Media&Marketing: It is not often that RTÉ, TG4, TV3 and Setanta all get locked out of a major international sporting event. But from this Saturday none of the channels will be able to broadcast live coverage of the first British and Irish Lions game from New Zealand.
This is because the rugby unions of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand recently concluded a deal with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation which gives it exclusive access to Lions games and also other rugby tournaments like the Tri-Nations championship and the Currie Cup in South Africa.
Because of its links to News Corporation, BSkyB has the exclusive rights in Ireland and Britain. The company will be hoping the exclusivity will boost subscription numbers in the Republic which stand at 355,000. This makes Sky the largest pay TV company in the Republic.
Estimates of turnover from its Irish operations vary from between €180 million and €200 million a year. While subscription numbers are crucial, NTL subscribers will also be able to access the games because Sky Sports is carried on its platform.
But as the games are not on terrestrial television in Ireland, the audiences are likely to be smaller than they otherwise might be.
A large participation by Irish players will also determine whether the matches are big ratings winners or not.
Assets scramble
The biggest scramble for Irish media assets seen in recent years could be about to begin. Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH), which owns the assets, is now the subject of a formal takeover offer from British radio and magazine giant Emap.
The offer, worth about £278 million, is not good enough according to SRH. It claims the bid is at a "significant discount to current market estimates".
The SRH board is telling shareholders to take no action right now, but its decision to pinpoint two specific shortcomings in the Emap bid suggests it may be open to persuasion.
Most observers do not believe Emap would want to hold onto SRH's Irish assets and certainly not the newspapers. So if the bid eventually proves successful the following Irish businesses could have a "for sale" sign over the door: the Kilkenny People, the Leitrim Observer, the Longford Leader, the Nationalist and Munster Advertiser.
Channel 6 deal
The news that Channel 6, the new TV channel expected to come on air later this year, has concluded a programming deal with Paramount is a curious development.
It is a strange move in the context of a decision taken on May 9th. On that day Paramount Comedy launched a new opt-out channel for the Republic. Opt-out channels allow broadcasters to insert local advertising into their normal programming.
Paramount Ireland, which is ultimately owned by Viacom, has been well received in the Republic, but the arrival of Channel 6 with its own Paramount programming could complicate matters.
Obviously both channels will be anxious to ensure that programmes do not overlap and there is no cannibalisation for Paramount itself.
But it certainly cannot help Paramount's Irish channel that another channel is going to carry so much Paramount material. Word reaches The Irish Times however that some kind of solution may yet emerge.
