MEDIA & MARKETING:Setanta Sports has been hitting its target market and that pleases advertisers, writes SIOBHÁN O'CONNELL.

NICHE BROADCASTER Setanta Sports has been making news in recent weeks with the revelation that two of its biggest shareholders have written down the valuation of their investments in the company to zero following Setanta’s loss of a rights package to live Premier League football in England. This means that, in future years, Setanta will be broadcasting fewer Premier League matches than it does now.

However, the current schedule of top-class football action has been gaining the station traction in its target market.

Setanta’s key audience is 15- to 34-year-old males and, according to Nielsen viewing data analysed by MCM Communications, Setanta’s share of viewing in this demographic has doubled in the past year. It’s still small but what’s pleasing for Setanta is that about one-third of its total viewers are in this category. For advertisers trying to reach this audience, this means there is less wastage than on other channels.

Another positive in ratings terms is that, relative to RTÉ Two, the size of Setanta Ireland’s 15- to 34-year-old audience has increased to 33 per cent from 13 per cent a year ago.

“Setanta has had a tremendous year and it’s because they now have a great schedule,” says Paul McCabe, managing director of MCM Communications.

Gary Power, director at Omnicom Media Group, points out that Setanta outgunned Sky Sports 1 on numerous occasions in January and February.

Setanta operates in Ireland with a subscription-only channel, Setanta Sports 1, alongside Setanta Ireland, which is available for free as part of the basic package offered by UPC and Sky. Some soccer matches are available only on the pay channel, but the majority are available on Setanta Ireland.

Apart from soccer, Setanta’s biggest draw is Magners League rugby and the GAA, with National Football League games drawing large audiences.

Setanta Sports Ireland chief executive Niall Cogley admits that maintaining quality across the schedule has been difficult.

“In previous years we had this problem where we would have good content for a month or two and our audience numbers would be strong. Then we would visit advertising agencies to try to persuade them to give us more advertising. Having got their attention, we couldn’t deliver because our content was inconsistent and our audience figures would be down the next month. This year our aim has been to make our content more consistently strong.”

Even though Setanta in Britain was outbid by Sky for one of its two Premier League packages beyond 2010, Cogley remains upbeat. He notes that the Irish rights for the new Premier League packages are still up for grabs. “Our subscribers know we have another 16 months to go on our current contract, so they can continue to watch soccer on Monday nights with Setanta. As well as the FA Cup, we also have new contracts for Champions League, Uefa Cup and Scottish Premier League.

“We also have long-term agreements for Magners League, schools rugby and golf.”

According to Cogley, Setanta Ireland’s advertising revenue has increased by 10 per cent in the past year. However, it’s the station’s misfortune that, just as media buyers are taking more notice, advertisers’ budgets for all TV stations have been slashed.

IN A week where the British government overtook Procter & Gamble as Britain’s biggest advertiser, the Irish Government is coming under attack from IAPI, the representative body of Irish advertising agencies, for cutting back on State advertising.

The Road Safety Authority’s (RSA) advertising plans for 2009 are the latest Government advertising campaign to get the chop, with ad agencies pitching for the €4 million account advised in writing last week that the tendering process had been cancelled because the RSA no longer required advertising services due to a cut in its budget.

IAPI chief executive Seán McCrave is very exercised about the turn of events. “The Government has traditionally been a big advertiser. By drastically cutting back on all ad spend, the Government is ruining our business. It is completely shortsighted. The net result is that people are losing their jobs.”

McCrave says the IAPI is appointing an economist to evaluate the worth of the Irish advertising business to the economy and plans to meet Government representatives in the coming weeks.