Setanta Sports News to kick off this month
- Published: 05 November 2007 18:34
- Author: Chris Curtis
- More by this Author
- Last Updated: 06 November 2007 12:00
Setanta Sports News, the Virgin Media and Setanta Sports-owned rival to Sky Sports News, will launch on 29 November.
The 24-hour channel will be available free-to-air on the Virgin Media platform and on satellite, and will cover stories from the UK and abroad, regardless of whether the event is broadcast on a Setanta channel.
The channel plans to put sports fans at the heart of its programming and is recruiting 'fan correspondents' from every sport featured on the channel, including one from every Premier League football club.
The contributors will talk on phone-in debates and react to news stories concerning their clubs or sports.
Kelly Dalglish, daughter of Liverpool legend Kenny, will present a weekly chat show. The programme will discuss all the main sports stories of the day with a panel of high-profile guests, including a fan phone-in element.
Virgin Media chief executive of content Malcolm Wall said: "This channel represents a new age for sports fans in this country. We're confident its energy will provide a fresh approach to sports news in the UK and by putting fans at the very heart of the channel, we think it will give us the edge with viewers."
Setanta Sports News is jointly owned by Setanta Sports and Virgin Media, and produced by ITN. Its EPG number on Virgin Media is 518. The satellite EPG number is to be confirmed.
