Friday, 29th June 2007
SPORTS SHORTS
* The 2007 NBA Draft will be televised in 115 countries in 18 languages. Chinese Basketball Association star Yi Jianlian, of the Guangdong Southern Tigers, is among many international players eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft and CCTV, China’s national TV station, will be on-site to produce a live programme featuring Yi. This marks the first time CCTV, a 20-year NBA TV partner, will produce a live programme on-site at the Draft. Guangdong TV will be televising the Draft for the first time. Source: Sport Business, 27th Jun 2007
* ESPN Star Sports acquired the mobile rights for Wimbledon in India. The Mobile ESPN service will provide the official video clips, match score updates, player specific contents, wallpapers and the official Wimbledon ringtone "Purple & Green". The video clips will contain a daily dose of the Day's Highlights (2007 Championship preview, Daily Preview, Individual Match highlights, Player interviews and Daily Round Up) and also archive clips of the Golden moments and the 2006 championships roundup. Source: Sport Business, 27th Jun 2007
* Manchester Utd is in talks with marketing groups WPP, Publicis, Omnicom and McCann Worldgroup to drive the club's digital fan base from 4 million online users to 50 million within three years. MU Group Commercial Director, Lee Daley, said that the right partner "has to have global reach and there has to be core strength in Asia." The club is set to complete research into its global audience that will likely show a fan base which had grown from 75 million in 2003 to around 90 million due to the increased penetration of the Premier League on TV around the globe. The figures are likely to show that the MU fan base in China "has probably doubled" in the last four years. Source: Asian Football Business, 28th Jun 2007
* The Rugby League International Federation appointed IMG Media as exclusive sales agents for international TV rights to the Rugby League World Cup 2008. IMG Media will distribute international rights to all 18 matches of the tournament taking place in Australia from 25 Oct to 22 Nov 2008. The deal includes all broadcast rights with live coverage of each game available. IMG’s sports production arm, TWI, will provide daily and overall highlights of the matches, as well as produce and distribute a new media package. Source: Sport Business, Sports e-Media, 27th Jun 2007
* Tien, the Dutch commercial broadcaster previously known as Talpa TV, has been sold to media giant, RTL Group. The RTL Group and Talpa Media Holding, the group owned by media tycoon John de Mol, have confirmed a deal that sees RTL take over Tien’s sports rights, including highlights of the Eredivisie, the country’s top-tier soccer league. Talpa TV launched in August 2005 after acquiring the Eredivisie highlights rights for €40 million ($53.6 million) a year until the end of the 2007-08 season, and was renamed Tien at the end of last year. Source: Sport Business, 28th Jun 2007
* Canadian internet TV carrier, JumpTV, has agreed a deal with Telelatino for internet broadcasting rights in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Over 100 matches will be streamed on www.jumptv.com as part of the deal, although the agreement is subject to the approval by Fifa. JumpTV will have similar rights to all Fifa-sanctioned championships until 2014 as part of the agreement, starting with the under-17 World Cup in August. Games will be streamed free of charge and revenue is expected to be generated through advertising. Source: Sportcal, 27th Jun 2007
* The FIH, field hockey’s world governing body, has agreed a new three-year deal with digital television channel Sport1 to broadcast its events in the Netherlands. The six-figure agreement is co-exclusive with Dutch state broadcaster NOS. The deal will see Sport1 broadcast live all matches from Champions Trophies and World Cups, and selected matches from the men's BDO Champions Challenge. The FIH distributes its world-level events on a country-by-country basis in Europe. Source: Sportcal, 27th Jun 2007
* Secondsout.com signed an exclusive deal to screen Vladimir Klitschko’s IBF/IBO world heavyweight title defence against Lamon Brewster on July 7. It will broadcast the fight live. The fight will not be shown by any UK broadcaster. This is the second Klitschko defence to be screened exclusively live in the UK by Secondsout.com. It will further screen at least 35 live events a year from around the world this year. The service is complimented by weekly news programmes, documentaries, interviews and a massive and growing archive of boxing action. Source: Sport Business, 27th Jun 2007
* EM.TV, the German media company that once owned a share in Formula One, is set to change its name to EM.Sport Media. The media firm built its business on children’s TV programming, but intends to sell its kids entertainment assets in order to focus on its more profitable sports business. In addition to changing its name, the company will transfer its headquarters to Ismaning, where DSF, PLAZAMEDIA and Sport1 are headquartered. Source: Sports Business, Sportcal, Worldscreen, 28th Jun 2007
* The directors of Birmingham City have agreed to sell a 29.9% stake to Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung for £14.7 million ($29.4 million). The agreement makes Yeung the largest individual shareholder, but he does not yet have control of the newly-promoted club. Meanwhile, Thaksin Shinawatra has increased his shareholding in Manchester City to almost 66% after acquiring a further 9.9% stake believed to belong to British Sky Broadcasting. Thaksin's £81.6-million takeover offer has already been approved by the City board. Source: Sportcal, 28th Jun 2007
MORE NEWS
Thailand/Rights: Euro 2008 Broadcasting Rights Sold
RS International Broadcasting and Sport Management, Thailand’s newly-formed broadcasting group, has won the rights to all matches at soccer’s 2008 European Championships. The acquisition of rights for the 31 games at the tournament follows the company’s purchase of rights across all platforms for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups at the end of last year. It has yet to be announced which Thai broadcasters will show matches at Euro 2008.
