Thursday, 22nd February 2007

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

WWE Expects To Return Soon

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) will be back on the air in Indonesia soon, according to Andrew Whitaker, the company’s deputy chief executive of international television. WWE was pulled from Indonesian television late last year by regulators following allegations that it was a harmful influence. "This sort of thing is going to happen in the far-flung corners of the world," Whitaker said.

"We are not the only ones to have similar experiences. Channels have been taken off the air in India, for example. But one of the best ways to soften up a network that is either too strong or a takeover target is to take away its best content." Elsewhere in Asia, WWE’s platforms include Ten Sports in India, Astro in Malaysia, Videoland in Taiwan, Starhub in Singapore and UBC in Thailand.

WWE has concluded several new European deals in recent months, and new television partners are coming on stream. DigiTurk has been added in Turkey, there is a new deal with Liberty Media in Poland and Balkan News Corp. has extended its deal in Bulgaria. WWE has branched into digital terrestrial in France (through Groupe AB) and Finland (with MTV 3). New free-to-air deals are about to be revealed in both Germany and Argentina. Source: Sports Media, 21st February 2007

Race Continues for Britannia Tiger Hungamathon 06-07

Yesterday’s News Re-cap: Indian Television, 19th February 2007
More news appearing in Exchange4Media, 21st February 2007


INFO DIGEST

Info Box – Media Value Index of Top-10 Football Players
Feb 07 Ranking (Sep 06 Ranking) Player/Club - Media Value Index
* 1 (1) Ronaldinho/FC Barcelona 13.3
* 2 (3) Wayne Rooney/Manchester United 12.2
* 3 (4) David Beckham/Real Madrid 11.6
* 4 (2) Ronaldo/AC Milan 10.9
* 5 (21) Cristiano Ronaldo/Manchester United 10.8
* 6 (5) Thierry Henry/Arsenal 9.5
* 7 (18) Didier Drogba/Chelsea 8.6
* 8 (7) Michael Ballack/Chelsea 7.8
* 9 (13) Adriano/Inter Milan 7.5
* 10 (32) Louis Saha/Manchester United 7.4
Source: Football Insider, 21st February 2007


SPORTS SHORTS

* REDACTION: Following yesterday’s edition, Football Insider would like to clarify that, according to Traffic Sports vice-president Aaron Davidson, the potential TV audience of more than 800 million people in the Americas for the Copa America represents a “cumulative buying power of over 12 trillion dollars”. The tournament is expected to attract a record number of 3,500 members of the media. Source: Football Insider, 21st February 2007

* Thailand is putting pressure on Singapore to return satellites it acquired as part of a $3.8 billion purchase of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's telecom empire. Media reports state that Thais are going to the polls to vote if the country's military-led government should buy back the nation's satellite operator Shinsat. The five satellites are operated by Shin Satellite a unit of Shin which was sold to Singapore's state investment firm Temasek last year. Source: Indian Television, 21st February 2007

* Yahoo! and Eurosport have announced a collaboration to create Europe's leading online sports news and community sport site. The co-branded site will combine Yahoo!'s online knowledge with Eurosport's content positioning. As well as accessing sports news and information, sports fans will be able to share opinions through forums. Initial roll-out will see the service offered in Germany, Italy, and the UK. The new site is scheduled for launch later in the year. Source: Sports Media, Sportcal, C21 Media, 21st February 2007

* Austrian company Sports TV Production International will deploy 19 broadcast cameras for coverage of the PartyPoker.com European Challenge poker event, which will take place from March 10-17 in Vienna with an estimated prize pool of about US$1.1 million. Sports TV Media Distribution will be offering six 52-minute shows from the tournament, plus six more from the new East Versus West Cup sidebar event. Source: Sports Media, 21st February 2007

