Setanta Sports - The New ESPN (Setanta Sports 1)

Member Name: Jelboy18

Product:	Setanta Sports 1
Date:	24/07/08 (679 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: EPL, SPL, NHL, NFL, Baseball, Boxing, Tennis, GP Racing, Golf and much more

Disadvantages: Expensive - £10 per month

"Introduction to Setanta"

Setanta Sports is an Irish Sports broadcaster currently operating a staggering 12 channels in 24 countries. Created in 1990 for Irish sports, Setanta has expanded rapidly to facilitate sports from all around the globe. The channels include Setanta Sports 1,2, NASN, Setanta News, Setanta Golf, Celtic FC Tv, Rangers FC Tv, and Liverpool FC TV. These channels provide viewers with a
large varieties of sport including football, golf, baseball, American Football, Basketball, boxing and so much more. This is the new equivalent of ESPN for England. It is now the best contender to Sky Sports channels.

"Background to Channels Rights to Broadcast"

Setanta Sports announced they had signed an exclusive 3 year broadcast deal with Frank Warren's Sports Network to make Setanta Sports the new home of televised boxing with fights involving Joe Calzaghe, Amir Khan and Enzo Maccarinelli.

On May 5, 2006, Setanta broke Sky Sports' three year monopoly on showing the Barclays Premier League in the UK, successfully bidding £392 million for the rights to show 46 matches per season on its subscription channels.

On May 21, 2008, Setanta Sports announced that they will be following up their Indian Premier League (IPL) coverage with the Asia Cup featuring the international sides from the Sub-Continent going head-to-head from June 26, 2008 through to the final on July 6, 2008.

On May 22, 2008, Setanta Sports announced that they will be showing live coverage of the Vodacom Challenge Cup in South Africa, featuring Manchester United. They will be showing action from The Red Devils' games against Orlando Pirates and the Kaizer Chiefs. The tournament takes place between the 19th and 26th of July. It is therefore ongoing at the moment. To watch you msut subscribe.

On June 30, 2008, Setanta agreed a new £125 million contract to show the Scottish Premier League until the end of the 2013/2014 season.

"Programme Listings"

In the coming weeks, Setanta Sports 1 will be hosting a bunch of exciting sports matches. Tonight on the 24th July, Ultimate Fighting will be shown along with a pre season friendly of football between Celtic and Cardiff. ATP Tennis highlights, boxing highlights, GP Motor Racing, and PGA Tour shows fill up the listings on what is considered a slow day in sport.

In the coming days the channel will be showing important football pre-season games including:

MLS All Stars vs. West Ham
Hibernian vs Barcelona
Aston Villa vs Oodense (InterToto Cup 2nd Leg)
Vodacom Challenge including Manchester United
Dundee United vs Barcelona
Norwich vs Tottenham

"Opinion"

Along with a host of other channels and sports, Setanta will provide great viewing pleasure for all sports fanatics. However, with great pleasure comes a great price. Setanta Sports is not a free channel. You must subscribe to the channel to attain its programming. Setanta costs £9.99 per month which is pretty steep. There is a current deal on multi box viewing which allows for a cheaper rate. With a whole range of sports including American, Gaelic, and English - the channel has basically everything including the rights to show many English Premier League Football Matches next season. As I have said, you will receive an abundance of channels, not just Setanta Sports 1.

"Channels Location"

Terrestrial

Digital terrestrial (Ireland) Channel 17
Digital terrestrial (UK) Channel 34

Satellite

Sky Digital (UK & Ireland) Channel 429
Dish Network (USA) Channel 406
DirecTV (USA) Channel 615
Star Choice (Canada) Channel 239
Bell ExpressVu (Canada) Channel 420
Foxtel Digital (Australia) Channel 525
Austar Digital (Australia) Channel 510
UBI World TV (Australia) Channel 3
Crown Satellite TV (USA) Channel 421

Cable

UPC Ireland (Ireland) Channel 105/401
Virgin Media (UK) Channel 518 (Setanta Sports News)
Channel 538 (Setanta Sports 1)
Channel 539 (Setanta Sports 2)
Shaw Cable (Canada) Channel 525
Verizon FiOS (USA) Channel 154
Channel 1009 (starting 6/30)
Foxtel Digital (Australia) Channel 525
Austar Digital (Australia) Channel 510

IPTV over ADSL

Tiscali TV (UK) Channel 555 (Setanta Sports 1)
Channel 556 (Setanta Sports 2)
Channel 557 (Setanta Golf)

"Conclusion"

A 5 Star channel that is unfortunately deducted to 4 Stars by its Price. It is not cheap. However there are so many sporting events that have been moved to the channel so there are many more incentives to join.

Summary: Setanta hosts coverage to a wide range of sports from North American and Europe. All sports and more