BT Vision to drop monthly fee for Setanta

BT Vision is dropping its £9.99 monthly subscription charge for Setanta Sports 1 and shaking up its channel packages.

The service's Picture Box, Kids, Standard Sports and Music channel sets will continue to exist. However, customers can now subscribe to either two, three or four of the packages as part of new Bronze, Silver and Gold options.

The monthly charges for the options are £14, £18 and £20 respectively, and subscribers to any of them - whether they choose Standard Sports or not - will get Setanta Sports 1.

The channel airs about half the televised Premier League football matches and 60 live Scottish Premier League games each season. Under another deal announced today, BT Vision will make an additional 28 SPL matches available on demand.

The Setanta offer is open immediately to new customers and existing customers who sign up to additional packages, and also includes a £10 one-off fee for a viewing card. The channel will be made available from August 6, ahead of the start of the football season.

BT has so far signed up little more than 200,000 subscribers to its Freeview-DSL hybrid service and is hoping the change will accelerate growth.

"Our compelling offer of the premium sports channel Setanta Sports 1 free with our viewing packages proves you don’t have to pay sky-high prices to watch top-flight football," said BT Vision chief executive Dan Marks.

"We’ve said that BT Vision will be offering the best in all-round entertainment. We now have more to watch than any other on-demand TV service in the country and this includes the very best of sport."