Setanta signs 2.5m customers for pay-TV package

Irish sports broadcaster Setanta says it has signed up 2.5m customers for its Setanta Sports package. Of those 2.5m Setanta says 1.4m are Virgin Media customers who had taken up the offer of adding Setanta Sports to their XL basic subscription package. The remaining 1.1m are paying £9.99 per month to access Setanta Sports via other platforms.
Virgin Media and Setanta announced the XL basic addition last month, and claimed the move would “transform the TV market”.

Virgin Media XL subscribers are able to access Setanta’s 46 live games from the Barclays Premier League, 60 matches from the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League and the US PGA Tour golf, as well as European League football, rugby and horse racing from around the country.
Meanwhile, Setanta is to launch a broadband service offering live streaming of its Barclays Premier League games as well as other top sporting fixtures. The broadband service costs £7.99 per month and also offers simulcasts of Setanta Sports 1 and 2 plus Setanta Golf, as well as access to archive content. Setanta is also launching a free sports channel with Virgin Media, and a new sports web site.