Sky television will increase its presence in the Irish market with Irish advertising and sponsorship on all three Sky Sports channels from July, writes Emmet Oliver.
The company already accepts Irish advertising on its Sky One and Sky News services, but the decision to offer space on Sky Sports could prove popular with advertisers trying to target young male consumers.
According to the AC Nielsen, between 16 and 19 per cent of all households now receive some or all of the Sky Sports channels. Sky Ireland has begun approaching advertising agencies about taking slots on the station, said a spokesman and he expected several of them to be active advertisers from July.
The company is also offering large companies a chance to sponsor major sporting events.
However, Ford's sponsorship of Premiership matches in Britain means these matches will not be available for sponsorship in the Republic.
Sky expects interest from companies in sponsoring boxing or golf tournaments.
The impact of the Sky move is difficult to assess at this stage. RTÉ had to turn away about €2 million worth of advertising last year so its revenue is unlikely to fall, but the initiative may negatively affect TV3, which holds exclusive rights to the Champions League.
Because Sky's channels have considerably lower audiences than either TV3 or RTÉ, its rates are extremely competitive but it tends to negotiate on an individual basis rather than releasing a rate card in the normal fashion.
A spokesman said Sky's sporting calendar in 2003, specifically after the summer, would focus heavily on the Champions League, which will be available in the second half of the year on RTÉ, TV3 and Sky Sports. UEFA no longer want a single channel in any European country to have the exclusive rights to the tournament. The further expansion of Sky Sports channels in Ireland is expected to rely on whether BSkyB manages to retain the premiership rights, which come up for renewal early next year.
Last time BSkyB paid a reputed £1.2 billion sterling (€1.7 billion) and it is favourite to win the rights again, according to most observers in Britain.
