Setanta keen to do deal with GAA

Sport on Television: Setanta Sport's chief executive Niall Cogley said yesterday that the fledgling station would be keen to strike a deal with the GAA on broadcast rights for the association's major events but questioned whether it would be in a position to rival RTÉ for the championship when the national broadcaster's current deal expires at the end of this summer.

"Sure, we'd love to have an arrangement with the GAA," he said. "Is that practical in terms of next year, though? I'm not entirely sure.

"I'd have to say that RTÉ are doing a great job with the GAA and we have to start walking before we try to get into a gallop. The company wants to position itself as one that is doing new things but a deal with the GAA would obviously be very attractive. We'd have to come up with a fairly impressive proposal, though, to rival what RTÉ have been doing."

Cogley, RTÉ's head of television sport until being head-hunted to helm the new channel back in May, pointed to Setanta's deals with the SPL and English Premiership as a clear indication of the company's ambition when it comes to content but added that the company would not be seeking to take on established competition in the short term.

"If we can provide a service that's not being provided then that's probably a better place for us to start than to go looking to issue bloody noses to the established companies," he said.

Although Setanta's new channel is not due to launch until September, the station will provide a taste of the package it will offer during the weeks ahead as it broadcasts live games from the English and Scottish premier leagues.

"I wouldn't like people to judge us on what goes out over the next few weeks because it's far from being what the full package will be like," said Cogley. "But we have the rights to these things and rather than not put them out at all here we feel it is like a bonus for the viewers to put these games out as they come around."

This weekend, the broadcaster will carry live coverage of Aberdeen against Rangers on Saturday and Celtic against Motherwell the following day.

Its first Premiership game, the meeting between Aston Villa and Southampton, will be broadcast on Saturday, August 14th.

The new station will be available to NTL subscribers as part of their basic 15-channel subscription package and will appear in the setting currently occupied by Nickelodeon/The Music Factory, which will move to a new location.

Negotiations with Sky and Chorus are at an advanced stage and the Setanta officials hope that the new station will be available to subscribers of both companies before the weekend.

Live events will initially be available unencrypted to these subscribers but an annual fee will be charged to all but NTL's 340,000 customers once the station becomes fully operational. During its first year Setanta will broadcast 15 Premiership matches, 48 SPL games and over 60 Celtic League rugby matches. Further details of content are due to be announced over the coming weeks.