RS International Broadcasting and Sports Management was formed in 2006 as a joint venture between RS plc, the country’s second-largest entertainment group, and International Broadcasting and Sports Management. It has been claimed that RS could generate around 700 million baht ($22.1 million) over the next year as a result of the deal.
Following last November's deal, RS holds the rights to all of Fifa’s international soccer competitions until 2014, including the forthcoming Under-20 World Cup in Canada, the Women’s World Cup and the Beach Soccer World Cup. RS has sublicensed the rights for the Under-20 World Cup to national broadcasters Channel 9 and Channel 11. Source: Sportcal, 28th Jun 2007
Thailand/New Media: Celestial Pictures Launches Mobile TV Channel in Thailand
Celestial Pictures has launched Kung Fu TV, a mobile TV channel featuring original kung fu content from its library of Shaw Brothers films, in Thailand on the mobile network provider Advanced Info Service (AIS). Updated weekly, Kung Fu TV’s programming will consist of bite-size content segments between 30 seconds to three minutes. Content will include video clips of fight sequences, music videos, action movie trailers, animated wallpapers and video ringtones. The company also has plans to roll out the channel in Malaysia and other territories in the near future.
Celestial’s Shaw Brothers film library consists of 760 films produced from the 1950s to the 1990s. The company is restoring the films and distributing them into cinemas, home video, television, and new media platforms worldwide. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Celestial Pictures is a subsidiary of Astro All Asia Networks. It is focused on Asian-language film and television content including production, aggregation, distribution and the operation of TV channels. Source: Worldscreen, 28th Jun 2007
Asia/General: No Prize Money if Australia Wins Asian Cup
Australia will "pay to play" in next month's AFC Asian Cup 2007 as the Asian Football Confederation does not compensate any of the 16 finalists and the tournament offers no prize money. But Australia can make up for the lack of Asian Cup finances by winning the tournament which will qualify them for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa. The latter tournament should see the Socceroos earn at least $1.5 million in appearance money plus ongoing bonuses of around $500,000 for each win.
"Asia's empty pockets are a stark contrast to the rich UEFA European confederation. UEFA handed out nearly $28 million to Greece for winning EURO 2004 while other nations were guaranteed $7.6 million just for qualifying plus a $950,000 bonus for each Group stage win". The FFA is expected to fork out an estimated $500,000 for each Asian Cup clash with Socceroos wages apparently accounting for most of incurred costs. Socceroos are reported to be on at least $5000 a match at the Asian Cup plus payments from player-generated revenue. Source: Asian Football Business Blog, 27th Jun 2007
Elsewhere/Rights: New Media Rights Boost Value of NBA Television Deals
US television networks have acquired additional new media rights as part of lucrative new eight-year broadcasting deals covering games in basketball's most popular league, the National Basketball Association. The contracts come into effect next year and are expected to bring in $7.4 billion, equivalent to $930 million a season. The present six-year agreements with national network ABC and cable broadcasters ESPN and TNT, worth a total of $4.6 billion, or $766 million a year, were due to expire at the end of the 2007-08 season.
Sports channels ESPN and ESPN2 will continue to televise up to 75 regular season games, mainly on Wednesday and Friday nights, and up to 29 playoff games, including one conference final, until 2016. ESPN has also secured the rights to provide live and other content on the internet and mobile phones via platforms such as ESPN.com, ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobile TV. It also receives an enhanced package of international broadcasting rights.
ABC/ESPN has been paying $400 million per season for NBA rights, while TNT has contributed $366 million, but falling ratings have not diminished their appetite for basketball and the addition of internet and mobile rights have made them all the more valuable. ABC posted an average rating of 6.2 and audience share of 11% for its coverage of the recent NBA finals, in which the San Antonio Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0. Source: Sportcal, 28th Jun 2007
Elsewhere/General: Valcke Completes Rehabilitation with Fifa Reappointment
Jérôme Valcke, the former head of Fifa Marketing and TV who was one of four top officials ‘dismissed’ by Fifa in December last year for their part in a controversial sponsorship deal with Visa, was today reappointed as general secretary of soccer’s world governing body, replacing the departing Urs Linsi.
