Normal service resumes on this blog next Monday - an enforced break from the goggle box is to blame - but I couldn't let the remarks from Setanta, pass without comment.
Oh yes, Setanta. The most hated satellite channel going. Setanta Sports, the supposed rival to Sky Sports which appears to be nipping around buying as much sport as possible and then making us pay to view it.
At the weekend, it declared: "Setanta is the best thing to happen to TV sport for years." Really. That's what it said. Which is no doubt what the estimated 10 million who normally watch an England game will be thinking when they either had to make do with Five Live commentary or slink down the pub to watch the match on Setanta.
On Wednesday, for the first time in a long time, there weren't even be highlights from the Croatia v England game on "normal telly" , despite it being arguably the match which will define Fabio Capello's reign as England manager and determine where we end up in the World Cup qualifying group.
The reason for this was that Setanta bought the rights to the game. No problems here, they simply outbid Sky and the terrestrial broadcasters. The problem is that they've also did not sell the highlight rights, as Sky normally do, to a terrestrial broadcaster, because no-one offered enough for it.
Perhaps that's because Setanta got greedy, and wanted too much for the highlights. That's surely the only conclusion you can draw when several people don't offer what you expect for something. And highlights football can be a real ratings winner, so you'd think the terrestrial broadcasters would be prepared to dig a little deeper to get the rights. But obviously not deep enough.
In the end, they screened the highlights for free on Setanta at 11.30pm - still not enough for the millions without satellite or freeview. Too little, too late, I'd say. And how funny that Trevor East, boss of Setanta, then said it was always Setanta's intention for as many people to see the game as possible. Funny then, that they locked it behind a subscription - and then refused to let terrestrial telly have a look in.
Setanta no doubt hope that landing the England international rights will win them a legion of new viewers. I suspect it won't, largely because it's one game, every now and again. Does it justify a second monthly sports subscription, on top of Sky Sports? In a word: No.
What else do you get for your money? A couple of Premier League games a week. Oh yes, Setanta have been a rip-roaring success with that too. Their pundits lack the insight of Sky's team, their graphic seem cheap compared to Sky and the sense of occasion Sky build into a game is sadly lacking on Setanta.
That's probably because they tend to show the duff games of a weekend. Monday night football has come a long way since Sky first launched with a few fireworks at a football ground. Setanta appears to be taking us back to a no-frills experience quickly.
Or put another way: Andy Gray v Sam Allardyce? No contest.
Presumably, the rationale at Setanta is that if they buy everything, the audience will follow. Not so - just ask ITV when they bought the Premier League highlights. Footie fans know what they like. They like Match of the Day. They like Sky Sports for the way it revolutionised the way we watch. The tolerate ITV when it nabs a contract. But they don't like being played for fools and made to pay twice to watch games which in the past you just paid the once for. Especially when Setanta brings nothing more to the table than the chance for Des Lynam to remind us he used to be a sports presenter.
The FA claim they can't control who the host nation sells the rights too. Maybe, but they can - and should - be putting pressure on Setanta to play fair, making it quite clear that the fans are the most important thing and when they dish out contracts, they will bear Setanta's behaviour in mind.
The publicity-hungry minister Andy Burnham shouldn't just nash his teeth and sympathise with fans - he should be ensuring that it can't happen again, putting highlights for away England games into the must-be-on-terrestrial list.
Despite winning 4-1, I suspect England were watched by one of the lowest TV audiences ever. That certainly isn't the best thing to happen to sport on TV. I suspect the best thing to happen to sport on TV would be the end of Setanta, complete with its carbon-copy of Sky Sports News.
How long till that happens? Well, it's hard to say - I've never heard football fans chanting that they hate a football channel before, but that's what we heard this week.
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »