Tuesday, 19th December 2006

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

Badminton World Federation To Spice Things Up

Malaysia's top two men singles players – Lee Chong Wei and Mohd Hafiz Hashim – could meet as early as the first round in the Malaysian Super Series following the Badminton World Federation's (BWF) decision to do away with the national separation ruling. Yesterday the BWF decided that they would not separate the top two players of a country in different halves of the draw during a council meeting at Hotel Istana here yesterday.

And to make it even more challenging, only the top two seeds will be divided into the two halves of the 32-player draw. The entries for the 12-leg Super Series are based on the order of the world rankings. Malaysia is the first leg of the series, which will be held from Jan 16-21 at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association (KLBA) Hall in Cheras. The BWF's deputy president Datuk Punch Gunalan said that the decision to scrap the national separation ruling was to spice up the Super Series meet.

Punch also announced several other decisions made by the council members yesterday. All the Super Series hosts will have to adhere to special presentation requirements:

* Scrapping the national separation rule in the Super Series
* Plasma televisions will be used to screen scores; online scoring will be compulsory; the court arena will be carpeted; and the on-court activities will be organised in a more orderly manner.
* BWF have also decided to appoint tournaments directors to ensure that the tournaments are carried out professionally. Council members will be chosen as the parttime tournament directors
* Paris, France would host the 2010 World Championships. Malaysia and India are hosts for the 2007 and 2009 meets. There will be no world championships during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
* Separation of Thomas and Uber Cup Finals to give the women team competition the prominence that it deserves
* The appointment of P. Ganga Rao as the new BWF general manager from Jan 1 (see related story below)
* BWF to move base from Kuala Lumpur Badminton Hall to Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara.
* Introducing coach education course at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
Source: The Star Malaysia, The New Straits Times, 18th December 2006

P. Ganga Rao received the biggest promotion in his 20-year career in administration work when he was officially appointed as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) general manager on Sunday. Ganga starts work on Jan 1. Ganga will relinquish his post as the general manager of the BAM. However, he will remain as the secretary of the national body until a suitable candidate is found. Meanwhile, the BWF has decided to move their office from Kuala Lumpur Badminton Hall to Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara. Source: The Star Malaysia, 17th December 2006

Asian Games men’s badminton doubles gold medallist Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong are set to miss the Malaysian Open which doubles up as the first leg of the Super Series at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium (KLBA) from Jan 16-21. The pair are currently ranked 119th in the world and it is not enough for them to make the cut for the opening leg. Only the top 60 in the world ranking list of the respective events gets direct entry into the Super Series. The top 28 go directly into the main while four others will come through the qualifying round, which involved a maximum of 32 players. Source: The Star Malaysia, 19th December 2006


INFO DIGEST

Info Box – 25th December
* 25 December is the birthday of Brazilian football legend Jairzinho. He was born in 1944
* FC Barcelona played the first of its 400 matches in European competition on 25 December 1955
* On that day in the same, Real Madrid drubbed Partizan Beograd 4-0 en route to winning the inaugural Champions Cup
* At only 24, the four time British Open golf champion Tom Morris, Jr. died on Christmas Day 1875
* The heated Copa América affair between Brazil and Argentina once was scheduled for 25 December. In 1925, the match was drawn 2-2
* Julian Jackson was born to the world, this day in 1968
Source: Infostrada Databox

Info Box – Web Traffic Stats
* 32.6% read online news during work day
* 79.8% of Google and 75.9% of Yahoo! unique visits are from outside US
* Most popular sites among teens: PLyrics.com, Snapvine, WhateverLife.com
* Top news sites globally: Yahoo! News, CNN, MSNBC
* Top news sites on the Web: Yahoo! News, MSNBC, AOL News, CNN
* Top sports sites: ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Sports MLB
* Top sports Web sites: ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Fox Sports
* Top TV sites: MSN TV, Yahoo! TV, AOL TV
Source: Info IQ


SPORTS SHORTS

* World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) sold more tickets in November than the top attractions in the major American leagues, according to the latest TicketsNow Entertainment Index. WWE accounted for 3.3% of all ticket sales for sports events to lead the category ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League in second and third place. The Miami Heat (National Basketball Association) came next, followed by the Buffalo Sabres (National Hockey League). Source: Sports Media, 18th December 2006

* Wi-Fi TV, a player in the delivery of video and books over the internet, has started free internet delivery of television channels in Thailand, breaking news and weather to a global audience at Wi-FiTV.com. The company is targeting Thai businesses and organisations to purchase their own Wi-Fi TV channels. It is also offering live chat boxes and the MyWi-FiParty rooms that allow free online video parties for participants in up to 25 different locations. Source: Digital Media Asia, 18th December 2006

* Iran has been cleared to be included in the draw for the finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup after FIFA president Sepp Blatter confirmed the total lifting of a ban on the nation’s international activities. The draw for the finals is due to be held in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, but Iran’s inclusion was under threat following what FIFA called political interference in the affairs of the national association. Source: Football Insider, 18th December 2006