The appointment, which had been expected since it emerged that Valcke had been working with Fifa president Sepp Blatter on a restructuring of the organisation, comes despite Fifa having been forced last week to pay $90 million to settle a legal case with Mastercard, nearly half the value of the sponsorship deal it agreed with Visa.
Fifa today told Sportcal.com: 'As explained by the Fifa president at today's media conference, Jérôme Valcke has been completely vindicated by the decision of the appeals court in New York which vacated the decision by Judge Preska and ordered it to be reviewed.
'What is more, he has an excellent track record in terms of work and success in his tenure as director of Fifa Marketing and TV. Also it was the trademark dispute over the use of the twin globes which MasterCard claimed breached copyright of their own logo that prompted Fifa to court Visa as a rival credit card sponsor.' The trademark dispute was also ended as part of the out-of-court settlement with MasterCard.
Valcke today told Reuters: ‘I don’t want to comment on the last few months when I was completely out on my own. Now I just want to look ahead and build on the excellent relationship I have with Mr Blatter. With the appointment, Valcke becomes number two in the organisation behind only Blatter, who himself served as general secretary for 17 years under his predecessor Joao Havelange. Source: Sportcal, Sport Business, 27th Jun 2007
Sepp Blatter has taken full responsibility for the outcome of a protracted dispute with credit card company MasterCard in which Fifa has agreed to pay off its former sponsor in order to sign a deal with rival Visa. Blatter confirmed yesterday that Fifa had finalised an eight-year partnership with Visa, which gives the firm rights to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 event, likely to be awarded to Brazil. The deal is worth $170 million, $10 million less than the company had originally bid, and brings to an end a saga in which Fifa was accused of lying to both companies in negotiations and ultimately agreed to pay $90 million to extricate itself from the relationship with MasterCard, a sponsor of the last four World Cups. Source: Sportcal, 28th Jun 2007
Wednesday, 27th June 2007
HEADLINE NEWS
Movistar Agrees Copa America Sponsorship Deal
Movistar, the mobile phone operator owned by Telefonica Moviles, has become a sponsor of the 2007 Copa America, the South American national teams competition that kicks off in Venezuela today. Movistar, which agreed a sponsorship agreement with the Mexican soccer federation earlier this month, will also sponsor the man of the match trophy for each game.
Meanwhile, mobile clips of the tournament will be available in Japan after an agreement was struck between sports marketing firm Total Sports Asia and Softbank, the Japanese telecommunications and media giant. Under the terms of the agreement, video highlights of the tournament will be available on ‘world goal movie,’ a mobile website operated by Softbank, as well as on other mobile websites in Japan.
Total Sports Asia was acting on behalf of Traffic Sports Marketing, which holds the marketing and broadcasting rights to the tournament. Source: Sportcal, 26th Jun 2007
More on Chris Benoit
Source: WWE Official, 26th Jun 2007
WWE releases official timeline of events, including details of text messages sent by Benoit to a co-worker (believed to be Chavo Guerero)
Source: Wrestle Mag, 26th Jun 2007
Vince McMahon will open tonight’s live edition of ECW by issuing an apology for last night’s three-hour tribute show to Chris Benoit. Both World Wrestling Entertainment and the USA Network have recieved complaints for airing the show, which was believed to be put together before WWE management were made fully aware of the events that had taken place and the circumstances of the death of Benoit and his family. We understand that tonight’s ECW broadcast and Smackdown TV taping (airing Friday) will focus on straight wrestling matches, with no angles or storylines being included in either show.
Source: WWE Official, 26th Jun 2007
World Wrestling Entertainment is stunned and saddened by the details released by local authorities concerning the double homicide-suicide involving Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy, and his son, Daniel. However, WWE is concerned with the sensationalistic reporting and speculation being undertaken by some members of the media following the press conference held by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney. During the press conference, the investigating authorities made points which ran contrary to the media speculation that "roid rage" was a factor in the senseless murders and suicide.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Source: Copa America Official, 27th Jun 2007
Peru thrashed Uruguay in an action-packed Group A match which kicked off the Copa América 2007. Miguel Villalta, from Lima’s Sporting Cristal, opened scoring on 27 minutes with a powerful header meeting a cross by skipper Claudio Pizarro. On 69 minutes, substitute Juan Carlos Mariño received a pass by Farfán and fired a right-footer to beat Fabian Carini and double the lead. Paolo Guerrero closed the scoring on 88 minutes at the Metropolitan de Mérida Stadium. Peru clinched their first win thanks to a fine job done by Jefferson Farfá, the 26-year-old PSV Eindhoven player, who was the maestro of a team well-organized by Júlio Cesar Uribe.
