The FA Premier League - BSkyB, BT, and Setanta win Irish rights 2013-2016

sigmundv · 23-06-2012 01:13PM

Just a bit of perspective. I used The Wayback Machine (wayback.archive.org) to load an old version of premierleague.com from February 2010. There is a section called UK & Ireland TV Listings. The Premier League very much considers UK and Ireland one entity, although technically the rights are sold separately.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100207231034/http://www.premierleague.com/page/UKAndIreland/0,,12306,00.html

The Dark Knight · 25-06-2012 12:56PM

sigmundv wrote: »

Just a bit of perspective. I used The Wayback Machine (wayback.archive.org) to load an old version of premierleague.com from February 2010. There is a section called UK & Ireland TV Listings. The Premier League very much considers UK and Ireland one entity, although technically the rights are sold separately.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100207231034/http://www.premierleague.com/page/UKAndIreland/0,,12306,00.html

Does your Wayback Maching say that the British empire "very much considedered" UK and Ireland one entity and ruled it as such for hundreds of years...... THINGS CHANGE!!!!

p.oconnor · 25-06-2012 02:49PM

Just to confirm finally officially from the Premier League;

Hi Patrick,

Ireland isn't part of the recent deal. Ireland’s rights will be negotiated separately as part of the European process.

Kind regards,

Supporter Services

It will be interesting to see if the premier league will make the 3pm games and other non-UK packages available to Irish Broadcasters, In all likelyhood probably not non-UK packages for some unknown reason.

Elmo · 25-06-2012 03:24PM

p.oconnor wrote: »

Just to confirm finally officially from the Premier League;

Hi Patrick,

Ireland isn't part of the recent deal. Ireland’s rights will be negotiated separately as part of the European process.

Kind regards,

Supporter Services

It will be interesting to see if the premier league will make the 3pm games and other non-UK packages available to Irish Broadcasters, In all likelyhood probably not non-UK packages for some unknown reason.

I always hate when emails are just the bare minimum. I know you may not have asked but when do they expect European Negotiations to conclude?

p.oconnor · 25-06-2012 03:44PM

Elmo wrote: »

I always hate when emails are just the bare minimum. I know you may not have asked but when do they expect European Negotiations to conclude?

Ya they really do keep it bare, I did ask them aswell about dates and why Irish broadcasters do not have non-UK packages available to them like the rest of Europe but as you can see by the response.... Would encourage others to ask about the non-UK packages aswell, there may possibly think there would be no market for them here.

snaps · 25-06-2012 03:49PM

The Dark Knight wrote: »

sigmundv wrote: »

Just a bit of perspective. I used The Wayback Machine (wayback.archive.org) to load an old version of premierleague.com from February 2010. There is a section called UK & Ireland TV Listings. The Premier League very much considers UK and Ireland one entity, although technically the rights are sold separately.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100207231034/http://www.premierleague.com/page/UKAndIreland/0,,12306,00.html

Does your Wayback Maching say that the British empire "very much considedered" UK and Ireland one entity and ruled it as such for hundreds of years...... THINGS CHANGE!!!!

I think what was being stated there is that the rights that Ireland got was normally the same as the UK rights due to the British broadcasters broadcasting here. Only rights that were not to the same is the 3pm Saturday slot. What channels the epl was broadcast to in the uk, the norm was for them to broadcast to Ireland too, namely bskyb (British sky broadcasting).

munchkin_utd · 25-06-2012 04:05PM

thats interesting that Ireland is not park of the UK from the point of view of the Premiership head honchos

You would want to consider this in conjunction with what they were saying back in March :

“We are still actually deliberating whether we should sell on a territory-by-territory basis, or whether with what’s happened [in the court ruling] with the freedom of movement it’s actually more applicable and you would actually get better protection or a better return if you sold on a pan-European basis.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/9156575/Premier-Leagues-Richard-Scudamore-admits-European-TV-rights-shake-up-could-hit-club-revenues.html#

the FT was even more focused on the 1 package for all europe angle, but they are feckers for trying to quote online.

Headshot · 25-06-2012 04:22PM

Who can afford to buy the rights over here?

Elmo · 25-06-2012 04:41PM

Headshot wrote: »

Who can afford to buy the rights over here?

