Setanta maybe going bust this week

kurjam

should i cancel my subscription with them or just leave it if they finishing this week

kurjam

just found this on news channel.....

Setanta founders buy time

By Salamander Davoudi in London
Published: June 10 2009 20:12 | Last updated: June 10 2009 20:12

Michael O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan, the founders of Setanta, have bought a little more time to try and save the company from administration.
Setanta, which declined to comment, has held meetings with employees and told staff in Dublin on Wednesday that it believed the company was not imminently going into administration. The sports broadcaster may have raised up to £30m ($49m). Mr O’Rourke declined to comment.
EDITOR’S CHOICE

Setanta pair in last-ditch plan to table bid - Jun-10


Lombard: Now track down the suspects behind Setanta’s plight - Jun-09


Rivals urge curbs on Sky dominance - May-31


Setanta fears final whistle - Jun-07


Setanta hunted to exhaustion - Jun-08




Several rescue options have been floated during emergency board meetings held over the past week, with the international operation possibly being spun out to raise money to support the UK business.
The two founders, also co-chief executives of Setanta, may also look at buying the international businesses that operate in the Caribbean, Canada, Africa and the US. There is also a separate business in Ireland.
One person familiar with the company said: “The two founders may be trying to figure out whether they separate the international business and parachute out with it leaving the British business to fend for itself.”
The pay-television company has been looking for additional capital of about £100m to plug the funding gap created when it failed to retain both its English Premier League rights packages beyond 2010.
Setanta held a round of talks with private equity groups, including Carlyle, in April in an attempt to raise the capital but despite trying for more than two months, it fell far short. The company missed a £3m payment to the Scottish Premier League last week raising questions over whether it will be able to pay its wage bill at the end of this month.
Setanta must also pay £30m to the English Premier League next Monday.
These payments are not guaranteed by Setanta’s shareholders but there is an escrow account that could contain up to £70m, which is ring-fenced for the football body, according to people familiar with the situation. BT Vision, the television venture, said that while Setanta was still available in its packages and as a stand-alone channel, it was no longer advertising the service.
“As a precaution we have currently suspended any further sales of Setanta Sports from this morning,” the company said.
If the company goes into administration Disney tops the list of likely buyers for parts of the business through ESPN, its sports business. Disney declined to comment. Setanta confirmed that it had temporarily suspended the acceptance of new subscriptions.

nexuss

Troubled pay-TV sports broadcaster Setanta has failed to pay the latest chunk of the £30m it owes the English Premier League - losing the rights. A potential rescue deal, led by a US investor who had proposed buying 51% of Setanta, had fallen through.
The league will now put the rights to the 46 live matches for the 2009/2010 season out to auction, after Setanta missed Friday's payment deadline.
Offers to buy the rights need to be made by Monday.
The Board of Setanta said it would "consider its options over the weekend".
"In the meantime, Setanta's sports channels continue on air," it added.
'Regret'
The Premier League said it had been working with Setanta "for some time to help them continue as the broadcaster" .

SETANTA'S SPORTS DEALS

English Premier League
Scottish Premier League
Blue Square Premier
IPL cricket
US PGA Tour golf
Guinness Premiership rugby union (from 2010)
Magners rugby
Boxing



Why is Setanta in trouble


The Premier League, in agreement with Setanta, stipulated that certain contractual requirements had to be met on or before Friday "to allow the preparations for the 2009/10 season to continue unaffected".
The league added: "It is with considerable regret that we announce that Setanta has been unable to meet their obligations. As such the existing licence agreement between us has been terminated with immediate effect."
The Premier League will now go ahead and auction the 46 UK live matches for the 2009/10 season.
'Issues'
Late last week, Access Industries, controlled by the US investor Len Blavatnik, tabled a £20m bid for a 51% share in Setanta.
It had been hoped Access could lead a consortium of investors to provide fresh funding for Setanta.

Mr Blavatnik had been studying Setanta's books


However Access has now said it was unable to proceed with a deal with Setanta.
There had been concerns over how much tax Access could be liable for if it acquired Setanta.
"Access believed that this proposal could potentially have secured the future of the broadcaster for its customers, employees and for football, provided certain conditions required to put the business on a long-term viable footing were met," it said.
"Regrettably, despite intensive efforts on all sides over the past few days, and despite significant progress in a number of areas, there remain a number of issues which we have been unable to resolve within the time available.
"We are disappointed not to have been able to make this deal happen. Access remains committed to sports programming and will continue to explore opportunities in this area."
One of those which may be interest in acquiring Setanta's 46 games is Disney-owned sports channel ESPN.
'Bad news'
ESPN would not comment directly on the new situation but said it continued "to be interested in rights where they are available and where they make business sense".
Meanwhile James Pickles, editor of industry newsletter TV Sports Markets, said that until Thursday there were expectations that Setanta would pull though.
"It's bad news for everyone - no one is a winner," he said, adding: "It's a disaster for rights holders."
He said it was bad news for Sky because having a competitor such as Setanta was beneficial to it from an EU regulatory perspective, which prevents one broadcaster owning all Premier League rights.
However Sky would be legally free to bid for one of Setanta's two packages of 23 games.
Subscriber targets
Last week Setanta reopened its website to new subscribers - having closed it for several days.
Setanta is running at an estimated loss of £100m a year, after missing subscriber targets.
The broadcaster has 1.2 million subscribers, 700,000 short of the 1.9million that industry experts believe they need to break even.
Attention will now shift onto Setanta's other contracts - such as those with the FA for England and FA Cup matches, the Scottish Premier League (SPL), and the Blue Square Premier, the top division of English non-league football.
It recently missed a £3m payment due to the SPL - part of a four-year deal worth £54m over four years from 2006 to 2010.
Following Friday's news, Lex Gold, executive chairman of the SPL said: "We are still locked in discussions with Setanta."
"Understandably, these discussions are complex and must remain confidential at this stage. We expect these to conclude early next week."
Setanta also owns rights to the PGA golf tour, as well as cricket and rugby union deals.