Setanta Sports taps Michael for new media role

By Kevin Hilton

SVG Europe Editor

Setanta Sports has appointed a director of new media to develop the
internet and mobile platforms as outlets for its coverage of football,
boxing and Gaelic games. The newly created role is filled by Stephen
Michael, who joins from LFC TV, the media and e-business operation of
leading English Premier League football team Liverpool FC.

Michael
was general manager of LFC TV for four years and in that time turned it
around from a loss-maker to be among the most successful European
football club media operations. Before working for Liverpool he was
part of the sport and interactive division of Granada Media Group.

Setanta
distributes LFC TV as part of a multi-million pound contract with the
football club and now as director of new media for the broadcaster
Michael will be in charge of its global output and profile, with a
specific brief to develop internet and mobile distribution.

Commenting
on his appointment Michael said, “I am delighted to have joined Setanta
at what is an incredibly exciting time for the business. We already
have some fantastic sports content and there is much more on the way.
The TV proposition is extremely strong and I am looking forward to
developing our new media services so that we can offer our customers an
equally compelling experience online, on mobile and on other emerging
platforms.”

Timothy Ryan, Setanta’s marketing director for
Britain, confirmed that new media “continued to be an important focus”
for the broadcaster.

Password must contain the following:

A lowercase letter

A capital (uppercase) letter

A number

Minimum 8 characters