Thursday, 15th February 2007

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

Copa America Draw

Reigning champion Brazil will open defense of its Copa America title against Mexico and also face Ecuador and Chile in the first round of the South American nations championship. Wednesday's draw placed Colombia and Paraguay in Group C along with Argentina and the United States, while Peru and Uruguay join Bolivia and host Venezuela in Group A.

Brazil, which has won the Copa America seven times in addition to its five World Cup titles, will open against Mexico on June 27 in the southeastern city of Puerto Ordaz. The United States will open June 28 against Argentina, which shares the record of 14 Copa America titles with Uruguay. Venezuela plays the tournament opener against Bolivia on June 26.

The tournament will be played in nine Venezuelan cites and concludes July 15. The first two teams in each group and the best two of the third-place holders will advance to the second round. The semifinals are set for July 10-11 and the final match for July 15 in the western city of Maracaibo. Source: Associated Press on International Herald Tribune, Fox Sports, ESPN Soccernet, 14th February 2007

Bob Bradley, interim coach of the U.S. men's national soccer team, said he welcomes the chance to play world power Argentina in this summer's Copa America tournament in Venezuela. The U.S. will open against Argentina on June 28 in Maracaibo, one of nine Venezuelan cities being used to stage the 12-nation tournament, South America's equivalent of the European Championship.

Bradley said he regards the Gold Cup as the more important event, even though the Copa America is a better recognized and more highly regarded tournament worldwide. Bradley said that chances are the U.S. will field a stronger team in the Gold Cup, when the European players are more likely to be available, but said there could be some players who would take part in both tournaments. Source: Los Angeles Times, US Soccer, 14th February 2007

Mexico Bids to Host Early Copa America

Mexico has said that it is interested in hosting soccer’s Copa America in 2008, a year before the next tournament is due to take place. Julio Compean, the president of the Mexican soccer federation, said yesterday that next year would be more convenient than 2009, when there is a packed schedule of events, including the Fifa Confederations Cup, Concacaf Gold Cup and qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup.

The Copa America involves South American national teams, plus Mexico and USA, and has been mainly staged in odd-numbered years. A policy of rotation has now been adopted and Argentina is due to host the next tournament, although no date has been set. Compean said that Mexico would apply to stage the event in 2011 if its bid for next year was unsuccessful. The official was speaking from Venezuela where he is attending the draw for this year’s Copa America, which runs from June 26 to July 15. Source: Sportcal, 14th February 2007

Trump Challenges Vince to a Battle at WrestleMania 23

Business moguls Donald Trump and Vince McMahon have escalated their war of words into a hairy situation. Donald Trump has challenged Vince McMahon® to a hair match at WrestleMania 23. The loser will have his head shaved. This titanic “Battle of the Billionaires” will take place at WrestleMania 23 in Detroit at Ford Field on April 1 live on Pay-Per-View.

The WWE Monday Night RAW® featuring Donald Trump’s WrestleMania 23 challenge to Vince McMahon will air this week during a special Thursday night edition of RAW on USA Network (8-10 pm ET/PT).

The two billionaires have been feuding for weeks. First, Trump criticized McMahon for a failed attempt at satire when he staged a faux match on RAW between Trump and Rosie O’Donnell using stand-ins. McMahon countered by offering his advice on how Trump could have better handled the Miss USA controversy and offered to appear on “The Apprentice” to help Donald boost its sagging ratings. Trump then upstaged McMahon on WWE Fan Appreciation Night by dumping thousands of dollars from an arena ceiling to the cheers of the fans in attendance, leading to this week’s face off that resulted in a full-fledge “Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania 23.

This not the first time that Trump has been involved in WrestleMania. WrestleMania IV was hosted by Trump at the Atlantic City Convention Center and WrestleMania V was held at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. The real estate tycoon and reality show star also made a cameo appearance at WrestleMania XX held at Madison Square Garden. However, this will be the first time that The Donald sets foot in a WWE ring at WWE’s annual pop culture extravaganza. Source: WWE Press Release, 15th February 2007


WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

Ronald Susilo Rescues Sally Yeh

Celebrity Sally Yeh, who’s in Singapore for a concert, visited Singapore Badminton Hall this afternoon to play a game of badminton with the national shuttlers.

Ms Yeh, who is the ambassador for the Badminton World Federation, loves the game so much she plays 5 times a week. She loves the tactical and physical challenge of the game and finds working out in a gym boring. In a lighter moment, she let on that Jacky Chan claims he plays badminton, "but I don’t believe him", said the articulate Sally who switched between Mandarin, English and Cantonese throughout the interview.

Singapore’s Ronald Susilo paired up with Sally for her doubles workout at the Guillemard Road courts of the Singapore Badminton Association. Holding her favourite MP-100 badminton racket, she gamely gave her best, although Ronald gallantly retrieved a significant majority of the shots. The faster pace and more powerful smashes of the national athletes had Sally shrieking at times but she wanted a good workout and certainly got one this afternoon from Ronald and company.