Well this is pretty much are point.

Sky will most likely buy up the rights that they have for the UK for the ROI.

There is a question mark over BT, who don't have a residential presence in ROI as they do in the UK.

Setanta will most likely buy the 3pm Saturday matches as before as they're are not available in the UK. They may see it as their jewel in their sports coverage. Without it UPC wouldn't be all that interested in placing Setanta Ireland on their basic package.

UPC might be interested along side UPCs On Demand service, it would be a great bonus for them.

RTÉ/TG4 are unlikely to bid for the 3pm Games. RTÉ are more likely to retain PSS, if it is worth their while, remember they may feel MNS should be retained.

TV3 might???? If they want a HD service the 3PM games might just be what they need.

sigmundv · 25-06-2012 11:39PM

The Dark Knight wrote: »

sigmundv wrote: »

Just a bit of perspective. I used The Wayback Machine (wayback.archive.org) to load an old version of premierleague.com from February 2010. There is a section called UK & Ireland TV Listings. The Premier League very much considers UK and Ireland one entity, although technically the rights are sold separately.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100207231034/http://www.premierleague.com/page/UKAndIreland/0,,12306,00.html

Does your Wayback Maching say that the British empire "very much considedered" UK and Ireland one entity and ruled it as such for hundreds of years...... THINGS CHANGE!!!!

How much have things changed over two years? The Premier League was formed in 1992. They have nothing to do with the British empire.

p.oconnor · 26-06-2012 01:47PM

Headshot wrote: »

Who can afford to buy the rights over here?

Ya that is the problem here, RTE and TV3 are completly broke and RTE would get alot of flack if they spent alot of money on rights from people clinging on to the hope League of Ireland Soccer will return to the good days.

I could see TG4 winning the highlights package but after that they are in the same situation as RTE and TV3. Setanta is another story altogether they have to win at least the 3pm games or they will be out of business as a subscription channel in Ireland, but if BT decide not to bother with Ireland and Setanta could find funding from somewhere to buy the rights they would have the rights to some big matches that people would actually pay to watch and including the 3pm matches would surely double current numbers subscribing.

It is all guess work at the minute, it will be the first time ever that there is real uncertainty in the outcome of the Irish rights not held by sky sports of course.

OldRio · 26-06-2012 04:37PM

p.oconnor wrote: »

Ya that is the problem here, RTE and TV3 are completly broke and RTE would get alot of flack if they spent alot of money on rights from people clinging on to the hope League of Ireland Soccer will return to the good days.

RTE would also get a lot of flak, rightly IMHO, for spending money on sport from another country. Perhaps it should spend money on providing a full HD service for GAA.

Elmo · 26-06-2012 04:48PM

OldRio wrote: »

RTE would also get a lot of flak, rightly IMHO, for spending money on sport from another country. Perhaps it should spend money on providing a full HD service for GAA.

For all Irish sports.

p.oconnor · 26-06-2012 05:03PM

OldRio wrote: »

RTE would also get a lot of flak, rightly IMHO, for spending money on sport from another country. Perhaps it should spend money on providing a full HD service for GAA.

I surpose you are right about RTE, doesnt excuse TV3 in the lack of Irish/International sport it shows, a couple of GAA games and a few European Soccer games is pathetic for a national broadcaster, how they get away with it under the BCI licence is beyond me.

Its still my opinion though that there is an opening in Ireland for another commercial broadcaster who could, if they had resources do very well either as a subscription channel or a FTV channel like Eurosport.

Elmo · 26-06-2012 05:08PM

In fairness to all 4 Irish broadcasters they do provide a huge amount of sport.

RTÉ have a vast amount often due to their links with the EBU (this summer is a clear case of that).
TG4 have done well to air games that other Irish broadcasters often over look, I would like to see them do some other Irish sports such as Basketball and Hockey (even in just a small way).
TV3 have always been only interested in bought in games like UFEA Champions League, and in fairness to them they eventually picked up GAA.
Setanta's only problem is that they are not free to air, they really should think about at least one of the channels going the FTA route.

