I agree with DT1. By the way I emailed the Setanta Canadian office to ask if they will still be around even if the UK operation goes under and here is the response that I received:
Works for me. It hasn't even been a month since the end of the season and I've already experienced withdrawal symptoms. And I know many don't agree but I still think $15-a-month isn't such a bad deal for the coverage we get. I'd rather it was cheaper but it is what it is.

According to a Vancouver football blog everything will be fine for next season:

After speaking Setanta Canada's Marketing Manager, Andy Shapiera, I was told that it's "status quo" for Setanta Canada. What that means is that Setanta Canada operates separately from the UK, with separate broadcast contracts and rights to broadcast games, meaning, you will still get to see the Premier League games on television here on Setanta Sports, including the deal to broadcast Champions League coverage in 2009/10 and beyond. Shapiera says that "viewers will continue to see the coverage that Setanta Canada have become known for."

Further down the road, the outcome of Setanta UK may affect what happens here in Canada, but right now, people will continue to watch their favourite squads week in week out.

http://fulltimefootballshow.blogspot.com/2009/06/setanta-canada-what-happens-here-in.html

I still think $15-a-month isn't such a bad deal for the coverage we get.

I agree, if you are really into EPL, Setanta is the only choice. I grew up in Ireland so maybe I am biased but for me anyway I think the whole excitement of the EPL is not only watching the top 4 but also watching the games of the teams in the bottom of the league fight off relegation.

I can see people's point of view when they say they just want to watch 1 or 2 games a week but for people like me who watch 5-6 games a week the only choice is Setanta. Add in the rugby, GAA, world cup qualifiers (even if delayed), FA Cup, some Scottish games, and I am all set.

$15 is a substantial figure but if I compare it to some of the movie channels where you maybe find 4-5 (360 minutes/month) movies a month that you actually sit and watch fully, versus Setanta if you watch just 2 games a week (720 minutes/month)

Setanta Loses EPL Rights for it's 46 games...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8109954.stm

Setanta Loses EPL Rights for it's 46 games...

This article refers to the UK channel not Canada, Setanta Canada will continue to operate business as usual. Who cares what is happening in the UK, Setanta Canada is a separate operation and the TV rights are separate.

it will matter if Setanta goes under completely which is quite possible now.

The Globe and Mail as of June 12th this month were reporting the possible effect in Canada of Setanta UK's collapse.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/setantas-financial-woes-could-impact-canadian-fans/article1178964/

In Canada they have EPL rights until 2010-11, England FA rights until 2011-12, and they just acquired the rights for UEFA Champions league with Rogers until the 2011-12 season.

The only thing that this means is that Setanta Canada won't be able to use the Setanta UK feed for Premier League coverage now, instead they will have to use the International feed (like they do for most games) or the ESPN America/Sky Sport/whoever else may pick up the rights feeds.

This is up on their website

As has been widely reported in various media channels, Setanta Sports has today had its agreement to broadcast 46 Barclays Premier League matches in the UK terminated.

This development does not affect our channels and other services in Canada.

Setanta Sports Canada is a separate operation that has separate agreement to show the Barclay’s Premier League. Our channel and other services in the US continue to broadcast and our subscribers can still enjoy our programming including the Lions Tour of South Africa and the Churchill Cup.

New customers are welcome to subscribe to watch some of the world’s best soccer and rugby either by contacting our cable and satellite partners or online at www.setanta.com.

We thank you for your continued interest in Setanta Sports and look forward to bringing you a wealth of sport over the coming months and years.

Well hopefully, at least, it's the end of that silly puppet show. ;)

I liked the Football Matters show though.

Are you serious? The puppets were great. Rooney and little Ronaldo with his diving snorkels.

it will matter if Setanta goes under completely which is quite possible now.

It may matter for the other programming they air but not for EPL. The rights to the EPL are owned by Score Media (who own The Score), who acquired them in late 2006 and are for 2007-2010. They then turned around and sub-licensed them to Setanta Canada. So Setanta will still have EPL for this upcoming season, the rights for the next 3 year period will probably be awarded sometime soon.

There may be a problem with Champions League because Rogers & Setanta acquired the rights in a joint bid so not sure what happens if Setanta can't pay their share?!

Here is the link to the press release from Score Media about EPL rights (its from 2006):

http://www.scoremedia.com/2006/12/the-score-acquires-exclusive-canadian-televisions-rights-to-english-premier-league-soccer/

Here's the latest update on Setanta's financial woes. (http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-premierleague-setanta&prov=ap&type=lgns)

Score Media acquired the Premier League right in Canada rights last year, but re-sold the package to Setanta, while keeping a Sunday morning game (Eastern time).

