It was almost completely up until about October last year, but not so much any more.
Last I heard they did all their playout as well as hosting most of their studio production. What happened?
Well the idea was to bring all operations in London together, as they were spread out between Central and Hammersmith, so when the hub was moved to Chiswick, Input (who provided limited office and studio space for the core production) was less relied on, as the production teams were no longer within their facilities.
The studio there (which we used for Football Matters, Friday Football Show and Macca's Monday Night) was the smallest I have ever seen, and the offices weren't the biggest either for a growing company, so the facility became less feasible, particularly as the FFS and FM required more space for a richer format.
As far as I am aware, Setanta Transmissions handle the playout, and have since at least the move.
The studio there (which we used for Football Matters, Friday Football Show and Macca's Monday Night) was the smallest I have ever seen
That was obvious on screen as they couldn't even do a proper wide shot of both the presenter and the pundits together, they had a weird angle slightly to the right that looked more like a CCTV camera, and so it was mostly headshots all the way through. It looked about the size of a photo booth.
The studios now are at Technicolor Studios in Chiswick. I think the only stuff that comes from STV now is the SPL highlights and discussion shows and the Bundesliga coverage, which they only do from there because it's straight after an SPL show so they just get the team there to do both.
Setanta, the troubled broadcaster locked in survival talks with investors, is exploring the possibility of a merger with Top Up TV, the pay-television company, in an attempt to save itself from administration.
Top Up TV, which has more than 100,000 subscribers, is dependent on the revenue it receives from Setanta to distribute the broadcaster’s sports channels to its digital terrestrial television subscribers.
Len Blavatnik, Top UP TV’s owner with roughly a 70 per cent shareholding, approached Setanta last week offering £20m for control of the company. Setanta’s financial position needs to be stabilised before any merger would take place.
Still no news as to whether they have met the leagues dealine with it's'potential killer blow if they have failed to make the payment to guarantee their 46 Premiership Games next season
Simply an organisation which expanded beyond its means far too quickly and looks like it will pay the ultimate price.
As an analogy for the disaster behind the credit crunch, it ain't a bad one really.
A real shame - both in terms of providing competition for Sky, for the people who are likely to be out of a job very soon, and for the football clubs and their supporters who now could be in real trouble.
A statement has been issued saying Setanta in America, Canada, Africa and Australia is unaffected as they are separate organisations, but what about Ireland. Is that separate from the UK operation?
According to the Daily Mail, Sky Sports, ESPN and Channel 4 are in the frame for the two packages which were owned by Setanta. ESPN are reported to be the favourites but it'd be great if Channel 4 won the packages. However I can't see it happening myself.
