Limited appeal for Setanta on DTH and DTT

[BGonaSTICK]

Despite its securing rights to broadcast live UK Premiership football, sports broadcaster Setanta Sports looks set to struggle to compete against the established players in the subscription market. Only 1 per cent of UK adults with digital TV at home said they were very likely to subscribe within the next 12 months, according to Continental Research’s Digital TV 2007 Report.

Amongst the relatively small number of Sky customers who said they were likely to buy Setanta, a majority said it would be in addition to Sky Sports, rather than as a replacement.

Report author, James Myring, said: "Sky has dominated the multichannel TV race for many years… Setanta is unlikely to seriously disrupt the UK multichannel marketplace in the short term. It may have more success in expanding its reach through the tie-up with Virgin Media that has given premium Virgin Media subscribers access to Setanta premiership games, hence significantly boosting reach. BT is already offering access to the 46 live Setanta games and delayed (but full) coverage of another 242 matches. This type of partnership may be the route for Setanta to maximise its distribution, rather than via additional subscriptions on Sky and Freeview."

Source: advanced-television