The third carrier of Premier League games in Canada will be Rogers Sportsnet, which has bought a Saturday morning game from Setanta.

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/162222/setanta-to-launch-epl-channel-in-canada

I think Setanta brought the rights from the Score but they just held onto the Sunday morning game.

Well hopefully, at least, it's the end of that silly puppet show. ;)

I liked the Football Matters show though.
Are you serious? It's brilliant.

There may be a problem with Champions League because Rogers & Setanta acquired the rights in a joint bid so not sure what happens if Setanta can't pay their share?!
Rogers Sportsnet & Setanta Canada acquired the rights, so since Setanta Canada is owned by Rogers they will be able to pay for it.

And I'm glad that I'm not the only one who didn't like the puppet show, I seriously thought I was.

Setanta's channel in Canada is a partnership with Rogers. Rogers is actually the majority shareholder of the company owning the licence -- and Setanta the minority shareholder.
(Looking at the CRTC decision last year on corporate reorganization, there's two numbered companies involved. One owns the licence, the other owns most of that company. In both companies, Rogers has a significant majority share and Setanta the minority.)
So if something happens to the parent Setanta company, I presume Rogers is still running the show, and, as Setanta Canada claims and many here have pointed out, all the programming is safe in Canada.
I agree the puppets are great. If Setanta goes down, I hope Special 1 TV will be saved.

Doing a little more math with the Setanta Canada numbered companies ownership, my claim that Rogers owns a "significant" majority of the channel seems to be overstated. A not always trusty calculator (and reading the CRTC decision further) now tells me the Rogers stake of the two companies adds up to about 53 per cent.
The CRTC decision also says: "the Commission is satisfied that the licensee will be controlled by Rogers, a Canadian, at all times."

Interesting article in the Irish Times

DUBLIN-BASED Setanta Sports could be placed into administration today by its directors, who will meet in London to decide the troubled pay-TV company’s future.

This follows a dramatic end to last week for Setanta, which saw the firm lose its rights on Friday to 46 live Premier League games in the UK for the 2009/10 season. This followed a missed payment of £10 million (€12 million) by Setanta to the league.

A proposed £20 million investment by wealthy industrialist Len Blavatnik also collapsed on Friday.

Accounting firm Deloitte has been lined up to act as administrator to Setanta Sport Holdings Ltd (SSH), the broadcaster’s main trading company.

SSH employs about 430 people, including 200 in Dublin, who work for Setanta Sports Ireland.

The Irish business is profitable and there are hopes that it and Setanta’s international businesses can be rescued. The company has interests in Australia, Canada and the United States.

About €50 million is believed to have been invested by Setanta’s backers in the Irish business in recent years.

Music promoter Denis Desmond, who owns 20 per cent of Setanta Sports Ireland, told The Irish Times yesterday that he hoped the business here could be saved and said he was willing to participate in any rescue.

“The hope would be very much to keep Ireland going,” Mr Desmond said. “There’s no reason, in my opinion, why Ireland can’t continue as a going concern but it all depends on what happens in the UK.

“It’s down to what happens tomorrow [Monday] but we’re all keen for to continue. We’ll look at what’s possible.”

Mr Desmond said he would be willing to invest more money in Setanta’s Irish business.

Setanta Sports Ireland has a separate shareholding structure – SSH owns 80 per cent with Mr Desmond holding the balance.

It is understood that a profit of about €500,000 had been projected for the Irish business for 2009. The channel is carried as part of the basic packs of cable TV providers NTL and Chorus, a lucrative deal that gives it access to about 600,000 households.

A number of the sports rights held by Setanta Sports Ireland are for this market only and do not apply to the UK. This includes the Magners League rugby, Formula 1 motor racing, the Uefa Champions League and Gaelic games.

Rights to the Premier League in England and the Scottish Premier League were held by its parent group.

Latest accounts for Setanta Sports Channel Ireland show it made an operating loss of €13 million on turnover of €26 million in 2007.

However, revenues are believed to have risen substantially since then and the company is now operating in the black.

If Setanta is placed into administration, the Irish business will fall under the control of Deloitte. The Irish channel held rights to 79 live Premier League games in England for the coming season.

This comprised mirror rights for the 46 matches that Setanta secured for Britain and 33 games that it could broadcast in Ireland only on Saturday afternoons. The Irish rights are expected to be put up for grabs in the next fortnight.

Does this mean we will no longer hear Jon Champion and Craig Burley?
They were great commentators, especially Jon.