Sky owns NI home game tv rights - 6 million deal - domestic matches included.

**Dodge** · 27/04/2007, 2:06 PM

Sky is not a British television providor. It is a television providor that serves Britain and Ireland

**OneRedArmy** · 27/04/2007, 2:08 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Bruce

Doesn't matter who owns it, its a UK television system and it doesn't matter where it is shown either, if its ROI or Spain, it is still a British television provider. The Sun, News of the World etc are all owned by the same Australian and they are British tabloids.

But anyway, that is off topic completely.

Explain how it is a UK television system? Because they are headquartered in the UK?!

You misinterpreted the point, deal with it.

Also your follow up examples are also wrong. News of the Screws and the Sun are sold in Ireland, edited, artwork and printed in Dublin with a full editorial team based in Dublin.

Quit when you are behind.

**Steve Bruce** · 27/04/2007, 2:19 PM

Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

Explain how it is a UK television system? Because they are headquartered in the UK?!

You misinterpreted the point, deal with it.

Also your follow up examples are also wrong. News of the Screws and the Sun are sold in Ireland, edited, artwork and printed in Dublin with a full editorial team based in Dublin.

Quit when you are behind.

Yeah they are Irish Editions which is part of the bigger UK group.

BSKYB are Headquartered in the UK, they run UK adverts in every channel and the everything is geared towards the UK market.

They are called British Sky Broadcasting or BSKYB and it is available in the Republic because they have a big interest in British Sport and speak the same language and enjoy other the variety of channels no other broadcaster has.

So yes it is a british company who have a market in the Republic.

**Steve Bruce** · 27/04/2007, 2:24 PM

Originally Posted by Dodge

Sky is not a British television providor. It is a television providor that serves Britain and Ireland

They provide sky in Spain to. Does that make them a Spanish company to?

It is a British Company that provides countries outside of the UK.

**OneRedArmy** · 27/04/2007, 2:26 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Bruce

BSKYB are Headquartered in the UK, they run UK adverts in every channel and the everything is geared towards the UK market.Republic.

They actually run Irish ads to irish subscribers, but don't let the truth get in the way of your argument....

**Dodge** · 27/04/2007, 2:35 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Bruce

They provide sky in Spain to. Does that make them a Spanish company to?

They provide the UK or Irish service to Spain. They provide different services to Ireland and the UK and as above, even host different ads. BSkyB is wholly owned by a US listed multinational. They have offices in Dublin too

**Jerry The Saint** · 27/04/2007, 2:41 PM

It's all very simple - Sky broadcasts to Britain AND Ireland. ITV didn't have to pay compensation for showing live football on a Sunday afternoon but Sky Sports do. I don't know why you're trying to turn this into a "Sky is British, just like Northern Ireland" argument

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....l-mediaprofile

BSkyB's ambition is to be the leading entertainment choice in the UK and Ireland. More than 8 million customers - equivalent to almost one in three households in the UK and Ireland - enjoy an unprecedented choice of movies, news, entertainment and sports channels and interactive services on Sky digital, the first and most popular digital pay-TV service in UK and Ireland.

Q. Which countries does Sky operate in?
A. Sky operates principally in the UK and Ireland. Some of Sky's wholly-owned or joint venture channels are distributed across the world by other cable and satellite operators.

**crc** · 27/04/2007, 3:16 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Bruce

There are many northern ireland and Linfield(and other teams) exiles on the mainland

Germany? Belgium? France...?

In the words of Ali G:
"Iz you 'ere on 'oliday?"

Originally Posted by Jerry The Saint

I don't know why you're trying to turn this into a "Sky is British, just like Northern Ireland" argument

---------

On the deal. Its a good deal for the Irish League IMO, and I'm not sure if it is or isn't a good deal for the NI international team. Although there is a reasonable risk to the scale of the BBC's Saturday afternoon coverage, Sky has quite good production values and so coverage will start to look a lot less like just some bloke with a camcorder. BBCNI and UTV will still be able to offer coverage on their news programs and shows like Season Ticket.

As for NI, its only very recently that there has been consistent live terrestrial coverage of international matches (coinciding with an upturn in fortunes), and the Sky deal presumable ensures that there will be live TV coverage of the games even if the team starts to do badly.

Bottom line, though, is that its a handy amount of cash for the IFA, and they could certainly do with it.

**Steve Bruce** · 27/04/2007, 3:34 PM

Originally Posted by Jerry The Saint

It's all very simple - Sky broadcasts to Britain AND Ireland. ITV didn't have to pay compensation for showing live football on a Sunday afternoon but Sky Sports do. I don't know why you're trying to turn this into a "Sky is British, just like Northern Ireland" argument

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....l-mediaprofile

It's nothing to do with Northern Irelands political situation, you are saying that not me. BSkyB is a british firm. But we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Soon enough they will be a world wide firm when they merge with some american company i've never heard of.