Manc-Red · 26-06-2012 06:36PM

I'm really hoping that the 3pm Live rights on a Saturday for Ireland is available in HD on satellite or Saorview...

I've been finding myself switching to a foreign channel for some time & banging on the radio for the English commentary via a radio delay, just to get that quality - Even though I sub with Setanta.

Here's hoping

p.oconnor · 26-06-2012 06:43PM

Elmo wrote: »

In fairness to all 4 Irish broadcasters they do provide a huge amount of sport.

RTÉ have a vast amount often due to their links with the EBU (this summer is a clear case of that).
TG4 have done well to air games that other Irish broadcasters often over look, I would like to see them do some other Irish sports such as Basketball and Hockey (even in just a small way).
TV3 have always been only interested in bought in games like UFEA Champions League, and in fairness to them they eventually picked up GAA.
Setanta's only problem is that they are not free to air, they really should think about at least one of the channels going the FTA route.

Ya I do agree with you about Setanta, they should launch at least one of the channels FTA on Saorview, Sky and UPC and show the events which other channels show FTA in any case, that channel could then be used to showcase a subscription channel which had more premium events such as the premier league.

I did think RTE's decision not to broadcast the national basketball finals this year was an utter disgrace, how can they justify wasting €254,000 on the Eurovision this year and then decide not to broadcast a national final which they used always broadcast.

p.oconnor · 26-06-2012 06:47PM

Manc-Red wrote: »

I'm really hoping that the 3pm Live rights on a Saturday for Ireland is available in HD on satellite or Saorview...

I've been finding myself switching to a foreign channel for some time & banging on the radio for the English commentary via a radio delay, just to get that quality - Even though I sub with Setanta.

Here's hoping

Seems unlikely at the moment anyway that we will have it in HD unless Setanta finally decides to lauch its HD channel on sky, everytime I have enquired they send an automated response saying that there is plans but no current date, this has been going on now since they lauched on UPC in HD.

Manc-Red · 26-06-2012 07:09PM

p.oconnor wrote: »

Seems unlikely at the moment anyway that we will have it in HD unless Setanta finally decides to lauch its HD channel on sky, everytime I have enquired they send an automated response saying that there is plans but no current date, this has been going on now since they lauched on UPC in HD.

I'm thinking that if Setanta get the 3pms for the season after next that we will see their HD channel on Sky.

"On going negotiations" - my a**e , I've had the same automated email sent to me too - the UPC deal is an exclusive one & I'm betting it's not up until the summer of next when the current 3pm Irish rights end.

p.oconnor · 26-06-2012 07:18PM

Manc-Red wrote: »

I'm thinking that if Setanta get the 3pms for the season after next that we will see their HD channel on Sky.

"On going negotiations" - my a**e , I've had the same automated email sent to me too - the UPC deal is an exclusive one & I'm betting it's not up until the summer of next when the current 3pm Irish rights end.

Well I surpose it all depends on wheather Setanta wins the rights, if they dont thats them finished as a subscription broadcaster on all platforms be it sky, UPC, SD or HD... could we have an Irish company like BT completely surprise us and go take on sky... the possibilities are endless ... oh the excitment of it all.

Manc-Red · 26-06-2012 07:20PM

p.oconnor wrote: »

Well I surpose it all depends on wheather Setanta wins the rights, if they dont thats them finished as a subscription broadcaster on all platforms be it sky, UPC, SD or HD... could we have an Irish company like BT completely surprise us and go take on sky... the possibilities are endless ... oh the excitment of it all.

If BT come in here & get those 3pms, Sky will soil themselves.

p.oconnor · 26-06-2012 07:28PM

Manc-Red wrote: »

If BT come in here & get those 3pms, Sky will soil themselves.

Could be a good deal for us if that happened as we would only have to subscribe to two broadcasters rather then the three we have to subscribe for next season, would be the end of Setanta in its current form anyway if they lost all premier league, all they would have left is F1 and GAA leagues as their main attraction, people would leave in an instant.

Manc-Red · 26-06-2012 07:43PM

p.oconnor wrote: »

Could be a good deal for us if that happened as we would only have to subscribe to two broadcasters rather then the three we have to subscribe for next season, would be the end of Setanta in its current form anyway if they lost all premier league, all they would have left is F1 and GAA leagues as their main attraction, people would leave in an instant.

