Setanta in a deal with Freeview

Setanta, which owns the right to broadcast English Premier League soccer matches from August 2007, said today it would offer a subscription channel on the UK digital terrestrial service Freeview.

Setanta won the rights to show 46 top-flight English soccer matches per season for three years in May, while British satellite TV company BSkyB will show 92 matches. Setanta said viewers would be able to subscribe to the channel on a standalone basis without having to pay for a package.

Setanta said this standalone deal would mean the cost of watching Premier League matches is 'substantially reduced'.

BSkyB is Britain's dominant pay-TV company but its long-held monopoly of showing Premier League matches was blocked under a deal between the league and the European Commission which required that rights be split between at least two broadcasters.

Setanta has already said its matches will be shown via Sky and NTL through a standalone subscription service.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.