Sports Extra (TNT/Premier)

I'm just wondering what people think about how long more Eir broadband customers will continue to get the Eirsport/BT channels for free? Its a good deal especially when you have an old sky box and card and can get HD versions of some of these channels as well. I remember a few years ago you could watch Setanta Sports online for free if you were with Eircom but that was eventually dropped.

icdg

There has been a big changing of the guard at senior management in eir - including the departure of Glen Killane as head of TV. So who knows exactly what the future will bring? Depends whether the new owners think there’s value in continuing with the strategy I guess. I fear there’s little rationale for eir to continue to own eir Sport without it.

Johnboy1951

From what I read/hear the 'free' eir sport offer can be a tipping point for those interested in sport, when deciding which provider to use.

Only eir can really estimate what value that is to them .....

SeeMoreBut

icdg wrote: »

There is a Box Nation HD channel alright that shows live fights and is available on a PPV basis alright. It’s not part of the BT/eir arrangement at present though.

As for La Liga - I’d be skeptical on that front. A few years back the press told us that BT had the rights in the bag and Sky had pulled out of bidding only for Sky to announce that they had kept the rights. That said Sky just aren’t putting the same effort into their coverage of late as they did a few years back, el Classico aside. BT would be no better mind you having dropped the European Football Show wrapper for their Ligue 1/Serie A coverage, one of the best football panels on TV while it aired.

Sky just show the games now. No build up or anything. Coverage starts 5 minutes before kickoff and half time ads and some highlights. They’ve cut their operation costs. They’ve done the same with cricket also for non England matches.

Sky need la liga because apart from that people aren’t going to be switching on to watch Dutch, Chinese or much mls games

icdg

icdg wrote: »

There has been a big changing of the guard at senior management in eir - including the departure of Glen Killane as head of TV. So who knows exactly what the future will bring? Depends whether the new owners think there’s value in continuing with the strategy I guess. I fear there’s little rationale for eir to continue to own eir Sport without it.

True, especially for the eirsport channels themselves. What about the BT stations though. Is there an actual end date on the current arrangement where they are part of the Eirsport pack?

Tigerandahalf

[Deleted User] wrote: »

True, especially for the eirsport channels themselves. What about the BT stations though. Is there an actual end date on the current arrangement where they are part of the Eirsport pack?

There will be a massive battle for those BT channels when the next deal comes around in a couple of years.

Virgin are shedding tv customers and would seem to need something like it to become relevant again. Perhaps they would give the channels free to their broadband + tv customers and charge for streaming the app if not.

Sky Sports have little value now with just the Premier League.
For an Irish point of view BT/eir have Champions League, European Rugby, GAA plus a host of other Irish rights.
With tv3 under Virgin you could even see some games broadcast on tv3 since not everyone can access Virgin.

Vodafone and others may also want a slice.

icdg

Deleted User wrote: »

True, especially for the eirsport channels themselves. What about the BT stations though. Is there an actual end date on the current arrangement where they are part of the Eirsport pack?

1st August 2019 (it is tied to the end of the Premier League TV rights cycle).

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Sky Sports have little value now with just the Premier League .

Do not underestimate the value of the Premier League! It is the biggest driver of pay TV subscriptions in the U.K. and I would hazard to say, in this jurisdiction also. ESPN walked away from the U.K. and Ireland when they lost it.

Schwanz

I think we'll see those BT rights passed to Sky here in Ireland next year imo

kooga

As the UK rights for the Pro 14 have been announced and its premier sports the irish rights will be eir sport with eirsport 1 going HD on sky. This was posted in the freesports thread

https://www.pro14rugby.org/2018/04/30/broadcastqa/

Q: I live in the Republic of Ireland, when will you announce those broadcasters?
A: PRO14 Rugby is very excited that fans in the Republic of Ireland will be treated to the same level of Championship action as those across the UK. We look forward to making an official announcement about this very soon.

Read more at https://www.pro14rugby.org/2018/04/30/broadcastqa/#yU0qZxymZJ2bt8Vg.99


http://www.premiersports.com/pro-14/pro-14

icdg

I wouldn’t read that as an announcement that eir Sport 1 will be going HD on Sky. Lets see what happens when the Irish rIghts announcement (and it will be eir Sport) is made.

galtee boy

Does this mean no more live Pro 14 on TG4, S4C, BBC 2 NI, BBC 2 Wales and BBC Alba ?

kooga

galtee boy wrote: »

Does this mean no more live Pro 14 on TG4, S4C, BBC 2 NI, BBC 2 Wales and BBC Alba ?

