good news for those with virgin tv

From brandrepublic.com

LONDON - Setanta Sports has signed up Bet365 as sponsor of its 2007/08 Barclays Premier League coverage in a seven-figure deal.

It is also set to announce that it will produce a sports news service for Virgin Media to replace Sky Sports News on its cable platform.

Virgin Media lost Sky Sports News from its schedule earlier this year when it dropped Sky’s basic channels from its line-up following a row with Sky over carriage costs.

Virgin Media has announced a replacement for Sky One with a new channel, Virgin 1, and there have been reports that it was keen to plug the sports news void.

The launch of a Setanta- produced sports news service is expected to be announced by Virgin Media on Thursday.

Setanta Sports is also in negotiations with suppliers, including gambling and mobile companies, about the launch of an on-air betting service, which it hopes to have in place by the start of the new football season.

The betting service could be integrated into programming through a 15-minute round-up of spread betting options prior to each televised match. Depending on the chosen supplier, viewers could then place bets via mobile phone SMS or the internet.

Setanta Sports will unveil details of its football programming at a launch party next Monday. This will include innovations in the presentation of matches and its full panel of experts and commentators. Already announced are anchor Angus Scott, who moves from ITV, and ex-footballers Steve McManaman, Les Ferdinand, Tim Sherwood and Emmanuel Petit.

Setanta will air 46 live Premiership games next season on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media at 5.15pm on Saturdays and 8pm on Mondays. It hopes to make the Monday night games a popular pub event and is in talks with potential partners about how this can be done through special promotions and quizzes.

The Bet365 sponsorship is a one-season deal and was negotiated by Setanta sales house IDS in conjunction with Avanti Screen Media.

Setanta Sports aims to reach a target of one million subscribers during 2008, on top of the 1.4 million Virgin Media XL subscribers who will receive Setanta for free.

Marketing director Timothy Ryan claimed to be "happy with the way things are going", with encouraging subscriber take-up for Setanta-screened pre-season friendly games.

Posted By: phil mecrackin, Jul 24, 12:42:26