* FIFA president Sepp Blatter has suggested Japan could continue to host the Club World Cup in a bid to further establish the competition on the international calendar. Japan hosted the event for the second year in a row and is due to hold the 2007 edition as the final part of a three-year agreement with FIFA after the game’s governing body reformatted the old Intercontinental Cup. Source: Football Insider, 18th December 2006

* The Mobile Media Group will be responsible for developing MTV’s content into games, ringtones and videoclips and develop mobile content internationally across the network. This move reflects MTV's desire to move strongly into the area of mobile content, as it has recently done with user-generated programming with channel MTV Flux. In October, MTV and Microsoft embarked on a research project to find out the social impact of technology on the world's youth. Source: Brand Republic, Worldscreen, 18th December 2006


MORE NEWS

Indonesia/Broadcaster: Investigation on TV stations Over Indecent Content

Indonesian authorities are investigating eight private television channels in the country for allegedly broadcasting indecent material and excessive violence. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission lodged a complaint yesterday against the channels, after repeatedly issuing warnings that their programming violated government regulations.

The programs that are considered to violate obscenity include Fenomena (TV7), Dorce Show (Trans TV), Curhat (Lativi), Hitam Putih (Indosiar), Dewa-Dewi (TPI), Om Farhan (ANTV) and Panggung Hahahihi (SCTV). While the one that is considered violent is Hidayah (Trans TV). According to Ade, actually KPI has warned the television stations several times, but the warning was ignored. Deputy Head of Public Relations at Polri HQ, Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam, who accompanied Ade, said the police will coordinate first with the television stations.

It was the latest attempt by Indonesian government-funded agencies in recent months to ban content deemed immoral or violent, International Herald Tribune reports. Last month, the Film Censorship Institute or LSF banned four movies highlighting Indonesian troops’ misdeeds under former President Suharto’s dictatorship.

The LSF also directed a broadcaster to pull US wrestling shows off the air. The popular US wrestling programme “SmackDown” produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment, was forced off the air in November after parents and educators blamed it for the death of a nine-year-old boy whose friends had tried the fighting moves on him. Source: Associated Press in International Herald Tribune, Asia Pacific Broadcast Union, Tempo Interactive, 15th December 2006

Hong Kong/Broadcaster: PCCW Cashes In on Sports Deals With Plans to Raise Now TV Rates

PCCW plans to raise the monthly rates for its Now TV pay television service early next year in the wake of new sports content, TV and content managing director Dominic Leung said Monday. The monthly fee for the most expensive combination package, which currently includes all channels for HK$388, will be raised to more than HK$400 next year, Leung said.

PCCW's service, which lags behind iCable's Cable TV in subscriber numbers, made headlines recently when it won exclusive rights to broadcast the Uefa Euro 2008 football tournament and the next three years of English Premiership football matches. Market sources attribute iCable's success in recent years to its broadcasting of Premiership games, popular with Hongkongers.

In addition to raising rates for the combination package, Leung said PCCW will also raise rates for individual channels carrying the new content. Earlier, PCCW had announced that Now TV would be offering a price guarantee, which would allow current customers to subscribe to a sports package or an all-channels package at the same rate as before the announcement, allowing them to enjoy the new football content free.

PCCW's Now TV is the world's largest deployment of broadband television, also known as Internet protocol television, or IPTV. Sources said PCCW paid about HK$400 million for the deal to broadcast the European championship. PCCW won the license to broadcast the Premiership games for an estimated HK$1.56 billion. Source: The Standard, 19th December 2006

Asia/Rights: Dentsu, Olympic Council of Asia extend rights for next two Asian Games

Dentsu and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) have announced their agreement to the continuation of the exclusive marketing and broadcasting rights for the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014. Under this agreement, Dentsu will maintain its position as the sole worldwide marketing and broadcasting rights agent for the 16th Asian Games in 2010 in Guangzhou, China, and the 17th Asian Games in 2014.

As the current Asian Games have concluded, Dentsu plans to start the marketing activities for the 16th Asian Games in 2010 in Guangzhou, China, and the 17th Asian Games in 2014. The cumulative television audience for the 15th Asian Games was expected to be 5.1 billion people and the total broadcast time was expected to exceed 3,000 hours around the world.

Two cities are bidding to host the 17th Asian Games in 2014, New Delhi, India, and Incheon, South Korea. The host city is due to be selected at the general assembly of the OCA in 2008. The OCA encompasses 45 National Olympic Committees of Asia. It is headquartered in Kuwait and its president is HRH Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah. Source: Agencyfaqs, 19th December 2006

Asia/Rights: FIFA Club Event Goes Live Worldwide

Sunday's final of the second edition of the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2006 in Yokohama, was broadcasted to a total of 219 territories, with 199 of them receiving live match coverage. Last year, coverage of the inaugural tournament reached 194 territories. Zurich-based iSe was appointed by Japanese advertising group Dentsu Inc. to market and deliver the television rights on behalf of FIFA. Dentsu acted as the executive event producer of the tournament.

