PDA

View Full Version : ESPN to launch UK sports channel


scoobydoo
7th July 2009, 18:58
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8138992.stm

£9 a month if you subscribe to Sky Sports on Sky,£12 if you don't. No mention of this being on Virgin Media yet? Seems a bit pricey to me for what you are going to get, especially 2010 onwards when they will only have 23 Premiership games.
mathare
7th July 2009, 19:30
Apparently Setanta was £11 a month on Sky so it is similarly priced.

The thing is this surely isn't news. ESPN bought rights to UK football and they weren't going to broadcast it on a UK sports channel - yeah, right!
scoobydoo
7th July 2009, 19:42
Apparently Setanta was £11 a month on Sky so it is similarly priced.

The thing is this surely isn't news. ESPN bought rights to UK football and they weren't going to broadcast it on a UK sports channel - yeah, right!

Yeah but with Setanta (on Sky), you got Premiership football, FA Cup, International football (England home games) Conference football, Scottish football, French, Portuguese, German league football, Boxing, Racing UK plus more. From what I have heard ESPN only have English Premiership games so far ( & they lose half of them next season)...plus some of their US content. I know they say they have plans for more football but they havent bought it yet to my knowledge.

The only reason I thought it was 'news' was for the pricing structure Mat. Be interesting to see if Virgin have someting to say soon eh. :)
mathare
7th July 2009, 19:58
The only reason I thought it was 'news' was for the pricing structure Mat. Be interesting to see if Virgin have someting to say soon eh. :)I wasn't having a dig at you there, by the way Scoobs. My 'not news' jibe was aimed at the Beeb. But aye, be interesting to see what ESPN and Virgin agree
scoobydoo
7th July 2009, 20:27
I wasn't having a dig at you there, by the way Scoobs. My 'not news' jibe was aimed at the Beeb. But aye, be interesting to see what ESPN and Virgin agree

Oh I knew that mate. :D Just downloaded a new Virgin channel listing and they have new espn channel as 553 and a premium channel....just gives incorrect channel number for me at the moment. But Racing UK is still down as part of XL package....at the moment. :)
Win2Win
7th July 2009, 20:50
Racing UK will be free for a few weeks yet.

At least ESPN won't fill the spaces with Irish sports....not that I have anything against Leprechaun Tossing :rolleyes:.
scoobydoo
29th July 2009, 11:06
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/29/espn-premier-league-football

Cable TV viewers will be able to watch ESPN's live Premier League coverage free next month as an introductory offer after the US sports broadcaster signed a distribution deal with Virgin Media.

Disney-owned ESPN is launching a new UK cable and satellite subscription channel, and a high definition service, to carry its 46 live Premier League matches and 30 Scottish Premier League for next season on 3 August.

The 2009-10 season starts on 15 August, when ESPN will have live coverage of Everton v Arsenal, hosted by the former BBC presenter Ray Stubbs

Under the deal, Virgin Media's 3.5 million cable TV customers will gain free access to matches aired by ESPN during August on both its standard and high definition channels.

After that, subscribers to Virgin's XL TV channels package will get ESPN's new UK sports channel and its archive programming service, ESPN Classic, free. This is the same arrangement Virgin Media had with Setanta, the former holder of the Premier League and SPL rights that passed to ESPN after the Irish pay-TV broadcaster went into administration in late June. Subscribers to Virgin Media's M or L packages will be able to subscribe to ESPN's new sports channel for £8 a month, if they already subscribe to any combination of the Sky Sports services, or £10 a month if not.

:thumbs
mathare
29th July 2009, 11:08
Sounds good :thumbs
Win2Win
29th July 2009, 11:47
8 Quid.....where am I going to get that kind of money from? :ermmm :rolleyes:
peza2605
29th July 2009, 12:00
i get it for free then. nice.
bigcumba
30th July 2009, 09:33
Free for me too, nice of them to sort out the same deal with Virgin... all we need is a replacement for Setanta Golf :)
scoobydoo
30th July 2009, 09:36
Free for me too, nice of them to sort out the same deal with Virgin... all we need is a replacement for Setanta Golf :)

US Golf is now on Eurosport bigc....till the end of the year anyway.
mathare
30th July 2009, 09:41
all we need is a replacement for Setanta Golf :)UK Paint Drying and UK Paint Drying +1 perhaps :wink
bigcumba
30th July 2009, 10:28
UK Paint Drying and UK Paint Drying +1 perhaps :wink

:laugh I thought that was test cricket! I used to watch a bit of the US PGA tour golf at the weekends on Setanta's golf channel...
peza2605
30th July 2009, 11:24
UK Paint Drying and UK Paint Drying +1 perhaps :wink

Otherwise known as LFCtv , why i have to have that tainting my tv while i would have to pay for MUTV is beyond me.
I could come home and find my mrs in bed with the postman and the milkman, but if i came home and saw her watching LFCtv it would be the fastest divorce in history.
Not too sure why i posted this actually :doh
mathare
30th July 2009, 11:26
How do you know LFCtv doesn't just show videos of your missus in bed with the milkman and postman?
peza2605
30th July 2009, 11:29
that would be more interesting...
scoobydoo
30th July 2009, 17:52
How do you know LFCtv doesn't just show videos of your missus in bed with the milkman and postman?

That would get more viewers than the scousers got for their dodgy treble pez! :laugh