Eir considers future free-to-air Setanta channel
Having acquired Setanta Sports in a deal agreed last December, Eir is making plans to relaunch the broadcaster and take on established competitors with a broader range of content.
As part of that strategy, the group could establish a free-to-air channel aimed at competing for competitive Irish soccer internationals.
Setanta currently holds TV rights across a range of sports including soccer, rugby, mixed martial arts and the GAA’s Allianz Leagues.
The initial focus will be on consolidating those areas but further growth will be needed to remain competitive, according to Eir chief executive Richard Moat.
“Obviously, we’re up against big competitors who’ve got exclusive sports content and so getting that for Eir for the first time and continuing to expand the range of content we have is going to be a key part of that strategy in the future.
“I think we’ve watched the evolution of BT Sport with interest and what they’ve done with it and obviously there’s a kind of crossover there because we’ve got that exclusive agreement with BT to have the rights to BT Sport in the Republic of Ireland through until 2019 so that’s a well-trodden path now and it’s one which we would like to emulate if we can with Eir.
“I think now we’ve got Setanta, we have to keep acquiring sports rights to keep it alive… I think [that we will focus on] building on the areas where Setanta already has a presence.
"The GAA rights are coming up soon, there’s various rugby rights coming up. I don’t think we’re stepping outside of where Setanta’s present at the moment; just trying to strengthen where it exists today.
“You’ve got to be realistic; we’re not going to start slugging it out with BT and Sky to get the [Premier League] because we’re not in that league... [We can compete for] anything else [though]. Sometimes the rights to the Republic of Ireland can be a lot more reasonable than you would think so there’s a lot to play for there,” Mr Moat said.
Setanta currently shows international friendlies such as tonight’s match between the Republic of Ireland and Netherlands but could also throw its hat in the ring for competitive games in the coming years.
Attaining the rights to European Championship or World Cup qualifiers and tournament games would mean working with the free-to-air restrictions that come with Republic of Ireland games, however.
To that end, establishing a free-to-air Setanta channel is something Eir realises it “may have to do one day”, Mr Moat told the Irish Examiner.
Eir is also open to further acquisitions on the entertainment side of its business “having demonstrated its capability with the acquisition of Setanta”.
While there are no deals on the horizon at present, it remains on the lookout for any further suitable options.
“Certainly, we want to grow organically but if there’s a way of growing inorganically by making the right acquisitions we’ll do that as well,” Mr Moat said.
Eir is also focussed on expanding its 4G service in the coming year from the current 75% population coverage it now has.
The intention is to grow that figure to 90% by the close of the year and 95% by March 2017.
Build the perfect bundle tailored to your needs, in just a few simple steps. Check it out: https://t.co/ParR2JJgZC pic.twitter.com/6NnTsIBTfu
— eir (@eir) May 22, 2016
