Setanta Sports News was a television channel from Virgin Media Television and

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previ ...

. The channel launched on 29 November 2007.Setanta Sports News launch date announced

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

, 5 November 2007 as a rolling 24-hour sports news channel using the strength of the Setanta Sports brand across the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. It was available to all

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

customers and also

free-to-view Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audiovisual transmissions that are provided free without any form of continual subscription . It differs from free-to-air (FTA) in that the program is encrypted. Free-to-view vs. free-to-air The free-to-vi ...

on satellite and online. The channel was seen as Virgin Media's rival to

Sky Sports News Sky Sports News (SSN) is a British paid television sports news channel run by Sky, a division of Comcast. History Since 1992, Sky Sports had broadcast sports news, initially a brief ''Football Update'' and later this was expanded into a ...

, which was removed from their platform on 1 March 2007 as their contract with

British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

had ended. However, when Virgin Media reinstated Sky Sports News onto their television platform, their Setanta rival remained an active channel. It was announced on 12 September 2007 that ITN was appointed producer of Setanta Sports News. The channel was transmitted by Red Bee Media, who also play in the commercial breaks. The channel closed at just before 6pm on Tuesday 23 June 2009, following financial difficulties.

History

Setanta Sports News was launched on 29 November 2007 on the

and Sky Digital platforms. The Virgin Media Television network had previously expressed their interest in running a sports news channel, after

BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

removed

from ntl:Telewest's successor Virgin Media. Some media sources have claimed that Setanta News is intended to be in direct competition with

's Sky Sports News, which has an average of around 0.6%. It was announced in the summer of 2007 that Virgin Media Television was to launch the new channel. On 1 September 2008, the channel was given a new look. The format was changed from 4:3 to Widescreen. Viewers could see headlines along the length of the bottom of the screen, rather than across the top of the video section. There were other several minor changes, none of particular importance. Over the course of the remainder of the year, channel producers experimented with different format designs, including removing the side bar over midweek.

Closure

On 23 June 2009, it was announced

had been placed into administration after rescue talks designed to secure new funding collapsed. Setanta Sports News closed on the same day, at 18:00, with 60 staff made redundant.Setanta goes into administration
The Guardian, 23 June 2009

International coverage

From 1 January 2008, Setanta Sports News was broadcast live in one hour blocks on their domestic international stations in the Republic of Ireland (at 18:00 on

Setanta Ireland Eir Sport 1 (formerly Setanta Ireland) was an Irish pay television sports channel featuring local and international sporting events. The channel is available on some basic cable packages in Ireland, while it is available upon direct subscription t ...

), Australia, and the USA. In Australia, Setanta Sports News was shown live daily at 7am and 6pm EST (changing to 9am & 6pm EDT) and in the USA was shown live at 1am, 5pm, and 10pm ET.

On air team

References

External links

Setanta Sports NewsVirgin MediaSetanta Sports
{{Living TV Group ITN Living TV Group channels Sports television channels in the United Kingdom Television channels and stations established in 2007 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2009 Defunct British television channels Television stations in Ireland