Sport Business March 24th 2006

Setanta & Servecast Kick Off Broadband Initiative with Six Nations.

Setanta, the Ireland-based cable and satellite broadcaster, is to stream live pay-per-view broadband coverage of rugby union's Six Nations Championship in the USA, Australia, Canada and the Caribbean.

The competition, which starts this weekend, will be the first pay-per-view event to be shown live on the broadband service of www.setanta.com, which has been launched in association with internet provider Servecast.

In the USA, customers will be able to watch all 15 games in this year's Six Nations for $99 or view an individual match for $9.99.

Sports fans can also purchase a yearly subscription to Setanta Broadband, which includes the Six Nations, for $119. Other events that form part of the package include English rugby's top-tier Guinness Premiership and the Powergen Cup, the Anglo-Welsh clubs competition which is in its inaugural season.

Setanta Broadband will also show English soccer’s Carling Cup final between Manchester United and Wigan Athletic and selected matches from the second-tier Coca-Cola Championship.

From next season, Setanta will deliver broadband coverage of the Champions League, the top European clubs competition, in both the USA and Ireland via its association with Servecast.

In all cases, viewers will have access to interactive features giving them the ability to replay a sequence, skip forward or pause.

Setanta holds the cable and satellite rights in the USA to various rugby union competitions including the Six Nations, European club rugby's Heineken Cup, the Guinness Premiership, the Powergen Cup and the Celtic League, which features teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Setanta’s soccer rights portfolio in the USA includes the Champions League, the Uefa Cup, the Carling Cup, the Coca-Cola Championship and the German Bundesliga.

About Servecast
Founded in 1998, Servecast is the leading specialist supplier of New Media Sportscasting delivering advanced streaming media solutions for the Sports Industry. Servecast's Media Studio™ Platform enables Sporting Organisations and Rights Holders to exploit their media assets to new broadband and mobile connected audiences.

Through the delivery of high quality audio visual sports content over broadband and mobile applications, Servecast's Media Studio platform greatly enhances the global fan sporting experience and enables the delivery of significant new revenue streams to the rights holder. Through our focus on sports, Servecast has developed a deep partnership network with major broadcasters, clubs and sporting bodies, the online betting industry, technology providers and content syndication partners. We leverage these partnerships to ensure optimal business success for our customers.