Stifler Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I think bigchrisfgb's raised an interesting point - wouldn't it be fantastic if there were say 10-20 top-flight games on terrestrial telly? BBC can't really justify paying for Premier League rights with the licence payers' money, but the Championship games are a good start. Would be great if league football on TV became more of an event again - Super Sunday's become routine as f***. It would be a good idea but I can't see it, anyway has anyone ever wounderd how the top 4 play each other on the same day every year, it's eaither Man Utd vs Arsenal and Chelsea vs Liverpool or visa versa, visa versa again, I mean that weird for a fixture list that is surposed to be as random as they can make them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Sunday's are just f***ing ridiculous now. You can get up at 7 on a Sunday morning and watch highlights on a morning, journos talking football at noon, 2 live games on the afternoon and sometimes 2 Spanish games on an evening. Talk about overkill. The bubble's going to burst soon for football. You can, but who would want to?, I've never been one to sit up early in the morning for highlights, of course this year I may have to change that habbit, the Journo bit became boring years ago, then they did away with Jimmy Hill because that t*** from the Mirror or something never let him or anyone else have a word in and now he's running the show offically this time, and it was starting to have too much crap about Newcastle in them. I tend to only watch the one game on a Sunday, usually the later one because thats the more interesting unless it's Newcastle who are playing in the earlier one. The Spanish games I never watch unless it's Barca vs Madrid or something decent, the fact that no matter what half your watching the clock always counts up to 45 so you don't know how far your into the game and the guy in the studio starts to speak Spanish halfway through every conversation, plus Sky1 usually has a good drama on at that time on a Sunday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Sunday's are just f***ing ridiculous now. You can get up at 7 on a Sunday morning and watch highlights on a morning, journos talking football at noon, 2 live games on the afternoon and sometimes 2 Spanish games on an evening. Talk about overkill. The bubble's going to burst soon for football. Don't have a problem with it myself. It's there as a choice. Was one Sunday where I was totally hungover and couldn't move from the couch all-day and watched Goals on Sunday, a live Dutch match on Setanta followed by the two Premiership matches, a French match, and then a La Liga match. Better than most of the sh*te on TV on a Sunday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Liam Liam O Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Sunday's are just fucking ridiculous now. You can get up at 7 on a Sunday morning and watch highlights on a morning, journos talking football at noon, 2 live games on the afternoon and sometimes 2 Spanish games on an evening. You've typed ridiculous when you meant brilliant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
midds Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Sunday's are just f***ing ridiculous now. You can get up at 7 on a Sunday morning and watch highlights on a morning, journos talking football at noon, 2 live games on the afternoon and sometimes 2 Spanish games on an evening. Talk about overkill. The bubble's going to burst soon for football. Don't have a problem with it myself. It's there as a choice. Was one Sunday where I was totally hungover and couldn't move from the couch all-day and watched Goals on Sunday, a live Dutch match on Setanta followed by the two Premiership matches, a French match, and then a La Liga match. Better than most of the sh*te on TV on a Sunday. Fair enough, but how many people will continue to pay for the privilege of having the option to watch football for 18 hours a day? The choice is fine and the coverage/range is excellent but it's got to reach a tipping-point soon. First it was itv digital and now Setanta are about to go the journey. A lack of competition means Sky will not need to outbid everyone else when the contract is due for renewal and it'll ultimately be worth less for the clubs. We'll see I suppose. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I heard that ESPN were going to make bids for the rights that Setanta would drop, meaning that we will get couple more ESPN channels, I was about to say that it would mean that the coverage would no longer be amature, but this is Americans with amature sports defined as great sports also with the name Soccer and defense is deeeeeeeeeeeeeeefence, I have now made a bet that if they do get the rights we will soon be hearing Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mantis Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Ashley loses £200m plus, Setanta folds and Sports Direct is reduced to a stall on peckham market by August. Carlsberg dont do business plans....... Packed in with Setanta at end of 2007/08 after the pikeys hiked the fees 35%. Glad to see the back of them and their bunch of knob jockey pundits. I'd rather pay a quid to shit on a Ryanair flight than listen to those muppets. Also, get UFC back on proper telly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Due to cease broadcasting by the end of next week if rumours are to be believed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Due to cease broadcasting by the end of next