Ronald represented ACS(I) in his secondary school days and has seen the bright lights of international events like the Aviva Open Singapore but for once, all the attention of the photographers were on Ms Yeh. But Ronald, unassuming and humble, was more than happy to just smile and retrieve all the shots. Source: Red Sports Blog, 12th February 2007, also blogged on Singapore Hen, 14th February 2007


INFO DIGEST

Info Box – Website Monthly Unique Visitors in USA*
Jan 2006 Dec 2006 Jan 2007
Total Internet: 170,797 174,199 175,559
1 Yahoo! Sites: 126,224 131,443 129,153
2 TimeWarner Net: 115,501 120,980 117,229
3 Microsoft Sites: 115,736 116,506 114,936
4 Google Sites: 94,016 112,845 113,434
5 eBay: 69,765 84,266 80,681
6 Fox Interactive: 13,375 73,273 74,831
7 Amazon Sites: 47,576 56,766 50,886
8 Ask Network: 43,362 55,572 49,103
9 Wikipedia Sites: 18,298 38,585 42,880
10 New York Times: 34,892 39,242 40,137
* In ‘000, for January 2006, December 2006 and January 2007
Source: Bear Stearns, comSCORE published on Rapid TV News


SPORTS SHORTS

* Guangdong Television plans to launch a second DTV pay channel for football matches soon, reports Sports Forum Weekly quoting GDTV sports director Lu Xiaofeng. GDTV will offer one dedicated channel for English Premier League matches and another for other matches. GDTV's current football channel shows all types of matches. GDTV will also offer non-Cantonese commentary of live football matches. GDTV subsidiary Tiansheng DTV won the China rights to English Premier League matches for US$50 million. Source: Pacific Epoch, 14th February 2007

* Sportfive has won the exclusive contract to market English Premier League TV rights to the Japanese market. A marketing agreement was signed with the FA Premier League for the next three seasons. This right gives Sportfive another feather in a line of extensive Asian rights. Sportfive has a wide-ranging Asian network of contacts and partnerships centred on its two branches in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Source: EUFootball.biz, Sportcal, 14th February 2007

* Foxtel will pay a Seven/Ten consortium $315.5 million over five years for the four live AFL games it will broadcast each week for 22 rounds. That computes to $717,045 per game. Compare that with the $42m per year Fox Sports pays the NRL direct for five live games a week over 25 rounds: $336,000 per game. Foxtel is paying much of the money to an organisation it loathes - Channel Seven, which, along with Ten, exercised a first and last option to secure the AFL rights for $780m. Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, 14th February 2007

* British channel Bravo’s new commissions for this year include Real Football Factories International, a factual documentary series produced by Zig Zag. The series follows British actor Danny Dyer as he travels Europe and South America to give viewers an exclusive insider view of some of the world’s fiercest and most bitter rivalries and football derbies. The series follows the success of Real Football Factories, which debuted last year. Real Football Factories International will have a run of eight one-hour episodes. Source: Worldscreen, 25th January 2007

* After the English Premier League signed a series of lucrative TV contracts, the disparity between the EPL and Football League will grow. Financial analysts said those clubs relegated from the Premier League this season could have a "financial meltdown." Henk Potts, an equity strategist with Barclays Wealth said any club not in the Premier League or Champions League is presented with a difficult position. "The gulf between the Premiership and lower leagues will get continually bigger. It's vital they don't let the situation deteriorate." Source: EUFootball.biz, 14th February 2007


MORE NEWS

India/Rights: I&B Issues Showcause to Nimbus

The Information & Broadcasting ministry issued a notice to Nimbus Communications to show cause why Neo Sports has failed to comply with provisions of the ordinance issued recently for mandatory sharing of live sports feed with Prasar Bharati. Nimbus has until tomorrow to reply, failing which the government is "free to take action as permissible under the ordinance". The showcause was issued on the orders of I&B minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.

The ministry was irked that for the ongoing One-Day International series involving Sri Lanka, as well as the earlier one that pitted India against the West Indies, Doordashan has been forced to telecast the matches with a seven minute delayed feed. The Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Ordinance 2007 states channels that fail to comply with the terms for sharing of live feeds with DD would have to pay a penalty up to Rs 10 million and also face possible revocation or suspension of license.

With the Guidelines coming in the ambit of the Ordinance, expected to be replaced by an Act of Parliament soon, the government has taken upon itself the powers to enforce them with retrospective effect. The guidelines are already the subject matter of two petitions in the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court had on 12 February refused to stay the operation of the ordinance asking private sports channels to share live feed of cricket and other sports events with the pubcaster. The matter will be further heard tomorrow. Source: Indian Television, 14th February 2007 See also related commentary by Somasekhar Sundaresan on the Business Standard, 15th February 2007

Asia/Business: AsiaSat Being Privatised

SES, amongst other moves, is divesting itself of its stake in Hong Kong-based AsiaSat (see story below). More information on the Asian portion of the deal has now emerged. As part of the SES agreement, General Electric Equity (GE) takes control over 34.1% of a company called Bowenvale, which controls 50% of AsiaSat. The other 50% controlling interest is held by China’s CITIC Group. Its new owners will privatise AsiaSat.

