by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Pay-TV sports channel Setanta has gone into administration, leaving scores of subscribers across Kent without an alternative to Sky.

The sports channel failed to find the funding that would have kept it on air and insolvency experts at Deloitte were called in. More than 200 people have lost their jobs.

The Irish-based broadcaster had already lost the rights to Premiership football and the Scottish Premier League after it missed scheduled payments.

Setanta also broadcast some England internationals and the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament.

The Disney sports channel ESPN snapped up the rights to Setanta’s 46 Premiership games next season for £289m. ESPN also bought the rights to 23 games from 2010-2013, and opens up the possibility of a stronger challenge to Sky’s market dominance than Setanta was able to provide.

Setanta attracted 1.2m subscribers but it needed around 2m to cover the high cost of the rights it had already agreed with the sports authorities.

Many subscribers who paid by direct debit will be wondering whether they will get their money back for services after Setanta went off-air at 6pm last night.

Subscriber Bill Menniss, from Maidstone, has paid £12.99 a month to Setanta but says he cancelled his direct debit a few weeks ago when he saw the station was in financial difficulty.

As a keen Arsenal and football fan, he subscribed from the start. The package also gave him access to the Arsenal channel. He said he was disappointed but not surprised.

"They would always have struggled as the poor relation to Sky," he said. "They would always struggle to get the size of customer base that Sky has. Sky tended to get the better matches.

Joint administrator Neville Kahn said: "After a huge effort by the Setanta board, management team and its backers, it has not been possible to save the GB business, which will be wound down in due course. This decision means that it will shortly cease broadcasting to its customers in Great Britain. However, the International and Ireland businesses continue to trade on air whilst we are in discussions with parties to take on those businesses as going concerns.

"Regrettably, approximately 200 employees will be made redundant in respect of the GB business. Setanta has today suspended the collection of subscription payments from customers in Great Britain. Setanta customers should go to http://www.setanta.com/ for further information. We can confirm that no further monthly subscriptions or direct debits will be accepted from customers of the GB business."