What Happened to LFC TV on Gol?

[drobny23]

When the launch of LFC TV on Setanta GB was announced last month, North American viewers continued to get LFC TV on Gol TV every Tuesday afternoon.

Last week, LFC TV disappeared from that time slot, but was still shown on Gol TV on Sundays.

Now, it's gone.

I've run a search for it on my DirecTV, nothing, anywhere.

When the LFC TV deal was announced for GB, I wondered aloud on this forum whether Setanta would allow LFC TV to continue on Gol in NA considering it's paying for a whole LFC channel in GB. Something is certainly up.

Can anyone make sense of this? My decision between FSC/Gol vs Setanta hinges on which channel will replay that week's game on LFC TV.

Thanks.

[Wine4MyMen]

No word on the Liverpool FC site, nothing on GolTV's site ... I guess it's easier to announce who's gaining LFC.TV than who's losing it. If I had the choice, I'd pick Setanta now. But I have Dish Network, so I don't have the choice.

[drobny23]

Whoever gets LFC TV gets my money, but without it, who knows?

First month is the opener at AV, then Chelsea, both on FSC. From then on out the majority of games are on Setanta.

[kstuart]

No word on the Liverpool FC site, nothing on GolTV's site ... I guess it's easier to announce who's gaining LFC.TV than who's losing it. If I had the choice, I'd pick Setanta now. But I have Dish Network, so I don't have the choice.

Setanta is on Dish Network starting August 1st - this Wednesday.

Channel 406 (right next to GolTV on 407).

Free Preview until September 5th

[ZonaGunner]

Arsenal TV on GolTV has been missing for some time now, even though they sometimes show it in the programming guide. I guess maybe it'll start back up when the season starts?

[UrbanDad]

What's weird is that about two weeks ago, I had the DVR set up to record Liverpool TV. There were at least two scheduled shows set to record - but as of Monday, they weren't there, and as noted above, seems to be removed from their programming list all together.

VERY disappointing.

[Cpt_K]

How come FSC hasn't made a deal with 2 Premiership Clubs to air their in house TV shows like they do with AC Milan? I would think that 2 mid table sides since United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and as far as I know Liverpools shows are accounted for would love to have their games replayed in the States as it would raise the profile of Club over here. Its pretty funny but here in Tampa on our local sports channel called Catch 47 they aired the Charlton games on replay last season. For a club like Middlesbrough who has a program or a team like Villa with an American owner it would make sense trying to get their games picked up over here. From what I understand a network can only air 2 of the Club shows per their rules as they don't want on network becoming to strong with multiple replays of games that are sold to other networks.

Interesting topic!

[HDSports]

GolTV has seemed to be cutting down on content recently. Not too long ago, they were covering 10 or 11 leagues , and I think they are now down to 5 (not necessarily a bad thing, as they provide greater coverage of the leagues they have such as Spain and Germany). However, I was sorry to see both their UEFA Cup and Brazil league coverage quietly dropped.

They have redesigned their website, but the section under "shows" does not have an entry for either Liverpool TV or Arsenal TV. When they added those shows, it was through the 2006-07 season, and they will have had to ink a new agreement for either series to continue on GolTV.

[Thielemann]

GolTV has seemed to be cutting down on content recently. Not too long ago, they were covering 10 or 11 leagues , and I think they are now down to 5 (not necessarily a bad thing, as they provide greater coverage of the leagues they have such as Spain and Germany). However, I was sorry to see both their UEFA Cup and Brazil league coverage quietly dropped.

I very much agree with you, but I am still very grateful to GolTV for their excellent and very deep coverage of what I think are the two most entertaining leagues in Europe, 1.BL and La Liga. Also, in terms of number of leagues that GolTV shows, that may have actually gone up: they now show about a half-dozen different Central/South American leagues, although admittedly not Argentina and Brazil. Let's not forget too that they gave us outstanding coverage of the Copa America during the Summer.

I was hoping that GolTV might add another European league, like the Eredivisie. I would settle for even a Belgian match or two. Just a little more variety.

They have redesigned their website, but the section under "shows" does not have an entry for either Liverpool TV or Arsenal TV. When they added those shows, it was through the 2006-07 season, and they will have had to ink a new agreement for either series to continue on GolTV.

Is it too much to ask for FSC or GolTV to be honest with their viewers when they lose programming? Last year FSC lost the better 1/2 of the premiership and all French and German programming without even a word to their viewers (in fact it was well into the season before they even removed French and Germany from the "program guide" part of the website). By contrast, new content is trumpeted quite loudly on the site.

Similarly here, ATV and LTV have to be among the most popular programs on the channel, but they disappear without GolTV even having the courtesy of telling us.