GE and the Chinese owners say they intend to “maintain” the existing AsiaSat business, and management. The total amount of cash required to effect the privatisation is approximately HK$2.23 billion, which will be financed from the existing resources of CITIC Group and GE Equity.

The offeror is a BVI incorporated company jointly owned by Able Star, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of CITIC Group, and GE Equity, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric Capital Corporation. The General Electric group is also proposing to acquire an interest in AsiaSat’s controlling shareholder. On completion of the acquisition and the privatisation, Asiasat will be jointly indirectly owned by CITIC Group and General Electrical Capital Corporation. Source: Rapid TV, Indian Television, 14th February 2007

Elsewhere/General: Sampras Plans September Return in Champions Tour

Pete Sampras' return to tennis will include a stop in North Carolina. 35-year-old Sampras will play in the Championships at the Palisades in Charlotte. That event, scheduled for September, is a part of the Outback Champions Series tour for players over 30. Sampras hasn't played tournament tennis since beating Andre Agassi to win the 2002 U.S. Open title.

Sampras had virtually disappeared from the game until he played a handful of exhibitions and had a stint with World Team Tennis last year. He'll be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July. He's won a record 14 Grand Slam titles. Source: Associated Press featured on Sports Illustrated, Bob Larson’s Tennis News, WRAL.com, 14th February 2007

Elsewhere/General: Thai Flyweight Champion Aims to Extend Winning Run

Pongsaklek Wongjongkam, the WBC flyweight boxing champion, will attempt to win his 55th consecutive bout with a defence against South Korean fighter Choi Yo-sam on March 30. Pongsaklek, who has held the WBC crown since 2001, will launch a record 17th defence of a flyweight title from his homeland capital of Bangkok. On his previous outing the 30-year-old succeeded with a points decision over South African Monelisi Myekeni.

Meanwhile, another title fight due to take place next month, Shannon Briggs' defence of his WBO heavyweight title against Sultan Ibragimov, has been postponed after the champion was forced to withdraw with a bout of pneumonia. The match had been scheduled to take place at Madison Square Gardens in New York on March 10, but it is now expected that promoter Seminole Warriors Boxing will attempt to resurrect the contest later in the spring. Source: Sportcal, 14th February 2007

Global/New Media: Worldwide Consumer Broadband Penetration Sees Rapid Growth

The number of worldwide consumer broadband connections will reach 364 million by 2010, according to research done by Gartner. At the end of 2005, 12 per cent of households worldwide had a broadband connection and by 2010 Gartner estimates that figure will nearly double to reach 21 per cent. The mature market of Asia/Pacific and Japan will continue to account for nearly 40 per cent of worldwide broadband connections while three quarters of households will have broadband connections by 2010 compared with around half of North American and Western European households.

Strategies adopted by providers to maximise future revenues will vary from country to country according to the relative maturity and sophistication of the market. Gartner advised broadband service providers to reduce their focus in consumer markets on price cuts and to develop additional services within their offerings that address new user needs. This includes additional download bandwidth and storage for online music, photo storage, wireless connectivity, firewall protection and security services. Source: SDA Asia, 9th February 2007


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

Superbikes: The Biaggi Factor

Can Troy Corser beat Troy Bayliss for the World Superbike title? The "battle of the Troys" will continue in 2007 with Bayliss returning on his 999 Ducati Superbike and Corser on the new Yamaha R1. It will certainly be one of the major rivalries to note in 2007 world championship racing. However the 800-pound elephant of World Superbike is neither Corser’s nor Bayliss’. It's Max Biaggi’s.

After a season of semi-forced unemployment, the Roman Emperor of GP racing returns to the world stage, albeit in the WSBK series. Regardless of personal feelings about the always-controversial Biaggi, he remains a popular sporting star in Europe and can only be viewed as a huge addition to the WSBK series. But can he win? And what will he do if he doesn't?

Long-time Biaggi watchers can sleep well—assured that he hasn't lost any of his arrogance or ego. Biaggi, as he has noted, isn't in racing to sell timeshares or make friends, he's here to win. He exuded this when he rode 250s for Aprilia and Honda, when he battled with Rossi and even when a certain American rider had him pinned by the neck to the side of a motorhome a few years ago.

Biaggi's lack of experience on Superbikes and a season off from racing can't be listed as anything but shortcomings in making a prediction about his 2007 season. But he is Max Biaggi—he's one of the fastest riders in the world, with credentials no one else in WSBK has. That said, the Suzuki WSBK bike—a championship-winning bike in 2005—was slightly off the pace in '06, in terms of matching Troy Bayliss and Ducati. With Biaggi signed as rider one can only hope that Suzuki is throwing all the WSBK coal on the fire in order to get him up front.

In the past, Biaggi hasn't hesitated to lash out at parties he feels are responsible when he is not winning. Which means that the first few races will probably give us a good indication of how Biaggi's season will play out. If he is quick out of the gate and wins a race or two, or makes it onto the podium, he'll have the confidence to contend for the title. If he struggles early, then look for fireworks in his garage. Dean Adams comments on Superbike Planet, 13th February 2007