.g. Sky, Virgin, etc.), but obviously at a cost.

Expect to see lots of adds for Eir Broadband and TV service and offers of the channel for "free" when bundled with them on these channels.

icdg

The terms of their agreement with BT (and whatever continuing agreement, if any, may exist with Premier Sports after they are separated from Setanta) may limit their ability to offer channels other than Setanta Ireland free of charge. It depends what kind of fee BT is expecting per subscriber.

icdg

The Irish Times has a bit more details today, Michael O'Rouke will stay with Setanta for two years, so I imagine there will continue to be an ongoing relationship between Setanta and Premier of some sort for that period anyway. Seems there will be no overnight rebrand but reading between the lines a move to the Eir brand may eventually happen. The Setanta Pack will remain available on Virgin, though what might happen on satellite isn't mentioned (though I don't expect it to go anywhere).

Elmo

FTV only to Virgin subscribers. Do they provide FTV to Sky for Europa games? as they do with Sound and Vision.

Disappointed BT didn't buy Setanta, purely to see if the BAI would defend their funding position.

icdg

Yes, one Europa League game each week has been free to view on satellite each week during the group stages. Probably a UEFA requirement given Setanta's status as exclusive rights holder this season.

gordongekko

Elmo wrote: »

FTV only to Virgin subscribers. Do they provide FTV to Sky for Europa games? as they do with Sound and Vision.

Disappointed BT didn't buy Setanta, purely to see if the BAI would defend their funding position.

They could well end up swallowing all of eir.

ftakeith

gordongekko wrote: »

They could well end up swallowing all of eir.

in the uk bbc and bt sport share live sport rights

could eir sport and rtetv do the same

gordongekko

ftakeith wrote: »

in the uk bbc and bt sport share live sport rights

could eir sport and rtetv do the same

How the hell would I know 😃

There probably is a lot of sense in that.

Sky and itv share England game rights. Itv now have utv Ireland.
Tv3 have joined upc/liberty who have access to the Olympics.
Bt sports eir and rte are now the only ones without a link up.

icdg

I would not overplay the Discovery-Liberty links, such as they are. Discovery is not a subsidiary of Liberty. Malone does control Liberty and has a large (but crucially, not the largest, which is held by the Newhouses) stake in Discovery. He has a directorship at Discovery but not management control.

Sky can only show England games in one very limited circumstance - if England are drawn in the same group as Scotland, Wales, NI, or the Republic of Ireland. Even then they can only show the tie in which England are away.

afatbollix

It will all stay the same just different money was moved around. Eir bough NTLs shares as they had I think 25%?

It will not be free on virgin any more but will be free on eir.

By the sounds of it Virgin told Setanta to get fecked when they came in and Setanta had to go find a new partner.

It will stay on SKY they can't lose that amount of viewers.

Premier sports & Setanta sports 1 are ran as one channel in Dublin. They only have one tv channel bay in Dublin to run both channels. To keep it cheap.

Elmo

afatbollix wrote: »

It will not be free on virgin any more but will be free on eir.

Sound and Vision funding has to go in that case.

icdg

That is just speculation at the moment. No decision has been made.

Elmo

icdg wrote: »

That is just speculation at the moment. No decision has been made.

Wonder what will happen to Channel 105 if Setanta moves from Virgin Media? Will be interesting to see if they will let UTV Ireland take 105 or even 106 should they decided to drop Setanta as part of the Basic package.

Delta2113

TV3 +1 could even take 105.

Elmo

Delta2113 wrote: »

TV3 +1 could even take 105.

Possibly 106 with 3e moving to 105. But surely the regulator would have look at that as an abuse of position from Virgin Media.

guile4582

Do Virgin operate like Sky, as in you buy the EPG channel number / slot?

or can they move channels as they feel