**Dodge** · 27/04/2007, 3:47 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Bruce

Soon enough they will be a world wide firm when they merge with some american company i've never heard of.

They are owned by a US based company (owned primarily by an Aussie)

**OneRedArmy** · 27/04/2007, 3:59 PM

Originally Posted by Dodge

They are owned by a US based company (owned primarily by an Aussie)

.....both of which used to be part of Britain (is that Rule Britannia I hear playing in the background)

**TonyD** · 27/04/2007, 4:37 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Bruce

It's nothing to do with Northern Irelands political situation, you are saying that not me. BSkyB is a british firm. But we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Soon enough they will be a world wide firm when they merge with some american company i've never heard of.

Whether SKY is British or not is entirely irrelevant. The Nationality of the company had nothing to do with the Irish Governments intervention in the SKY/FAI deal (which was prompted more by a chorus of RTE led whinging than anything else). The issue was the pay per view element(which strictly speaking it wasn't) and denying free to air coverage of Ireland matches.

**EalingGreen** · 27/04/2007, 4:56 PM

Originally Posted by Jerry The Saint

Dont' think so. Sky is considered a 'home' broadcaster for Ireland as well - this is why FAI clubs were compensated when Sky started broadcasting live games on Sunday afternoons - rather than a channel broadcasting to another country which can be picked up in the republic, such as BBC/ITV.

I may be wrong, but I thought the compensation agreed for FAI clubs was a UEFA requirement. The reason why Sky Premiership matches kick off at 4 pm on a Sunday is because that is 5 pm in Continental Europe i.e. when Sunday afternoon matches kicking off at 3 pm local time have finished. UEFA were worried that crowds in less popular leagues in Belgium, Holland, Scandinavia etc would suffer if local fans could instead watch English Premiership football via a satellite dish.

Therefore, since it is in the same time zone as the UK (unlike the rest of Europe, barring Portugal) the FAI could have insisted that UEFA ensure that English Premiership games be scrambled by Sky for transmission in the Republic; presumably they preferred the compensation.

If ITV did not pay compensation to FAI clubs in similar circumstances, that will have been because they are a terrestrial channel (That UTV can be picked up in Border areas is by-the-by; perhaps UEFA felt sorry for people who have to live in Cavan etc?

)

**EalingGreen** · 27/04/2007, 5:03 PM

Originally Posted by TonyD

Whether SKY is British or not is entirely irrelevant. The Nationality of the company had nothing to do with the Irish Governments intervention in the SKY/FAI deal (which was prompted more by a chorus of RTE led whinging than anything else). The issue was the pay per view element(which strictly speaking it wasn't) and denying free to air coverage of Ireland matches.

Sounds about right to me, especially the RTE whinging bit.

P.S. Technically speaking, British Sky Broadcasting is not "British" in the same way as Guinness is not "Irish".

**crc** · 27/04/2007, 5:38 PM

Originally Posted by EalingGreen

...perhaps UEFA felt sorry for people who have to live in Cavan etc?

)

Perhaps. There are lots of reasons to feel sorry for people who have to live in Cavan!

**OneRedArmy** · 28/04/2007, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by EalingGreen

P.S. Technically speaking, British Sky Broadcasting is not "British" in the same way as Guinness is not "Irish".

Almost correct. Guinness is only brewed in James' Gate since they closed Park Royal down, but Diageo is British headquartered and listed.

Again, all by the by, as the blueman completely misinterpreted the thread in his eagerness to display how British he is.

**Poor Student** · 28/04/2007, 1:08 PM

Lads, anymore discussion on the Britishness/Internationalness of Sky and I'll close the thread. It's blown from a minor misunderstanding into a full blown petty off topic discussion. Focus on the deal and its pros and cons.

**Schumi** · 29/04/2007, 8:07 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Bruce

Also if I'm not mistaken your current tv deal is a tie in with internationals to, so please don't give me your high horse crap.

i don't think that's true now. Setanta and TG4 don't show Irish internationals and have a good few live league games each. RT�'s deal may be related to their international deal, I'm not sure.

**LeviathanNI** · 01/05/2007, 12:49 AM

Yeeeeooo!! Anyway, I think it is a great deal for the National team and our League, and will hopefully give us that much needed exposure.. I also hope, in a stange twist, that it give the Beeb a boot in the hole, and they produce the highlights package we have been asking for for years.

Added to the Setanta coverage, all in all, the future is looking bright(er).