The broadcasting firm, Setanta Sports, is set to become the first Irish company to offer a terrestrial television service in Britain.
Setanta has won the contract to broadcast a new sports channel on the Freeview service, which is expected to be in a quarter of British homes within five years.
Setanta has bought space on the Freeview platform from a company called SDN, a joint venture between the Welsh broadcaster S4C, United Business Media and NTL, The Irish Times has learned. Setanta has refused to comment on the deal or its value.
Setanta, which has been growing steadily over the past few years, will be able to take in advertising revenue on the station which it hopes will gain a considerable audience among male viewers.
It is estimated in Britain that by 2008 Freeview could be in six million households, possibly more.
Freeview is the successor to ITV Digital which collapsed two years ago. It has proven popular because it is relatively inexpensive compared with satellite or cable.
Once viewers buy a digital adaptor (usually costing about £100) they can receive up to 30 television and radio channels free.
There has been no dedicated sports channel until now, although BBC, which has nine channels on the service, does broadcast some sport as part of its general schedule.
While Setanta does not have rights to major sporting competitions such as the FA Premier League or the Champions League, it currently holds rights to GAA matches, Scottish Premier League matches and UEFA Cup soccer. It also has access to boxing matches and American sports like baseball and basketball. It is likely to supplement live sport and highlights programmes with sporting programmes from the past.
It is understood the channel will start broadcasting at the end of 2003 or early 2004.
The two directors of Setanta Sport Ireland are Mr Michael O'Rourke and Mr Leonard Ryan. The company reported a profit of $1.3 million (€1.2 million) in the year to November 30th, 2001.
Mr Ryan and Mr O'Rourke are involved in various other companies bearing the Setanta name, some are loss-making, while others have turned a small profit. Setanta Media Holdings is a major shareholder in NewsTalk 106, the Dublin talk station.