week if rumours are to be believed. shame, i got it for nowt on virgin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearer9 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Setanta has always gotten a bad rap because they started shite. I don't think they're that bad now, but they've paid dearly for being a terribly put together company and doing a poor job in the beginning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 And for being needlessly expensive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Both the website and phone lines are now not accepting new subscriptions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interpolic Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/09/bskyb-setanta-jeremy-darroch Sky chief: Not our job to save Setanta Jeremy Darroch, the BSkyB chief executive, today spelt out why the broadcaster had rebuffed stricken pay-TV rival Setanta's demand of £50m for its Premier League football rights, insisting: "Our job is not to fund other companies." Darroch was speaking today about stalled talks with Setanta about a wholesale deal for the company's 46 live Premier League games next season. The Irish pay-TV operator is seeking extra funding to avoid defaulting on sports rights payments and sliding into administration. Sky balked at the £50m upfront payment that Setanta wanted for the rights. Setanta has been holding crisis talks this week with its backers, which include private equity firms Doughty Hanson and Balderton Capital and the investment bank Goldman Sachs. But if it fails to broker an 11th-hour deal, accountancy firm Deloitte could be appointed as administrator within days, according to sources close to the discussions. "We have been talking to Setanta, and trying to work with them and help them. At the end of the day we are not a bank, we are a broadcaster, not a supplier of working capital to a business and rights holder ... our job is not to fund other companies. This is a huge amount of money," Darroch said. Darroch, addressing a sports industry breakfast meeting today at the National Theatre, London, added that Setanta had made key mistakes in running their business. "They scaled up the business too quickly, and they have big backers who were looking to flip [sell on] the business too early. You have to look beyond three to four years – it took us more than five years to become profitable at Sky," he said. Darroch added that Setanta had been very successful in attracting 1.2 million customers in just two years, but had got caught up in the credit crunch and recession. "The core issue is less about their ability to add subscriptions, more about the level of their costs and their profit and loss account," he said. Sources at the breakfast, attended by all the major UK sporting bodies and rights owners, from horse racing to Premier League football, claimed that one of Setanta's biggest mistakes was to strike a too generous distribution deal and alliance with BSkyB's rival Virgin Media for access to its cable TV subscribers. They said under this deal Virgin Media took 85% of the £10m monthly subscription charge for Setanta channels, rather than the more traditional 50/50 revenue split, in the belief that advertising revenue would flood in once a large audience had been attracted. Darroch denied that Sky would like to see Setanta disappear. "Quite the opposite. A rising tide lifts all boats. The more sports broadcasters there are, the better for sport. It is additional competition, and we welcome it," he said. He added that despite Setanta's problems, the UK remained a very attractive market for sports channels. Another broadcaster, such as Disney-owned ESPN, would step in if Setanta folded, he predicted. If Setanta collapses it will have serious consequences for Premier League clubs in England and Scotland, which are awaiting payments totalling millions of pounds. One £3m instalment due to the Scottish Premier League is already a week late, prompting fears that Setanta has finally run out of cash. The US PGA golf tour, boxing figures, the Indian Premier League cricket tournament and Guinness Premiership Rugby are all owed money by the company. So, too, is the Football Association, which signed a £425m four-year deal with Setanta and ITV for England games and FA Cup matches. If Setanta goes into administration, it may not receive it. The most powerful sports bodies, including the FA and Premier League, privately claim they have watertight contracts with Setanta and argue its City backers have effectively guaranteed Setanta's payments. If Setanta does go under, that claim could ultimately be tested in the courts. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 more money going out the game. clubs having to rationalise and live on what the've got. it's been a long time coming but is it possible reality is dawning ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 more money going out the game. clubs having to rationalise and live on what the've got. it's been a long time coming but is it possible reality is dawning ? the football bubble is slowly bursting and thank god all of this money in the game, is due to fan's ultimely as it's us who pay for sky and ppl either don't want to pay more or will cancel wages need to be brought down onto either better performance related pay or i can see more clubs and players just using the bosman system to get players for free Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NG32 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 It was always going to happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ebolarama Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 It was always going to happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen927 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Always seemed like it was second rate whenever I watched a match on it. I agree with the Gimp. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 just heard a rumour that espn may be prepared to get in on the game and challenge sky. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 ESPN should try and get Setanta's slot on Freeview Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest helios_centric Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Good riddance to Setanta as far as I'm concerned. A totally amateur set up and the day the EU decided Sky's monopoly was bad for the consumer was a bad one for any football fan I think. Bottom line is that it now costs more than it did. I don't care about anything else on Setanta other than the Premier League as I have no interest in it - Sky's Premiership Plus thing was way better for me. The amount of money being paid to players and agents is obviously unsustainable - perhaps this is the beginning of a much-needed debate over how to control money in football. It's beyond a joke now and things like Owen's alleged £2million loyalty bonus sums up perfectly how badly skewed things are in the player's favour. Of course it's the fans who pay for it, but how many clubs make a profit? Why can't clubs make a profit? No other businesses are expected to operate without any hope of making a profit and we need to have a more level playing field, so that players earn a tidy wedge, owners can make a profit (if well run) and fans get a fair deal. I can't believe more owners of clubs don't rant and rave about it - imagine if you had to shove £60k a week at Alan Smith or £110 to Michael Owen? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Good riddance to Setanta as far as I'm concerned. A totally amateur set up and the day the EU decided Sky's monopoly was bad for the consumer was a bad one for any football fan I think. Bottom line is that it now costs more than it did. I don't care about anything else on Setanta other than the Premier League as I have no interest in it - Sky's Premiership Plus thing was way better for me. Spot on. Same as the stupid fucking idea to open up directory enquiries; yes now there's loads of choice but some of them are shit and some cost a shitload more than it used to. Thanks. For. That. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dotdotuk Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 STV reporting Setanta could go into administration (or Examinership as it is called in Ireland) with the screens going blank at midnight tonight. Henry http://sport.stv.tv/football/101487-setanta-hours-away-from-coming-off-air-stv-understands/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Setanta Sports bosses are meeting in London this evening where it is expected that they will be told their company is in administration. STV understands the Irish broadcaster's screens will go blank from midnight tonight while the company will officially be placed in administration by morning. It comes a week after the company failed to honour its £3 million SPL TV deal. Attempts to subscribe to the channels today, online or by phone, were unsuccessful with a message stating that the service is temporarily unavailable, ringing alarm bells for the companies’ future. Setanta’s failure to pay the final instalment to the SPL could have a catastrophic effect for the 12 clubs who are heavily reliant on the £13 million they share from the deal every year. Newspaper speculation over the past week has been rife with rumours that three clubs could go to the wall as a result of the broadcaster’s collapse. Not only would they be short of cash from that deal but advertisers attracted by the TV coverage could also pull out. By the end of this week there could be no-one signed up to show Scottish Premier League matches next season. That would make it very difficult for SPL Bosses to find another broadcaster to match the price which they were expecting from Setanta. However Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith refused to use the word "crisis" to describe the situation. Speaking after the SFA's annual general meeting at Hampden, Smith said: "I wouldn't use that word [crisis]. "We don't really know what is going on, it is an SPL broadcasting deal but obviously it is a concern if there is a problem for the league. "We have listened to what has been going on but we have had no discussions with the SPL. "So we have no real comment except to say that we hope it works out well.” ESPN has been touted as one of the companies which could step in to bid for Setanta, but with a much lower offer. Last updated: 09 June 2009, 18:15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsunami Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I hate Setanta but feel genuinely sorry for the SPL teams and other "minor" sports that were benefitting from the money and the fans of those sports who felt Setanta was good value. The moment they tried to play with the big boys they were doomed as they were never going to get the subscribers to cover what they'd paid for the PL. I've just cancelled my subscription - happy days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Safe to cancel the direct debit then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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