Friday, 16th February 2007

INFO DIGEST

Ultra Low-Cost Mobile Handset Markets

The global market for sub-$20 ultra low cost handsets will be over 330 million units in 2011. With over 50% of these handsets will be shipped in the emerging markets of Asia Pacific and the remainder in markets of Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, according to a new study from ABI Research. The growing demand for ultra low cost handsets has provided mobile operators and handset vendors with a quick route to a greater share of the emerging markets.

As the winner of GSMA's tenders for the Emerging Markets Handset Program, Motorola has already shipped six million sub-$40 handsets and another six million sub-$30 handsets to key emerging markets including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Russia, and Ukraine.

By 2011, almost one out of every four handset shipped globally will be an ultra low cost handset. The research shows that India will be the biggest market in the next five years, growing from a over 9 million handsets in 2006 to more than 116 million handsets in 2011. Source: ABI Research on Ken Radio, 5th February 2007


SPORTS SHORTS

* New satellite TV subscribers in Asia will help the market generate more than $88bn in revenues worldwide by 2010 and subscriber growth in mature markets is slowing, say analysts from US-based research firm In-Stat. Growth in direct-to-home [DTH] pay-TV platforms in many American and European countries have slowed with new subscribers are growing by single digit percentages annually. Satellite TV business is increasingly looking to Asia for growth, where newly-affluent consumers are expected to grow to more than 117 million by 2010. Source: Ken Radio, 15th February 2007

* A new, three-year deal for Wrigley’s Extra to become the official chewing gum of thee Premier League is worth £3 million ($5.9 million), according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper. The newspaper reports that the deal was unsolicited by Premier League officials, who were initially reluctant when approached by Wrigley’s last month, but agreed after the company offered a £300,000 sum upfront. Source: Sportcal, 15th February 2007

* Birmingham owner David Sullivan has criticised the Football League for selling the television rights of live matches to Sky Sports 'too cheaply'. Sullivan insists the £60,000 Blues received from Sky to show last weekend's game with Stoke, which kicked off at 11.30am on Sunday, did not even cover their costs for police and stewards required at the game. Source: ESPN Soccernet, 15th February 2007


MORE NEWS

India/Rights: Neo Sports to Give Live Feed to DD, No Action Against Nimbus

Following an assurance that it was prepared to give live feed to Prasar Bharati and action against it was unwarranted, Nimbus was today directed by the Delhi High Court to provide live feed for the cricket match between India and Sri Lanka to be played on 17 February in Visakhapatnam. The bench passed the order after Nimbus mentioned the matter seeking protection against the showcause notice alleging a violation of provisions in the Sports Broadcasting Ordinance 2007.

Under the ordinance, the licence given to Neo Sports owned by Nimbus can be suspended. The court directed the government not to take any decision or action till 9 March, the next date of hearing. The court also issued notices to Prasar Bharati on a petition filed by Nimbus challenging the ordinance, which makes it mandatory for private broadcaster to share live feed with the pubcaster. Source: Indian Television, Exchange4Media, 16th February 2007

India/General: Nimbus to Explain 'Racist' Advert

Nimbus Communications has been asked to explain allegedly racist advertisements it carried promoting its coverage of a one-day international cricket series between India and the West Indies earlier this month on its Neo Sports channel. The advertisements, carrying the tag line ‘It’s tough to be a West Indian in India,’ represent an alleged violation of the advertising code under the country’s Cable TV Network Regulation Rules.
One of the advertisements shows a West Indian couple being rowed by a boatman on a large lake. The boatman stands up, throws away the oars, undresses and dives into the lake and swims away, leaving the couple stranded without oars. The ‘It’s tough to be a West Indian in India’ tag line is followed by images of the West Indian and Indian teams playing cricket. Source: Sportcal, 15th February 2007

Malaysia/Programming: ESPN STAR Sports Launches SportsCenter in Malaysia

Asia’s Number One Sports Broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports and Malaysia’s Ministry of Youth and Sport (KBS) announced today the launch of the Malaysian version of SportsCenter, to be broadcast live on ESPN commencing this April. The localised version of ESPN’s award-winning SportsCenter will be produced in Malaysia, presented by Malaysians and cover the best international and local sports.

With a focus on the latest news from the Malaysian sporting scene, Malaysian sports fans can expect to see more of their sporting heroes and follow the latest happenings on this sports news programme that will be broadcast every weeknight on ESPN. This initiative is a part of the multi-year strategic alliance signed by the Ministry of Youth and Sport and ESPN STAR Sports in October 2005 to raise participation and interest in sport in Malaysia.

