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Setanta Sports Media is a sports television company based in
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, Ireland and in
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, broadcasting throughout select Eurasian countries, and the Philippines. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previously operated channels in Ireland, the UK, Asia, Africa, Australia, the United States, and Canada. It is currently owned by Georgia-based media outlet Adjarasport.


Operations


Current


Eurasia

Setanta Sports sold the majority of its operations, but it continues to own and operate its operations in available in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.


Philippines

A version of Setanta Sports brand in the Philippines was launched, both as a linear channel and an OTT service in late 2022. This comes after a joint partnership between Setanta founders and Adjara Group bought the exclusive broadcasting rights of the Premier League for the said country. The version has broadcast rights to the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
,
La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
, NBA (selected matches only), and NBL Australia.


Former


Republic of Ireland

In December 2015, Eir purchased Setanta Sports Ireland Ltd. On 5 July 2016 Setanta Sports was rebranded Eir Sport.


Africa

Setanta operated Setanta Sports and Setanta Action until October 2013 when the channels were acquired by 21st Century Fox. In July 2014, Fox announced that from August 2014 the channels would be rebranded Fox Sports and Fox Sports 2. In August 2019, it was announced that the network would rebrand as ESPN Africa on 30 August 2019, due to the
acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney The acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. by The Walt Disney Company was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition included the 20th Century Fox film and television studi ...
.


Australia

As of August 2014 both Setanta Sports Australia and Setanta Sports Plus were sold to
Al Jazeera Media Network Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media media conglomerate, conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera E ...
with approval sought from regulators in Australia. The channel became BeIN Sports Australia in November 2014.


Canada

Setanta Sports previously operated a version of the channel in Canada as a joint venture with Canadian media company Rogers Communications (Setanta itself owned 20% of the network). However, its minority stake was acquired by Rogers in July 2011 and the channel was re-aligned as part of its
Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...
networks, and become Sportsnet World on 3 October 2011. The relaunch took place as part of an overall rebranding of the Sportsnet networks.


United Kingdom


=History

= Setanta Sport originally launched on 5 July 2002 as a PPV service on Sky Digital. On 3 September, a second service - Setanta Sport 2, launched on Sky as well. In April 2003, Setanta won a contract to operate a Sports channel on Freeview. In January 2004, Setanta signed a deal with WWE to broadcast four of their Pay-Per-View events within the year beginning with Royal Rumble. In July, Setanta launched SPL Live on Sky and shortly afterward launched Celtic TV and Rangers TV on Sky and NTL in partnership with Celtic F.C. and Rangers F.C. respectively. Earlier on in the month, the company entered into a partnership with the newly launched Racing UK to become the channel's exclusive broadcast partner and distributor prior to its launch and encryption in September. On 16 May 2005, Setanta PPV1 and PPV2 moved from 435 and 436 to 438 and 439 on Sky, respectively. On 30 July, Setanta launched a channel on the Top Up TV service on DTT. In August 2005, Setanta Sports 2, Celtic TV and Rangers TV were added to Telewest. On 29 June 2006, Setanta purchased the broadcast rights to the PGA Tour from Sky and announced that they would launch a dedicated Golf network entitled Setanta Golf in January 2007. On August 17, Setanta expanded their partnership with Racing UK, merging it's subscription package together with theirs to form one, allowing Setanta customers access to the channel and spinoff Racing World, and Racing UK/Racing World subscribers access to Setanta's networks on all platforms. On 11 July 2007, the company signed a deal with
Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...
to launch LFC TV. On July 20, they signed a deal with
Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited 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 ...
to make their networks free to anyone subscribed to the provider's TV XL service but would remain as premium add-ons for M or L package subscribers. The following week, the two companies announced plans to launch
Setanta Sports News Setanta Sports News was a television channel from Virgin Media Television and Setanta Sports. The channel launched on 29 November 2007.
, which would rival Sky Sports News. The channel would launch in November. On September 22, Setanta entered into a six-figure deal with Arsenal F.C. to launch Arsenal TV in December. The channel was however delayed, and instead launched in January 2008. In March and May 2008, Setanta launched Arsenal Replay and AH.TV on Sky, timeshift services of Arsenal TV which operated late-at-night and were used as filler networks in case Setanta needed the slots. In May, the company purchased the Sky EPG slot formerly belonging to Racing World after Racing UK axed the channel due to poor viewing figures. Setanta reduced the channel's broadcast hours and began timesharing it with the Pub/Commercial version of Setanta Sports 1, although it remained under the Racing World name. As with Arsenal Replay and AH.TV, the Setanta version of Racing World was used as a filler network.


