France Telecom subsidiary GlobeCast is bolstering its sports programming via a new five-year deal with international sports broadcaster Setanta Sports to distribute six channels through various platforms. The latest agreement between the two companies during their 13-year relationship, the distribution deal will include carriage of the new programming to Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision and DTT subscribers.

According to the companies, the deal comes on the heals of Setanta breaking Sky Sports’ Premiere League monopoly by winning the rights to two packages which will be broadcast on Setanta Sports 1 when the new season starts in August.

Globecast said its solution for the multichannel offering - including Setanta Sports 1 and 2, Setanta Golf, Rangers TV and Celtic TV - features the creation and management of a personalized multiplex system for the new offering and expansion of Setanta’s existing fiber network.

GlobeCast supplies capacity on the Eurobird satellite at 28.5 degrees east for uplink to the Sky Digital platform. The solution also includes fiber connectivity to Virgin Media, BT Vision and a number of other DTT platforms, the company said. GlobeCast delivers Setanta’s Australian channel and U.S. channel via its WorldTV DTH platform and is the broadcaster’s main provider of occasional use services.