Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Gadgets & Tech Setanta "On Brink Of Collapse"

Ive been touting this on these forums for a few years now, it was pretty obvious imho, they bought up some weak sports rights, and tried flogging them in the same vein as Sky Sports. They had neither the experience or the sports to justify the rediculous price tag.

Throwing it into the Virgin Media packs for free, and then taxxing everyone else dearly, was never going to work in the long-term and never made financial sense. It also stinks of anti-competitiveness, if it were Sky, you could bet ya life that they would have been screwed over by the competition commission and/or Ofcom....

And this is despite the fact they have a massively higher reach than Sky Sports has ever had.

Now get the darn message and FOOK OFF SETANTA!! Absolute ... of the earth, anyone who has ever subscribed (not me fortunately), good luck actually cancelling... phone a premium rate number and get put on hold for 30 minutes, and then half the time they still dont cancel it for you, and on the odd occasion they do, they hold you into the contract for a further 60 days from the day you wish to cancel... cancel the direct debit and they send in the debt collectors within days!!

BBC News Report

there coverage is usually shite anyway

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm so whats going to happen with (lfc tv ,chelsea tv arsenal tv, mutv,rangers tv, celtic tv) as they are part of Setanta. would they go to.

Doubt anyone really cares, and MUTV isnt Setanta because Sky partly owns it, and Chelsea TV is soley owned by Chelsea.

And I see they are no longer accepting new subscribers... the first sign of a crippled company is that!

Im afraid we have been here before... the ITV Digital fiasco and the NTL Premiership Plus fiasco, and gues who, on both occasions, has had to step in to bail football clubs out... yep, you guessed it, Sky!

never liked the idea of this channel in the first place. i hope it colapses entirely

Liverpool FC TV channel assure fans in wake of Setanta crisis

Setanta payment deadline looming

Setanta has until the end of Friday to pay the next instalment of the £30m it owes the English Premier League, or risk losing its games for next season.

The League has threatened to sell the rights to the 46 live matches Setanta is supposed to be showing in the 2009/2010 season to the highest bidder.

Setanta has been struggling to make its payments to the sporting bodies from which it buys television rights.

It is currently in talks about possible outside investment.

Setanta is running at an estimated loss of £100m a year, after missing subscriber targets.

Due diligence

Earlier this week Setanta reopened its website to new subscribers - having closed it for several days.

Late last week, Access Industries, controlled by the US investor Len Blavatnik, tabled a £20m bid for a 51% share in Setanta.

He and other investors have been carrying out intense "due diligence" - examination of Setanta's books - which should be complete later on Friday.

There have also been reports that Dutch media firm Endemol and other investors are interested in taking a stake of up to 49% in the company.

Meanwhile, Balderton Capital, Doughty Hanson and Goldman Sachs - the three investment organisations which own close to half of the Irish broadcaster - have yet to reveal whether they are prepared to pump in more money to keep Setanta afloat.

Of the £30m Setanta is believed to owe the Premier League - to cover the 2009/2010 season, it is understood that it paid £10m on 12 June. Another £10m is due on Friday, with the balance due in July.

'Interested in rights'

Deloitte has been lined up as administrator if Setanta's efforts to secure long-term finance fail.

If Setanta does not pay the money on Friday, the Premier League would then regain control of its television rights at 2300GMT and put Setanta's 46 games up for auction. Interested bidders would have to make an offer by Monday, the BBC understands.

Several broadcasters may be interested in the rights, including Disney-owned sports broadcaster ESPN. It lost out on the 2010 to 2013 Premier League rights when they were up for grabs earlier this year.

"We are aware that the Premier League has issued an invitation to tender for which the rights may or may not go to auction next Monday," said an ESPN spokesman.

"As we have always said, we continue to be interested in rights where they are available and where they make business sense".

The Irish broadcaster's predicament has also affected the Scottish Premier League after it defaulted on a payment of £3m for part of last season's coverage fees.


THE BBC

TopUp TV owner, Len Blatnavik, withdraws his offer to rescue Setanta following his period of due dilligence and seeing the true state of their books, and hammers the death nail for the troubled Irish broadcaster...


And who'd av guessed it? Not far off two years to the day lol!



On a sidenote, it is good to see that one of the major TUTV shareholders has sense, is adds a bit of confidence in the future of the TUTV service.