=Financial difficulties and closure

= Reports on 7 June 2009 suggested that Setanta could be forced into
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
that week, after failing to make payments due on TV rights. Because of late payment and renegotiation over fees by Setanta to football clubs, several British football clubs were put into financial difficulties as money promised had been spent in annual budgets. On 4 June 2009, the Scottish Premier League announced they would be paying the sums that some of the clubs were owed to avoid causing them financial problems. On 19 June 2009, Setanta Sports failed to pay the latest instalment of £30 million (€35 million) it owed the English
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
. The Premier League had to sell the rights to the 46 live matches Setanta had for the 2009/10 season. A Premier League spokesman said, "It is with considerable regret that we announce that Setanta has been unable to meet their obligations. As such the existing licence agreement between us has been terminated with immediate effect." On 21 June 2009, BT Vision stopped selling Setanta Sports channels to customers. On 22 June 2009, it was reported by
RTÉ News RTÉ News and Current Affairs (), also known simply as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative ...
that the original Setanta Sports channel, Setanta Ireland, might be bought out by an existing consortium who already hold interests in Setanta Sport Holdings Ltd., the Irish arm of Setanta Sports. Setanta Sports Ireland and Setanta Sports North America were the only brands which made a profit in 2008. The same day, Setanta lost all their SPL TV rights because they were unable to pay the £3m (€3.5m) owed to the league. Following this, it was announced that ESPN UK had bought the rights to show the 46 Premier League games bought by Setanta for the 2009/10 season. Setanta GB went into administration 23 June 2009, following failure to make payments to a number of sporting organisations. 430 jobs, 200 of which were in Ireland, were expected to be lost as a result of its going into administration. The administration was handled by Deloitte. At 18:00 that day, most of its channels ceased operations within Great Britain. According to the final report published by Setanta's administrator Deloitte, released in July 2010, the broadcaster had outstanding bank loans of £261m STG and unsecured debt of £288m STG. Deloitte said that unsecured lenders received just 2p for every pound that they have claimed back from the defunct operator. Arsenal TV continued until August 2009 while
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
explored alternative options.
Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...
assumed responsibility for LFC TV and decided to continue broadcasting as normal.


=Criticism

= Just as when
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
, in the 1990s, first obtained the exclusive rights to screen live coverage of the
England national football team The England national football team have represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by the Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Eng ...
's away qualifying matches for the World Cup, so Setanta attracted similar criticism as a result of it having obtained the same contract. Whereas Sky often sold on a highlights package to a terrestrial broadcaster (
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
), Setanta indicated that the sums offered by terrestrial broadcasters, reported to be £100,000 to £200,000, were five to ten times lower than their perceived market value; Setanta paid £5 million to screen England's away qualifier with
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
on 10 September 2008 and believed a sensible highlights package should attract a fee of £1 million. Thus, no highlights package was agreed, and Setanta themselves showed highlights of both England and
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
qualifiers free-to-air after the live games had concluded. This was announced at 18:00 on the day the matches took place, and received 220,000 viewers.ITV to show England-Croatia highlights after striking Setanta deal
TheGuardian.com, 11 September 2008; Retrieved 12 September 2008
Setanta then accepted "a low, six-figure deal" with ITV to show delayed "extended highlights" a few days later. Setanta's GB subscriber numbers were lower than those of Sky Sports, and the number of households watching the match live was estimated at 1.5 million. Because of the availability of Setanta on both digital satellite and
digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV, DTT, or DTTB) is a technology for terrestrial television, in which television stations broadcast television content in a digital signal, digital format. Digital terrestrial television is a major technologica ...
, the theoretical possible subscriber base surpassed that of Sky Sports (not available via DTT at the time) but fans who were unwilling to subscribe could not see the match live. British Prime Minister at the time
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
indicated he felt it "unfortunate" more fans could not see the match live for free.


=Cancellation issues

= Setanta GB also received significant criticism of its cancellation policy, with the issue investigated by the BBC's '' Watchdog'' programme and Radio 5 Live. While customers were able to subscribe either on-line or over the telephone, many customers found it "nigh-on impossible to cancel" the service, with the only means of a cancellation being to inform the company in writing. Because of the amount of negative feedback received, Setanta GB eventually changed this to allow for cancellations to be done through email. Furthermore, while customers were originally entered into a 30-day notice period once their cancellation letter was received, this was increased to 60 days without any information being sent to customers; again, because of the negative feedback, this was quickly reduced back to 30 days. These customer service issues were compounded by the fact that customers had to phone a premium rate number should they have any issues to resolve, with calls costing at least 10 pence per minute.


Southeast Asia

Setanta Sports launched a variation of the channel in Asia. In 2015, Discovery International purchased the channel, as of 2016 the channel is still branded as Setanta Sports under licence from Setanta Ireland. Setanta Asia currently operates Setanta Sports Plus and Setanta Sports Asia. From 29 January 2020, Setanta Sports Asia has been replaced by the new dedicated rugby channel, Rugby Pass TV which launched its OTT service first, since February 2016. Rugby Pass was later shut down due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Premier Sports Asia took over the acquisition of all Rugby Pass subscribers in 2021.


United States

Setanta Sports previously broadcast in the United States with Setanta Sports USA from 2005 to 2010.
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
purchased the network's programming rights out of bankruptcy, adding them to Fox Soccer Channel's existing schedule and that of a new network,
Fox Soccer Plus Fox Soccer Plus (formerly Setanta Sports) is an American sports channel dedicated to soccer and rugby league football. Launched in 2005 by the Irish sports broadcaster Setanta Sports to offer live and tape-delayed mainstream sports events in ...
.


Other business

* In 2009, Setanta Sports had shares in OneVision. OneVision were initially given the opportunity to develop the digital terrestrial network in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
. Negotiations with RTÉ Networks fell through in May 2010. * From March 2010, Setanta Sports, in partnership with Jennings Bet, have provided setantabet.com, an online gaming service for customers within Ireland. * In October 2010, Setanta Sports launched applications on the
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
and a Setanta Goals service for other handsets.


See also

* '' Special 1 TV'': parody television programme on Setanta Sports that featuring puppet caricatures of football personalities * Premier Sports and FreeSports: television channels targeting the United Kingdom launched by the same management as Setanta Sports


References

{{Setanta Sports Irish companies established in 1990 Television channels and stations established in 1990 Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom