Setanta Sports News Gets Launch Date

Setanta Sports News has announced a launch date of November 29, with the 24-hour channel available free-to-air on the Virgin Media platform and also on satellite.

The channel will cover relevant sports stories from the UK and abroad, regardless of whether the event is broadcasting on a Setanta channel, and will feature footballing legend Kelly Dalglish as presenter of a weekly chat show.

In an effort to place fans at the heart of programming, the channel is recruiting ‘fan correspondents’ from every sport it features – including one from every Premier League football club – who will talk on phone-in debates and react to news stories concerning their clubs or sports.

Setanta Sports News is jointly owned by Setanta Sports and Virgin Media, and produced by ITN. Its EPG number on Virgin Media is 518. The satellite EPG number is to be confirmed.

Geoff Hill, editor-in-chief, Setanta Sports News, said: “We want Setanta Sports News to be fun and engaging for the nation’s sports fans.

“Viewers will get the sports news that matters delivered in a thorough, concise and accurate way, but this channel will be much more than a rolling sports news service – we want the added value of passionate input from fans. We aim to be alongside them at every major sporting event across the UK.”

Malcolm Wall, CEO of content, Virgin Media, said: “This channel represents a new age for sports fans in this country.

“We’re confident its energy will provide a fresh approach to sports news in the UK and by putting fans at the very heart of the channel, we think it will give us the edge with viewers.”

Setanta Sports News replaces the Sky Sports News channel that Virgin Media lost earlier this year after Sky pulled its basic channel package – including Sky Sports News, Sky News and Sky One – from the Virgin Media platform following a dispute over the pricing of the channels (see Virgin Media And Sky: The Story So Far).

Setanta: 0207 930 8926 www.setanta.com Virgin Media: www.virginmedia.com