Yes on the BBC platforms

it has been mentioned possibly 1 game per week on TG4

In the UK there is a reference to have games in local languages which may hint at a game on BBC Alba and S4C

galtee boy

kooga wrote: »

Yes on the BBC platforms

it has been mentioned possibly 1 game per week on TG4

In the UK there is a reference to have games in local languages which may hint at a game on BBC Alba and S4C[/quote

Thanks, so it means having to subscribe to eir Sports to have full access, that's a pity, more fta sport gone down the pay route, but that's the way most sport is going these days I suppose.

icdg

Interestingly there is reference on the Premier Sports website to a Premier Sports 2. That could be a UK version of eir Sport 1. Alternatively it could be a brand new channel, maybe an eir Sport 3 for us.

irishfeen

icdg wrote: »

Interestingly there is reference on the Premier Sports website to a Premier Sports 2. That could be a UK version of eir Sport 1. Alternatively it could be a brand new channel, maybe an eir Sport 3 for us.

I wonder will Eir Sport 1 be upgraded to HD and that used as Premier Sports 2.

Tigerandahalf

irishfeen wrote: »

I wonder will Eir Sport 1 be upgraded to HD and that used as Premier Sports 2.

Isn't eir sports 1 already in HD with the eir broadband package. It was when I streamed games.

dublinman1990

Another thing for the FTA games is that if you currently have Saorview; it could appear that you could still have to watch TG4 in SD. To remedy that; you could go to watch games on Freesports HD either on Freesat/FTA as another option to see the free pro14 game for that week.

irishfeen

Tigerandahalf wrote: »

Isn't eir sports 1 already in HD with the eir broadband package. It was when I streamed games.

Sorry I was talking about Eir on satellite.

An Ciarraioch

Interesting development in the UK, as a group called Eleven Sports wins La Liga rights - could they be subcontracted to BT?

Tigerandahalf

An Ciarraioch wrote: »

Interesting development in the UK, as a group called Eleven Sports wins La Liga rights - could they be subcontracted to BT?

You would be hard pushed to subscribe to Sky now. They have lost so many sports.

You do have to wonder how sustainable it is for small niche companies to come in and buy up rights. Take out the 2 el classico matches and the viewership has to be small.

I presume this will be another streaming service predominantly. They do say they will sub licence to linear platforms but it will be a hard sell unless included in a variety bundle by sky.

mikeym

Sky have the best Premier League matches live.

Schwanz

I have Eleven Sports from Poland on 13e. Wonder is it the same crowd

irishfeen

Schwanz wrote: »

I have Eleven Sports from Poland on 13e. Wonder is it the same crowd

Yep it’s the same crowd, they already have channels in many countries around the world.

lertsnim

An Ciarraioch wrote: »

Interesting development in the UK, as a group called Eleven Sports wins La Liga rights - could they be subcontracted to BT?

I don't see why they wouldn't launch their own channels.

mikeym wrote: »

Sky have the best Premier League matches live.

Not everyone cares about the Premier League though. Sky have lost viewers for other sports like rugby and tennis because they paid too much for the Premier League.

irishfeen

lertsnim wrote: »

I don't see why they wouldn't launch their own channels

Subscription saturation - ESPN tried that years ago in the UK and it just did not work. 3 seperate sports subscriptions is too much for normal fans who can’t afford it.

icdg

Look, we’ve a thread to talk about the La Liga rights, it’s got nothing to do with BT, eir, or Premier Sports so we might keep the talk about it to that thread

icdg

Pro14 rights announced, eir Sport to broadcast every game with 21 games sublicensed to TG4.

https://www.eirsport.ie/eir-sport-announce-exciting-innovative-guinness-pro14-three-year-deal

galtee boy

icdg wrote: »

Pro14 rights announced, eir Sport to broadcast every game with 21 games sublicensed to TG4.

https://www.eirsport.ie/eir-sport-announce-exciting-innovative-guinness-pro14-three-year-deal

They had better get eir Sport 1 in HD on Sky by the autumn so. Didn't realise eir Sport will be the only place to see to the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

dulpit

galtee boy wrote: »

They had better get eir Sport 1 in HD on Sky by the autumn so. Didn't realise eir Sport will be the only place to see to the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Irish matches will be on TV3 (I think - but definitely FTA)

galtee boy

dulpit wrote: »

Irish matches will be on TV3 (I think - but definitely FTA)

Ok, thanks, that press release of theirs states that eir Sport will be the only place in Ireland to watch the World Cup, it's a bit misleading.