Rangers take next step in recovery from Setanta collapse

02 November 2009 | Posted in Broadcast, Soccer | By Adam Fraser

Rangers, the Scottish soccer club, has launched a dedicated online TV station to make Rangers TV available to fans again for the first time since the collapse of Irish broadcaster Setanta in the summer.

The station, available at RangersTV.tv, will show full games, analysis and have an archive of past matches. Rangers chief executive Martin Bain commented: "We are delighted to launch our new internet TV station which we believe will be unique in world football. Most importantly, it will offer our fans a comprehensive and excellent service. We are extremely excited about the opportunities that internet TV will bring and we have used feedback from the fans at every stage of the development process."

The club has been hit hard by the collapse of Setanta, with its income from the Scottish Premier League's television rights halved as well as its own channel going off air.

Bain predicted in last year's annual report that: "Setanta's aggressive growth means that Rangers TV is now available to more UK football fans than ever before", but the club then saw the broadcaster's UK arm fail and a new SPL agreement with Sky and the ESPN severely reduce its funding.

• Scottish champions issue share capital as financial woes continue
• McCoist calls for Rangers and Celtic to quit Scottish Premier League

Now, along with rivals Celtic, the club is keen to leave the SPL, either with a move to the English Premier League or to the Dutch FA's proposed North Atlantic League, which would include teams from Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland and Scandinavia.