Broadcasters prepare to fight the online battle

Sunday Business Post - Business of Sport section - Jan 04 2009

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The ways in which football fans view their favourite teams play may be rapidly changing, in ways that will have knock-on effects for all involved in the football business - clubs, broadcasters, sponsors, shareholders and fans.

Instead of having to fork out for a monthly or annual subscription to a pay-per-view broadcaster, or visit a pub or friends’ house, a significant number are watching their live football online, for free. The service is facilitated by sites such as the popular and notorious US-based website Justin.tv.

Set up last April to allow individuals to broadcast their daily lives online, Justin.tv is now being used by people and companies to show everything from rock concerts to political rallies to sports events. Fans can now generally watch every Premier League game - or other sports events such as European Cup rugby or USPGA golf - live via a stream on Justin.tv or many other copycat sites, albeit often with an imperfect picture and unsteady stream.

However, Setanta’s customer acquisitions director Brian Quinn said this development was not unduly concerning broadcasters who own the rights to show Premier League games in Ireland.

‘‘We are aware that in a small number of instances, some consumers are illegally viewing premium sports content for free on the internet,” said Quinn. ‘‘We do not believe the number of users in Ireland is very high as the viewing experience is very poor and unreliable."

‘‘Most people with a genuine interest in watching these games are happy to pay subscription charges to the legitimate rights owners, such as Setanta, and enjoy a quality experience at a price which represents very good value,” said Quinn.

However, despite this attitude, Quinn said that Setanta, in partnership with the Premier League authorities in Britain, was actively pursuing sites that illegally broadcast material to which Setanta owned the rights.

‘‘We are working with our rights partners, such as the Premier League, to pursue illegal businesses and have them shut down,” he said.

This is easier said than done, however. Justin.tv, for example, claims to be merely offering a facility for others to broadcast, and is therefore not responsible for the content shown. According to Michael Siebel, chief executive of the VC-funded website, Justin.tv immediately shuts down any channel broadcasting copyrighted material, once notified by the copyright holder.

‘‘The Premier League is registered with Justin.tv and is actively using our suite of tools that we provide to copyright holders, so we expect to continue working with them to manage their content on the site,” said Siebel.


Policing these channels, and the thousands of similar websites that have emerged in recent months, is difficult in practice.

Websites such as YouTube and 101greatgoals.com have been targeted by the Premier League, to ensure compliance with copyright legislation. However, as the websites where the content is actually hosted can be in faraway jurisdictions, including China and Iraq, complete enforcement is almost impossible.

This may be why Quinn said that Setanta was developing ways to utilise the internet to broadcast its sports coverage.

‘‘We were very early to realise that some consumers are interested in viewing premium sport through broadband,” he said.

‘‘In Ireland, we work with Eircom as the distributor of our premium content online. In the British market, we retail our online content directly.

‘‘We believe the percentage of our customers viewing online will grow and we are constantly working on improving the online product,” said Quinn. ‘‘In both Ireland and Britain, we will be launching some enhancements next year, which take advantage of the higher speeds now available.”

The previous Premier League rights went for an astronomical stg£2.6 billion for seasons 2007-10, including €570 million paid by Setanta for just one of the four available bundles of games. The next round of rights, for 2010 to 2013, will be sold next year.

Quinn said he did not expect illegal online viewing to impact significantly on the upcoming negotiations.

‘‘It is possible that many factors could influence future rounds of rights auctions, including the economic climate. However, at this point, it is unlikely that users illegally viewing poor quality sport online will impact on the process,” he said.

However, the next round of Premier League broadcast rights will include more complex packages, including different bundles of TV, and online and mobile delivery methods, rather than the traditional TV only deals. Setanta can be expected to bid for at least some of these new packages.

‘‘Distributing our content through various channels - such as satellite, cable, freeview, online and mobile - has been an approach we have embraced from early on and this has brought rewards for us,”

Quinn said. ‘‘We will continue the approach and will always look for new ways to ensure the widest distribution of our content.”

But Quinn said he did not foresee the internet replacing television as the primary medium for viewing live sporting events in the near future.

‘‘It is important to note that the vast majority of premium sports subscribers in two or three years will still be happiest consuming sport through their TV in a traditional format,” he said.

Siebel, however, argued that consumers would want to view content - whether live football, music or television - wherever and whenever they want, and said that rights holders should work with online channels to reach the most people possible.

‘‘I think the trend we have seen over the last few years, where consumers are able to enjoy content any time and anywhere, will continue to grow and evolve,” he said.

‘‘More and more content owners are coming to realise that they need to meet that consumer demand and find new ways to make their content available - whether it be through mobile devices, social media or live video.

‘‘Our vision is that all leagues will work together with Justin.tv in order to provide their fans with a live, televisionlike experience online.”