[drobny23]

Google this topic. All you get is, well, nothing. No media-on-media reports it. All I know about it is what's on this thread. Poof! LFC TV disappears, like a felled tree in a forest that makes no sound.

I can understand why Setanta, having just shelled out some dollars for LFC TV in GB, wouldn't want LFC to sell its rights in NA to a competitor. After all, in the US with DirecTV at least, FSC/Gol competes with Setanta.

I would think Setanta would want LFC TV on their NA channel too. This way they capture all LFC fans in NA and GB, giving them NO REASON AT ALL to choose FSC/Gol over Setanta.

It's boggling, really.

[themaestro]

Good point, I wish the channels would at least let us know what is going on, instead of just sliding it under the carpet.

[HDSports]

I very much agree with you, but I am still very grateful to GolTV for their excellent and very deep coverage of what I think are the two most entertaining leagues in Europe, 1.BL and La Liga. Also, in terms of number of leagues that GolTV shows, that may have actually gone up: they now show about a half-dozen different Central/South American leagues, although admittedly not Argentina and Brazil. Let's not forget too that they gave us outstanding coverage of the Copa America during the Summer.

I was hoping that GolTV might add another European league, like the Eredivisie. I would settle for even a Belgian match or two. Just a little more variety.

Is it too much to ask for FSC or GolTV to be honest with their viewers when they lose programming? Last year FSC lost the better 1/2 of the premiership and all French and German programming without even a word to their viewers (in fact it was well into the season before they even removed French and Germany from the "program guide" part of the website). By contrast, new content is trumpeted quite loudly on the site.

Similarly here, ATV and LTV have to be among the most popular programs on the channel, but they disappear without GolTV even having the courtesy of telling us.

No argument about GolTV providing some great coverage...although different from 3-4 years ago, when they tried to show more leagues (sometimes their first-run game schedule went to midnight or even 2 am on weekends to get all the games in) and it had a feel of "spanning the world of soccer" since they would go from one game packed with 80,000 fans to a dumpy field where the game was being held up by a goat being on the field. My guess is that more fans (myself included) preferred an extra La Liga game or two to the smaller league games. I only count five leagues currently on GOLTV (Spain, Germany, Columbia, Guatemala, and Uruguay).

While their 'anchor' game coverage are the two European leagues, they seem to have leaned back a little towards their Hispanic audience. Although GolTv started as a Spanish-language only station, I am not inferring that they will go that route...but additional programming they are picking up, whether it be Copa America, or the South American qualifiers, have that audience in mind. For example, a year or two ago, they picked up coverage of the Amsterdam Tournament to bolster their programming during the quiet period preceding the resumption of the European leagues...that is not happening now. In their European coverage, they often feature teams (besides the 'big' clubs) that are doing well AND feature South American players, such as Villarreal two years ago, and Stuttgart last year.

I think you may be overestimating the popularity of ATV and LTV, since many posters on this website are English Premiership fans, but I am sure, for example, that the Columbian league matches are one of the most valuable properties that GOLTV currently owns, and is definitely more valuable to them than those shows.

Finally, you said what I was always thinking...when GolTV loses or drops a show or coverage of a league, there is no explanation. However, I guess this goes on all over TV, from network prime-time series to domestic sports coverage. I think the difference is that for the latter programming, there is so much media coverage speculating on which shows will survive, or on bidding for sports coverage, but we don't get that kind of coverage for soccer coverage, so we feel like we've been kept in the dark. The reason we know GolTV lost Serie A coverage in advance is that FSC was trumpeting that they gained Italian coverage. I did not know what happened to Brazilian coverage on FSC until it emerged on GolTV, but when it disappeared on GolTV, I heard nothing because no one else picked up the English-language coverage.

[UrbanDad]

I agree that without FSC or GolTV, we would have a whole lotta nothing. But take a look at both channels in the morning - all infomercials. Do they really make that much more in revenue selling that time than they would selling advertising for LTV or ATV in the same time slots?

I'm sure it's not as simple as that - or either one would be doing it. But there is so much content out there - to me there is no reason NOT to be 24/7 soccer programming.

[Thielemann]

No argument about GolTV providing some great coverage...although different from 3-4 years ago [snip] had a feel of "spanning the world of soccer" since they would go from one game packed with 80,000

Very well put. That's certainly true and is in line with FSW/FSC which has also dramatically cut back on their programming over the past few years. In fact overall it seems that coverage of European soccer on U.S. channels has actually declined a bit.

fans to a dumpy field where the game was being held up by a goat being on the field.

