Setanta’s valuable digital satellite slots are being auctioned off. The sale covers 9 slots.
The slots are on BSkyB’s digital service and cover Setanta’s channels for Golf, Racing UK, Setanta News, Racing World and three soccer club channels (Arsenal, Celtic, and Rangers TV).
Setanta is in administration (the UK version of Chapter 11) with accountants Deloitte looking after the disposal of assets. Deloitte has appointed Canis Media, a TV channel management company, to handle the sell-off, with reports that the bundle could go for up to £1m. 12 or 18 months ago, in happier financial times, the slots could have been sold for around £1m each.
Buyers need to act quickly given that Sky’s internal rules mean that any ‘empty’ channel has just 30 days before it is erased from the EPG.