Malaysia is home to world beaters like Nicol David (squash), Shalin Zulkifli (bowling), Lee Chong Wei (badminton) and Siti Zalina Ahmad (lawn bowls). Malaysia also hosts a number of international sporting events including Le Tour de Langkawi, F1 Grand Prix, A1 Grand Prix and MotoGP, the Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament, and the World Badminton Championships. The production of a local version of SportsCenter is timely and appropriate for a sports-loving nation continuing to reach new heights in the international sporting arena. Source: Sports e-Media, Worldscreen, 15th February 2007

Singapore/Business: Digital helps StarHub twinkle

Singapore’s pay-TV and telco StarHub said it reported double-digit revenue growth in all four of its business units – cable TV, broadband, mobile and fixed line telephony, during 2006. Total operating revenues across StarHub’s four units grew 15% to S$1.8 billion (US$1.2 billion) while net profit increased 63% to S$360.2 million. EBITDA was up 25% to S$575.3 million.

Cable TV revenues rose 19% to S$313.2 million as subscribers grew nine per cent to 487,000 by year-end. A much higher percentage of subscribers also took the digital service, up 63% from the end of 2005, to 322,000 homes, or 66% (two-thirds) of the platform’s subscriber base. That helped push ARPU up to S$48 from S$45 a year earlier. StarHub also received a revenue boost from the football World Cup. Source: Rapid TV News, 15th February 2007

Global/Programming: 'FIBA World Basketball’ Now Seen in Over 125 Countries

FIBA (International Basketball Federation) and Sportsbrand Media Group announced today that the second season of the official television series ‘FIBA World Basketball’ will now be available in more than 125 countries worldwide. The most recent addition to the broadcast licensees is ESPN International, who has commenced broadcasting the series into Latin America and Pacific Rim countries.

The half hour weekly show, launched in January 2006, promotes international basketball, allowing basketball fans the opportunity to access highlights and features from basketball played at the top level around the world. The content includes action from the FIBA World and Continental Championships, as well as key regional and national leagues and historical footage from the FIBA archive. Source: Sports e-Media, 15th February 2007

Global/New Media: ZIMTV To Deliver Table Tennis Over the Internet

ZIM Corporation, has partnered with the International Table Tennis Federation ("ITTF"), to broadcast live matches via internet. The partnership enables viewers to watch on-line live matches from the Pro Tour and the World Junior Tour as well as access over 100 archived matches. Through the ZIMTV platform and the video-on-demand and pay-per-view services, ZIM and ITTF have extended the reach of the sport to a global audience. For 2007, ZIMTV will broadcast 21 live events from the Pro Tour and World Junior Tour through unrestricted worldwide access on www.zimtv.biz and www.ittf.com.

The ITTF currently has 202 country members world-wide and is represented in all five continents. Known as the world's fastest sport, table tennis has been an Olympic Sport since the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea and will be the feature sport at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Table Tennis currently has the largest TV audience of any sport due to the popularity in Asia.

The total TV-audience in China for the World Table Tennis Championships 2006 (held in Bremen, Germany) was 547,730,000 viewers. Also 123 hours of broadcast was shown in China by CCTV, Shanghai-TV, Beijing-TV and Guangdong-TV. The TV-right holders for ITTF events is made up of more than thirty of the world's leading sports broadcasters, including Tokyo TV (Japan), CCTV (China), TVB (Hong Kong) and Eurosport (Pan-European). Source: Broadcast Newsroom, 15th February 2007

Elsewhere/Programming: UFC Enjoying 'Astonishing' Success In The US

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is enjoying “astonishing” success in the United States, according to Richard Dennis at London agency RDA Communications. The UFC pulls in extremely promising audience figures on Spike TV in the United States, and Dennis believes the appeal of the sport will continue to spread internationally over the coming months and years. The UFC encompasses a variety of combat disciplines, such as ju-jitsu, karate, wrestling and boxing.

“The success in America has been little short of astonishing,” Dennis told Sports Media. “Industry reports suggest that an event on December 30 at Mandalay Bay attracted 1.2 million pay-per-view (PPV) buys - that's massive. A recent Kagan report suggested that UFC is now averaging 800,000 (PPV) buys per event at US$39.99 per buy. The UK television market is the biggest international market (outside of the US).”

“The first PPV to get a hold in the UK will be on April 21 at the Manchester Arena. The plan is certainly to carry the event live in the UK and also either on a premium channel or as PPV in the US as well. The anticipation is to hold four PPV events in the UK this year.” Sports Media, 15th February 2007