Setanta to cut staff numbers in effort to get game in order

AS THE English Premier League season comes to a close this weekend, Setanta Sports Ireland is preparing to restructure its business.

The TV broadcaster, which showed 33 live Premier League games this season, has kicked off a consultation process with staff to reduce its headcount.

This is believed to be in response to a fall in customer subscriptions and continued weakness in advertising revenues – something that has affected all media companies in Ireland in the recession.

Setanta is at “about break-even” currently. “The process of consultation will take 30 days and management are committed to working with the staff during this period to minimise the impact on employment levels,” Setanta said yesterday.

The broadcaster said job losses would be “limited to less than 10 per cent” of its 150 staff in Dublin. Setanta said it was “business as usual” for its two channels.

Sports broadcasting is a competitive game with Sky Sports and ESPN having deep pockets and RTÉ and TV3 committing substantial resources to win ratings.

Founders Leonard Ryan and Mickey O’Rourke were left bruised by the collapse of Setanta in the UK a few years back but they salvaged the Irish business with the backing of Denis Desmond.

Full time will be called on the recession at some point in the near future. Setanta’s challenge is to ensure that its still on the pitch when this happens.