(In many cases, chasing a goat across the pitch would improve the overall quality of a soccer match, but I digress...)

I only count five leagues currently on GOLTV (Spain, Germany, Columbia, Guatemala, and Uruguay).

That looks exactly right, have they dropped other leagues, like Honduras?

While their 'anchor' game coverage are the two European leagues, they seem to have leaned back a little towards their Hispanic audience. Although GolTv started as a Spanish-language only station, I am not inferring that they will go that route...but additional programming they are picking up, whether it be Copa America, or the South American qualifiers, have that audience in mind.

That's well-spotted and I think you are right about GolTV's new strategy. I give them credit for their well-chosen pairing of La Liga/1.BL which has wide appeal and a manageable cost. And who can blame them for taking up more South American coverage, those leagues have a built-in audience and probably excellent value for the money relative to the European leagues which are probably a bit over-priced at the moment. They have even kept their Mexcian Football studio show, even though they have no Mexican league coverage.

It does suprise me though that they are not looking for more low-cost European programming. There are a number of teams out there that have TV content that is not distributed in the U.S. and one would suppose would be relatively inexpensive. If Arsenal and Liverpool are gone, why not some content from BarcaTV or MadridTV, which would tie in nicely with the La Liga coverage. Perhaps content from Inter, to make up for the loss of Serie A rights (although in the new Italy deal those rights may be bundled in the package FSC bought). I'm not asking for 2.BL highlights (although that would be nice :) ), I'm talking about the biggest clubs in Europe.

I think you may be overestimating the popularity of ATV and LTV, since many posters on this website are English Premiership fans, but I am sure, for example, that the Columbian league matches are one of the most valuable properties that GOLTV currently owns, and is definitely more valuable to them than those shows.


I don't disagree with you that certain 2nd tier South American leagues are among their most valuable programming. It was merely my supposition that ATV and LTV had gotten pretty popular given that many Arsenal and most Liverpool matches are no longer on FSC.

Finally, you said what I was always thinking...when GolTV loses or drops a show or coverage of a league, there is no explanation. However, I guess this goes on all over TV, from network prime-time series to domestic sports coverage. I think the difference is that for the latter programming, there is so much media coverage speculating on which shows will survive, or on bidding for sports coverage, but we don't get that kind of coverage for soccer coverage, so we feel like we've been kept in the dark.

That's true, but a simple press release posted on the web-site would be enough--they already have a section there for press releases. They could also simply pend a note on the programming part of the website explaining they were no longer showing a certain league (which FSC did in fact do when they stopped all Rugby coverage after the end of the Air NZ Cup in 2005). Credit to GolTV for at least removing the Serie A from their programming section--that's how I knew it was definitely gone.

[Thielemann]

I agree that without FSC or GolTV, we would have a whole lotta nothing. But take a look at both channels in the morning - all infomercials. Do they really make that much more in revenue selling that time than they would selling advertising for LTV or ATV in the same time slots?




It is just very hard to get accurate numbers on the revenue for channels like GolTV and FSC, which are so small that they attract relatively little attention in the business and media press.

Oliver seems to be of the opinion that the infomercials were the money maker for these channels. So once the channel got carriage there was actually an incentive to replace programming (reducing costs) with infomercials (increasing revenues). The best example of this is FSC at 7:30am on weekends, which used to be the early prem. match (now on Setanta) but is now an infomercial. We will probably the same pattern this year on GolTV with infomercials slotting in for Serie A on Sunday mornings.

Again according to Oliver, the ad rates for soccer programming are very poor, so there is just no commercial incentive to increase or even maintain the levels of programming.


I'm sure it's not as simple as that - or either one would be doing it. But there is so much content out there - to me there is no reason NOT to be 24/7 soccer programming.


You are absolutely right about this. The amount of content is enormous, but for some reason distribution in the U.S. has actually gotten worse in the past twelve months. Programming is out of reach even for ready money.

[HDSports]

Very well put. That's certainly true and is in line with FSW/FSC which has also dramatically cut back on their programming over the past few years. In fact overall it seems that coverage of European soccer on U.S. channels has actually declined a bit.

Actually, except for UEFA cup coverage, which has suffered by going from GOLTV to Setanta (since Setanta primarily wants certain teams games for showing on Setanta Premium), it has actually gotten better. By showing less Central American soccer, GolTV shows more La Liga than ever before...when ESPN had the rights, they showed one game a week on delay and then pushed it to PPV. They also cover Germany more extensively than Setanta and FSC did together. The move of Italian soccer to FSC means more live Serie A games than before...since they will be showing live 2:30 games both Saturday and Sunday in addition to the Sunday 9 am slot. GolTV usually opted for La Liga games in the afternoon unless the match involved Juve, Inter, or AC Milan. Although England coverage is now split, it meant the end of PPV and one can now see up to 8 live Premiership games per matchday (plus another on same day delay). And last year, ESPN greatly expanded their coverage of UEFA Champions League by putting on a game on both Tuesday and Wednesday, plus showed another on ESPNClassic shortly after. However, the result of this has been that the viewer has to receive more stations in order to get the increased coverage.