* The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) is planning to bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. While the aim is to capture the 2018 nomination, the USSF will also market itself to FIFA as an alternative for the 2014 event if a South American country is not ready. Brazil is the current favourite to host the 2014 event, with Colombia the only other country in the running. A decision is expected from FIFA later this year, with concerns over whether Brazil would be ready in time and FIFA president Sepp Blatter has hinted it might go elsewhere. Source: Football Insider, Sportcal, Sport Business, EUFootball.biz, 21st February 2007

* Sportfive is seeking a new chief executive after it emerged that three of its present top officials are leaving in the wake of last year’s acquisition of the agency by Lagardère. The three departing executives are: Philip Cordes, the present chief executive with particular responsibility for Germany and international television; Alain Krzentowski, chief executive for France and Africa; and Gilles Moretton, the vice president for France. It is thought that Lagardère will look outside the agency’s heartland territories of France and Germany for its new chief executive, as it seeks to resolve longstanding friction between the agency’s French and German arms. Source: Sportcal, 21st February 2007

* HBO expects its May 5 Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather pay-per-view event to break the 1 million-buy mark, and it could set an all-time PPV-performance record. The fight, for De La Hoya's junior-middleweight championship, arguably pits the two most popular fighters in the sport against each other. The event is expected to be the second non-heavyweight fight to break the 1 million PPV-buy barrier. The first was the 1999 De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad fight, which drew 1.25 million buys. Source: Broadcast Newsroom, 20th February 2007

* A report by Portio Research (Mobile Messaging Futures 2007-2012) found that SMS generated $47.5bn worldwide in 2006, and is predicted to reach $52.5bn in 2007. A projected 3.7 trillion messages being sent annually by 2012 will push this revenue to $67bn. The report predicts a bright future for other mobile messaging technologies, including instant messaging and mobile email. Against expectations, SMS traffic has not flattened out in mature markets but continued to boom. It also predicts that in Asia, every five-minute period for the next six years, 2,267 people will have bought their first mobile phone. Source: Ken Radio, 21st February 2007


MORE NEWS

China/Broadcast: CCTV Dominates National Satellite TV Rankings

At the "2007 Television Drama Production and Broadcasting Annual Conference" held in Shanghai, 2006's national satellite channel ranking was revealed. (See table in Info Box). In 2006, CCTV continues to dominate the market in domestic satellite TV, leading the competition with 8 channels ranked among the national top 10. CCTV started evaluating performance of its channels by market share last year, and managing a variety of resources to enhance its media strength.

Through the exclusive coverage of World Cup 06, CCTV-5 (Sports Channel) raised its share by 35.8% as ranked as number two satellite TV channel in China. CCTV-10 (Education Channel) and CCTV-12 (Law and Society Channel) both exceeded 1% in national share for the first time, with a growth of 69.9% and 35.3% respectively. Source: Entertainment Asia Network, 20th February 2007

Global/General: Ronaldo Making Moves In Media Value List

Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo is football’s emerging media icon according to a study conducted by a Spanish university. The Economics, Sports and Intangibles research group (ESIrg) of the University of Navarra in Pamplona has drawn up a list of the players, managers and teams with the greatest media value in world football. The Portuguese international is one of the biggest movers in the list, which is led by FC Barcelona’s Ronaldinho, moving up from 21st to fifth. (See list in Info Box)

ESIrg compiled the list by looking at the relative merits of a total of 928 players competing in the UEFA Champions League from September 2006 to February 2007. Professor Francesc Pujol, a member of the Department of Economics at the University of Navarra, explained to Football Insider the reasoning behind how the list was generated.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been a revelation for Manchester United this season, with his 15 goals making him the Premiership leader’s top scorer. His form has even led to suggestions that he is arguably the top player in world football at present and Professor Pujol stated that a player’s media value is very much driven by their on-field performances.

For players it’s to do with their team’s performance specifically at international level rather than domestic level and then their own individual performances. Cristiano Ronaldo has taken advantage of the fact that Manchester United has been performing very well this year. The Premiership is the main reference point at international level in terms of media coverage and it means that all players can benefit. Amongst Manchester United players he is playing the best. Source: Football Insider, 21st February 2007