Yesterday, long time reader Matt linked an article in the comments (and on my Facebook page!) from EPL Talk which reported that Fox Sports International is in the process of recovering their EPL broadcast rights from Setanta USA. And in the process, throwing into question the availability of EPL matches to football fans across the USA. There’s also a folllow-up editorial on EPL Talk which basically says that the sky is falling and that Yanks will only get three matches a week from here on out, unless the rights are sold on to GolTV, etc.
DON’T PANIC
EPL Talk does a decent job of getting facts straight and sure enough if you check out livesoccertv.com and the Setanta USA site both have been scrubbed of most mention of EPL matches live on Setanta. Exactly why this is happening is not being reported, though speculation is that it’s because Setanta owes Fox money. I’m not sure on that, Fox is currently in a huge huff over a lot of things and has been threatening to drop all their content from Time Warner Cable subscribers over pricing problems for a few weeks. Which if it comes true would have meant no Fox channels (read: no FSC, no FSN, etc) for anyone unfortunate enough to be saddled with TWCC. But the fact remains that Setanta has dropped all mention of EPL matches this weekend, save the Arsenal v. Bolton game being shown on same day broadcast (not live) tomorrow.
Still, it isn’t brown trousers time, yet. I remember a similar press-induced panic back when Setanta collapsed at the start of the season. Many folks here in America were worried that we wouldn’t get to see as many EPL matches and what’s actually happened is that we have MORE matches and (despite the fact that they changed the lovely Georgie Bingham for the hideous onion bag troll Tommy Smyth) ESPN has started showing live matches in HD, which we never had the option of before in the States.
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll remember that I told you not to panic then and I’m telling you not to panic now. Here’s the deal, those broadcast rights are only valuable if they are broadcast. Every weekend (including the odd Monday match) there are at most 10 Premier League matches and currently, between ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel 4 of those matches are broadcast live and 1 is on delay. Fox makes no money if they sit on the 5-6 matches that they have the rights to and it make absolutely no sense for them not to broadcast as many of those matches as possible.
How?
Well, they’ve already tipped their hat in that arena with their broadcasts of Champions League matches. Those of you who have Direct TV or access to Direct TV through a bar know exactly what I’m talking about; Fox has half a dozen regional Sports Channels (up here it’s Fox Sports Northwest) which they currently use to broadcast all Champions League matches , live. Something similar could be done with EPL matches. This Saturday morning at 7am (PST) on FSN we have two fishing shows, a sports round-up show, an infomercial, followed by Women’s College Basketball at 9am. On the East Coast there’s even more options with Fox owning a metric ton of channels in many markets and mostly programming filler. Moreover, most of those channels are available in High Definition which would be a huge upgrade on FSC’s current, very poor, broadcast.
Now, I recognize that it’s not a simple thing to rearrange important programming like fishing and infomercials, but Fox have a product that if they don’t show it, will not only lose them money, but will damage their brand. They have worked very hard over the years to position themselves as America’s gateway to world football — they pioneered this. The last thing they’re going to do is sit on it and let it rot.
What we are seeing is the death of one company and the consolidation of broadcast rights in the hands of a few others. There will be some growing pains, for example, right now it looks like there’s no USA broadcast of the Arsenal v. Everton match on Saturday. But that’s just growing pains, I’d gladly miss one match for the prospect of being able to see all 10 games a weekend in HD.
Fear not Yankee Gooners, this will get sorted out, and quick.
Now, if you don’t mind, there’s some fantastic transfer news that I need to get back to.
Arsenal News 24/7
As a sidenote I saw a commercial on Fox soccer channel saying that they will soon be broadcasting in HD as well. So that is also good news.
I can agree to some extent with your view, but at the same time, Fox was absolutely prepared to let Time Warner customers sit and rot while pulling their programming over like 12 cents a customer. That’s millions of viewers missing all Fox cable channels (and nearly the Fox network channel as well), so yes, I can see them holding out until the end of the season, for the highest bidder, and not showing many of the matches they have the rights to. It wouldn’t be smart to us, but still, we are an extreme viewing minority in this country and I’ve learned to never say never.
A bit unrelated, but is it just me or did Foxsoccer.com just put up a “FSC in HD” splash on their homepage? Or has that been there for awhile??
The weirdness continues, Setanta.com had pulled all mention of BPL and Champions League broadcasts from their website, but they are now back up…They have also moved the Stoke Fulham match for today back to the lineup, so it’s quite possible they may move the Arsenal Bolton match up to live tomorrow as well with the cancellation of the Carling Cup matches today and tomorrow, keep your eyes peeled.
I remember you mentioning Tim about a month ago weird stuff from the FSC website (leading up to the release of HD), so hopefully this will lead to the same good things from Setanta for the rest of the season. I predict that Setanta will continue through the end of this season as a 15 dollar a month pay channel, but that Fox is going to announce today or tomorrow that they are buying them out, and will change it all in the off season.
January 5th, 2010 at 8:05 am
@Kevin, aye, they are already running ads about HD.
I loathe anything and everything related to Rupert Murdoch, but if he puts more Prem matches on TV here in the US I’ll put him on my Christmas card list.
I don’t know how long it has been there since I don’t visit FSC website much, but they do have a splash for FSC in HD. New channel that they say starts in Jan 2010. You can click on the link and search your provider and then submit a note requesting FSC HD fm your provider. Not sure how much effect it will have but it’s worth a shot so I submitted and threatened to leave if they don’t get it and someone else does. Dreaming of the day when we get all games in HD and I can drop the $15/month I’m paying for setanta.
woohoo, setanta now has on their site that they have moved up the Arsenal Bolton match tomorrow into the LIVE timeslot, replacing the CC match…doesn’t matter much to me as I have to record it anyways and watch it in the evening, but still, good for all the loyal setanta subscribers!
January 5th, 2010 at 9:38 am
@kevin, Wait, hows that possible? According to EPL Talk, Setanta will never broadcast another match ever again!
January 5th, 2010 at 9:52 am
@Tim, lol
then again, Setanta could just be screwing with us, since they are going under FFS
Does this affect Setanta Canada in any way or is it just the US?
January 5th, 2010 at 10:16 am
@Irishgunner, So far, it’s just Setanta USA.
January 5th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Irish, I believe that Rogers owns 75% of Setanta Canada so it will be around, at least in some form.
To sjclarke-
Don’t hold your breath about Fox Soccer Channel HD (if you have comcast)
If you live in a baseball(yaaaawn)/football/hoops area (like I do, Tallahasssee FL) you can forget it. Comcast told me it is all about SUPPY AND DEMAND..in other words MONEY. ONLY and ONLY _IF_ they get enough people demanding it they will air FSC in HD.
Damn people where u under a rock? This is OLD NEWS
It is an old known fact that FOXSOCCER announce last year after they won the rights for the Champions League that they Will have foxsoccer in HD in January 10 that was one of the promises they had to make to UEFA to get the RIGHTG.
I wish that I knew more about US broadcast rights etc. However, I hope, as Tim stated, that everything is sorted quickly. I will hate for my fellow Gunners to miss any matches.
I stand with you in Solidarity.
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