That looks exactly right, have they dropped other leagues, like Honduras?
.

I haven't seen El Salvador in a while either. I do know they used to have Peru, and quietly dropped it a couple of years ago



It does suprise me though that they are not looking for more low-cost European programming. There are a number of teams out there that have TV content that is not distributed in the U.S. and one would suppose would be relatively inexpensive. If Arsenal and Liverpool are gone, why not some content from BarcaTV or MadridTV, which would tie in nicely with the La Liga coverage. Perhaps content from Inter, to make up for the loss of Serie A rights (although in the new Italy deal those rights may be bundled in the package FSC bought). I'm not asking for 2.BL highlights (although that would be nice :) ), I'm talking about the biggest clubs in Europe.


GolTV seems to add new shows when they decide they are viable. I was surprised ATV and LTV were relegated to afternoon spots. They seemed to have greater faith in their magazine and discussion shows (I personally like 45/45, even dubbed as it is, becuase it provides discussion on the other leagues that Fox Football Phone-In ignores).


That's true, but a simple press release posted on the web-site would be enough--they already have a section there for press releases. They could also simply pend a note on the programming part of the website explaining they were no longer showing a certain league (which FSC did in fact do when they stopped all Rugby coverage after the end of the Air NZ Cup in 2005). Credit to GolTV for at least removing the Serie A from their programming section--that's how I knew it was definitely gone.


I agree...even when they changed the name from Fox Sports World to Fox Soccer Channel, they advertised the Rugby coverage as 'showing sports which developed from soccer'.

[drobny23]

If any of you run across the three hour LFC TV show, let this thread know about it.

As an aside, I don't think any casual fan comes across GolTV and thinks they'll find Premiership content. Perhaps if it was GoalTV, they would. Seems that GolTV is staying true to the type of soccer their name suggests.

[HDSports]

If any of you run across the three hour LFC TV show, let this thread know about it.

As an aside, I don't think any casual fan comes across GolTV and thinks they'll find Premiership content. Perhaps if it was GoalTV, they would. Seems that GolTV is staying true to the type of soccer their name suggests.

It's GolTV because it started as a Spanish-language only station...no one is sure whether ATV and LTV are gone from GolTV, but if they are, its probably that the Monday and Tuesday afternoon shows did not perform up to expectations or did not attract the advertisers they hoped for.

Where is Constantino to comment on these shows??

[Wine4MyMen]

Along with the reduced number of leagues on GolTV, I'm also a bit concerned about the utter lack of sponsors. After the Copa America I can almost recite that PeoplePC commercial without ever taking Spanish. If it takes infomercials to stay in business, then so be it.

As I rejoice at the news that Setanta is coming to DISH, I cannot help but recall the glory days of my youth when the only international soccer I saw was "Soccer Made in Germany" every Saturday on PBS. I believe the host's name was Toby Charles, and I remember quaint lines like, "There's a wee bit of due on the pitch as Munchengladbach get ready to take on Kaiserslautern ... ." With FSC, GolTV, and now Setanta, plus ESPN paying more attention to the beautiful game, it's amazing how much coverage is available to me now.

Great thread to you all--I've learned a bunch and appreciate the thinking in everyone's posts.

[HDSports]

Along with the reduced number of leagues on GolTV, I'm also a bit concerned about the utter lack of sponsors. After the Copa America I can almost recite that PeoplePC commercial without ever taking Spanish. If it takes infomercials to stay in business, then so be it.

As I rejoice at the news that Setanta is coming to DISH, I cannot help but recall the glory days of my youth when the only international soccer I saw was "Soccer Made in Germany" every Saturday on PBS. I believe the host's name was Toby Charles, and I remember quaint lines like, "There's a wee bit of due on the pitch as Munchengladbach get ready to take on Kaiserslautern ... ." With FSC, GolTV, and now Setanta, plus ESPN paying more attention to the beautiful game, it's amazing how much coverage is available to me now.

Great thread to you all--I've learned a bunch and appreciate the thinking in everyone's posts.

The announcer's name was indeed Toby Charles.....

I also recall there was a time when PBS had a weekly one-hour version of an English First Division match each week. Does anyone else remember any details of this?