In Asia, ESPN Star Sports showed the tournament on cable and satellite in 22 territories corresponding to South Asia, South East Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Additional rights were awarded to broadcasters in individual markets, such as CCTV in China, IB Sports in Korea, ANTV in Indonesia, and others. Elsewhere in Asia, iSe awarded exclusive terrestrial, cable and satellite rights to ART Sports in 13 territories. Source: Sports Media, 18th December 2006

Elsewhere/New Media: Euro 2008 Qualifiers to be Available Via Internet

Fans of Azerbaijan to Ukraine will be able to watch their European Championship qualifying matches on the Internet beginning in March under an agreement announced Monday between rights holder Sportfive GmbH and Canadian-based Webcaster JumpTV Inc. More than 150 matches — most of the remaining schedule — will be available starting March 24 through the end of November. JumpTV.com will have worldwide rights to Webcast the matches live, but exclusive rights in Canada and the United States.

The schedule includes matches ranging from the Faeroe Islands against Ukraine to the Czech Republic vs. Germany on March 24. The roster of matches mostly includes those involving teams like Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Israel, Armenia, Moldova and Kazakhstan, but also contains games involving World Cup champion Italy as well as England, France, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.

While most television broadcasters seek matches with the broadest possible audience, JumpTV is aiming for a niche market. The price JumpTV will charge for the matches has not been determined, said Mark David, the company's managing director. Terms of the agreement were not announced. Source: Associated Press in International Herald Tribune, CCN Matthews, 18th December 2006

Elsewhere/New Media: Skype Founders to Launch Global Broadband TV Station

Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the founders of Skype, are set to launch a global broadband television service next year, promising viewers and advertisers the best of the internet coupled with the best of TV. Friis and Zennstrom, also founders of music download applications Kazaa, sold Skype to eBay for £1.3bn last year and have invested the proceeds to develop the service. It has been codenamed The Venice Project.

The project will show near-high-definition programmes, which will be supported by advertising revenue. Users can personalise channels or join forums to discuss content. The amount of advertising revenue available to the project will differ according to whether the content owner sells the ads or if its own sales team book them. Source: Brand Republic, C21 Media, Worldscreen, 18th December 2006

Elsewhere/General: Jetix Report Reveals Habits and Tastes of Children

Games consoles, TVs and mobile phones have eclipsed clothes and toys among consumer items favoured by children, according to a survey among seven- to 14-year-olds by European children's televison network Jetix Europe. The 'Kidometer' survey aims to provide in-depth knowledge of the lives of 7- to 14-year-olds in 10 European countries.

Unsurprisingly, the survey found that children are using a range of platforms for entertainment and reveal a growing desire to spend more time gaming on various consoles. However, despite the many different platforms for entertainment now available, TV was still the favourite and the medium where they were most likely to be exposed to advertising.

The research addresses how children spend their time and money and collates views on what children consider to be 'cool' in terms of people, products, words and advertising. The research involved 500 children divided equally by age group and gender. The online research is to be repeated each year in March and October. Source: Brand Republic, 18th December 2006


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

Pitch Battle – Setanta’s Challenge to BSkyB’s EPL Monopoly

From humble beginnings in a back room of an Ealing pub, Setanta Sports is now challenging Sky's monopoly on the Premiership. It all started with a simple £10 admission to the back room of a pub in Ealing. That is what Setanta Sports founders Michael O'Rourke and Leonard Ryan charged punters to watch a satellite feed of Ireland playing Holland in Italia 90. Pundits now value the company around the £600m mark; its ninth channel, Setanta Golf, is launched on January 8 and there is the appetising prospect of Premiership football next season.

Setanta has increasingly become the company to do business with in pay TV. Broadcasting in 24 countries, it has cannily taken advantage of the demand for British and Irish sports among expats in North America and Australia, while doing the same in reverse for US expats in Europe. Setanta's position has been consolidated in Ireland and Scotland since it secured broadcast rights for the Scottish Premier League in 2004-2005. It shares rights for rugby union's Celtic Magners League with BBC Wales and S4C.

The three-year Premiership deal cost £392m, while the PGA Tour cost $18m (£9.2m), twice the previous deal. Scottish Premier League rights were renegotiated for £55m.

Investors are eager to plough money into the company’s war-chest. Last week Doughty Hanson invested £213m, strengthening the link between Setanta and Irish commercial broadcaster TV3, which Hanson recently acquired. Setanta has also raised a reported sum of between €80m (£50m) and €90m (£60m) by selling its North American Sports Network to ESPN. This deal will also no doubt further bolster its Premiership war chest.

The name Setanta, by the way, derives from a figure from Celtic mythology who, aged five, was such an accomplished hurling player that he beat an entire team single-handed - he was renamed Cúchulainn (Hound Of Culann) after killing a vicious guard dog with his bare hands. Sixteen years on from the night Niall Quinn stuck the ball in the Dutch net, the future now hinges on a simple £15 subscription. Setanta is certain that there are plenty of people out there who will be happy to pay the price. All it has to do now is find them. Iestyn George comments on The Guardian Unlimited, 18th December 2006