Setanta Sports have stopped accepting new subscriptions as the company edges closes to entering administration.

The beleaguered Irish pay-TV broadcaster has put a message on the subscription area of its website reporting that it is “down for routine maintenance”.

Messages left on its phoneline tell prospective customers that the subscription option is “temporarily out of order” and that they should “try again later”.

The latest development comes as Setanta defaulted on a £3m payment to the SPL (see earlier report here) and will again leave UFC fans in the UK wondering what will happen to UFC programming.

Setanta bosses held talks on Monday looking to find a solution and further talks are planned.

But should a quick solution not be found, there is a real possibility that Setanta could simply pull the plug on all its channels – as soon as this week, causing doubts as to whether UFC 99 will air in the UK.

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com