Yep...

I'm a subscriber to Setanta on a yearly basis but if they lose the 3pms .... I'll be gone & wouldn't pay 5 euro for it to stay on with them.

p.oconnor · 26-06-2012 07:50PM

Manc-Red wrote: »

Yep...

I'm a subscriber to Setanta on a yearly basis but if they lose the 3pms .... I'll be gone & wouldn't pay 5 euro for it to stay on with them.

I gave them the road yesterday, not worth the €8.98 they were charging me in this day and age. I found I was switching off Setanta to watch the same event in FTA HD, that was enough for me anyway.

Manc-Red · 26-06-2012 07:53PM

p.oconnor wrote: »

I gave them the road yesterday, not worth the €8.98 they were charging me in this day and age. I found I was switching off Setanta to watch the same event in FTA HD, that was enough for me anyway.

An absolute no brainer m8 in that case, ....... Setanta at the very least need to get that HD channel on 28e to show a little class.

I'd rather watch Sky Italia in HD & listen to them nuts commentating lol

batistuta9 · 27-06-2012 09:28AM

p.oconnor wrote: »

I did think RTE's decision not to broadcast the national basketball finals this year was an utter disgrace, how can they justify wasting €254,000 on the Eurovision this year and then decide not to broadcast a national final which they used always broadcast.

viewer numbers i'd say would justify it for them

what happens with the irish only rights, are they just sold to the highest bidder or does a minimum have to be met?

p.oconnor · 27-06-2012 11:12AM

batistuta9 wrote: »

what happens with the irish only rights, are they just sold to the highest bidder or does a minimum have to be met?

Well you would think that it would be the highest bidder and any bidder would have to meet certain criteria, that would be my take on it anyway.

I don't know if the process includes rounds of bidding like in the UK, if the rights were to be sold on first round bids only it would be a lot easier for an Irish broadcaster to surprise sky and take some rights off them... well if funding wasn't a problem that is.

channelsurfer2 · 27-06-2012 11:27AM

think about the BT rights issue from an irish perspective it seems that they arent quite half as valuable as had been believed and that the quality of games will be more or less along the lines of setanta/espns current offerings except for 4-8 games that may be good first picks.
so knowing this would it be even worth BT's while to go for irish rights with no triple play service to cross sell?

that leaves an awful lot to play for and possibly someone picking up the two BT packages here in ireland on the cheap???

batistuta9 · 27-06-2012 11:52AM

p.oconnor wrote: »

Well you would think that it would be the highest bidder and any bidder would have to meet certain criteria, that would be my take on it anyway.

I don't know if the process includes rounds of bidding like in the UK, if the rights were to be sold on first round bids only it would be a lot easier for an Irish broadcaster to surprise sky and take some rights off them... well if funding wasn't a problem that is.

If it went that way - to the highest bidder - surely this should make it easier/cheaper for RTÉ/TV3/TG4 even Setanta again to acquire them

& i'd imagine the only criteria would be to have the money to pay for it or be currently broadcasting or going to start broadcasting.

+ if they could get them on the cheap compared to the main rights when competing with sky would it not be a no brainer for them to pick the pack up - an increase in viewer numbers & because of that more money from advertisers during that time

p.oconnor · 27-06-2012 12:49PM

batistuta9 wrote: »

If it went that way - to the highest bidder - surely this should make it easier/cheaper for RTÉ/TV3/TG4 even Setanta again to acquire them

& i'd imagine the only criteria would be to have the money to pay for it or be currently broadcasting or going to start broadcasting.

+ if they could get them on the cheap compared to the main rights when competing with sky would it not be a no brainer for them to pick the pack up - an increase in viewer numbers & because of that more money from advertisers during that time

Thats exactly what I was always thinking, the Premier League is huge business in Ireland, the publicity and advertisement revenue from a channel other then Sky winning the big 4pm and MNF matches would be massive which would at the very least break even or be profit making. Thats why I think there is an opening for a new commercial channel in Ireland which would not have the debt TV3/RTE has on its back.

The FA Premier League - BSkyB, BT, and Setanta win Irish rights 2013-2016

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