SATELLITE broadcaster BSkyB has agreed to continue carrying Setanta Sports’s Irish channel on its digital platform while the troubled company’s founders and concert promoter Denis Desmond seek to put together a package of investment to save the business here.
It is understood that Sky has agreed to extend its carriage deal with Setanta for one week, while efforts are made to rescue the broadcaster’s Irish operation.
About 110,000 Setanta premium customers in Ireland receive its services via Sky and are a vital source of income for the Dublin-based broadcaster.
Sky is also believed to have agreed a system of staggered payments for the arrears it is owed by Setanta Ireland, which continues to trade.
In addition, Setanta will make weekly payments to Sky for ongoing carriage on its satellite platform.
Sky is owed about £4.7 million by Setanta for carriage on its satellite platform. Most of this arrears relates to Setanta’s operations in the UK, which collapsed into administration last week.
Setanta’s carriage deal with Sky ended yesterday. It is understood that the administrator of Setanta’s failed businesses in the UK and the receiver of four collapsed entities in Ireland told Sky that they would not be renewing their carriage deals with the British company.
This left the various parties trying to rescue Setanta Ireland seeking to agree a short-term deal with Sky that would see the Irish channel continue to be broadcast in Ireland while an investment package is pieced together.
Informed sources said Sky has decided not to pursue Setanta Ireland for the full arrears owed by its parent company, Setanta Sport Holdings, which is effectively being wound up by accountants Deloitte.
They said Sky had agreed to accept a payment of about £500,000 from Setanta Ireland as payment for arrears relating to its carriage via satellite in Ireland.
Setanta’s founders – Irishmen Leonard Ryan and Michael O’Rourke, Mr Desmond and former Setanta executive Mark O’Meara – are involved in talks to save the Irish business.
This includes discussions with several venture capital groups here and with Liberty Global, the US-based parent of cable TV providers NTL and Chorus.
Discussions between Sky and Setanta Ireland’s proposed new owners have not been helped by the fact that the Irish business is currently being decoupled from its sister operations in the UK, which have ceased operation.
In addition, the proposed investor group has no legal standing until a deal to buy Setanta Ireland is agreed.
Sources close to the proposed investor group said Sky had been “supportive” and “co-operative” in agreeing to this new arrangement.