THIS WEEK
Wed, 27th Jun 2007
Copa America 2007: Group B - Mexico v Brazil, Puerto Ordaz
Copa America 2007: Group B - Ecuador v Chile, Puerto Ordaz
Thu, 28th Jun 2007
Copa America 2007: Group C - USA v Argentina, Maracaibo
Copa America 2007: Group C - Paraguay v Colombia, Maracaibo
Sat, 30th Jun 2007
Masters Football: North West Masters
Copa America 2007: Group A - Bolivia v Uruguay, San Cristobal
Copa America 2007: Group A - Venezuela v Peru, San Cristobal
Sun, 1st Jul 2007
Copa America 2007: Group B - Mexico v Ecuador, Maturin
Copa America 2007: Group B - Brazil v Chile, Maturin
SPORTS SHORTS
* Thailand’s Shin Satellite has launched a Ku-band digital-satellite offering which it is hoping will be in a million homes within a year. Shin Broadband Internet is marketing the new service which will be for receiving free-to-air channels only. The product soft-launched three months ago and have 30,000 sign ups. Shin Broadband Internet, which currently develops applications for Shin Satellite’s IPStar broadband satellite operations, is hoping that the new venture will account for the majority of its revenues within a year. Source: Rapid TV News, 26th Jun 2007
* China’s Along Mobile Technologies has announced that it reached an agreement with Beijing You Jie Le Comm. Technologies to develop and launch a series of 'Hello Kitty' mobile games. Fans of the “Hello Kitty” cartoon and casual gamers will “meet” Hello Kitty and other three athletes in a sports encounter. The game is expected to attract players’ interest and download volume in the period of the Olympic Games. The game is scheduled for release next month. Source: Digital Media Asia, PR News Wire, 26th Jun 2007
* Qatar has been left as the sole candidate to stage the Asian Cup in 2011 after Iran and India both missed the deadline to submit their bids. Qatar handed in its bid on June 19, two days before the deadline, but India and Iran failed to follow, the Asian Football Confederation announced yesterday. India felt it could not meet infrastructural requirements for hosting the event, but there was no reason given for Iran failing to submit a bid. The host of the 2011 Asian Cup will be decided on July 29, the day of the final of this year’s competition in Indonesia. Source: Sportcal, 26th Jun 2007
* China’s first brand research institute ‘World Brand Lab’ unveiled the 4th annual ranking of “China’s 500 Most Valuable Brands.” This year’s brand ranking covers 48 industries from F&B to media. The top five media brands showcase China Central Television (CCTV) with the highest brand value of USD 8.59 billion, followed by Phoenix Satellite TV (USD 3.06 billion), People’s Daily (USD 0.77 billion), Reference News (USD 0.76 billion) and “Guangzhou Daily” (USD 0.73 billion). Source: Entertainment Asia, 26th Jun 2007
* The New York Yankees have signed a sponsorship deal with Chinese dairy company Yili, the first Major League Baseball club to sign with a Chinese company. Yili will receive ad exposure at Yankee Stadium and in Yankees Magazine, the official programme of the club. The Yankees have signed pitcher Kai Liu and catcher Zhenwang Zhang, the first players from China to sign with a major league club with approval from the Chinese Baseball Association. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 26th Jun 2007
* LG Electronics and Harris Corporation, joint developers of Mobile-Pedestrian Handheld in-band mobile digital television, have submitted a proposal to the Advanced Television Systems Committee for a standard enabling broadcasters to provide high-quality digital TV signals to a range of mobile and portable devices. The ATSC is an international, non-profit organisation developing standards for digital TV. LG and Harris submitted a proposal detailing their technology, which is backward-compatible to the current standard. Source: Advanced Television, 26th Jun 2007
* South Africa’s Premier Soccer League is in talks with public-service broadcaster, SABC, to negotiate a compromise for the league’s TV rights. PSL awarded its live rights to pay-broadcaster Supersport International in a deal worth over R1-billion but was slammed by the SABC and prompted political outcry. That deal cannot be reversed but PSL is seeking a compromise that would potentially give SABC role to play. PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza said there were elements in the Supersport agreement that would impact free-to-air channels, therefore there was merit in having a discussion. Source: Sport Business, 26th Jun 2007
MORE NEWS
India/General: BCCI Takes a Stance against Indian Cricket League
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has warned its players not to participate in any competition which does not have its approval in an attempt to derail a new league planned for September. The Indian Cricket League is the brainchild of the Essal Group, the parent company of media company Zee Telefilms, which owns the Zee Sports channel, but has not been sanctioned by the BCCI.
In a letter to its provincial teams, the board said: ‘No member association, present or former players deriving monetary or other benefits from the board, including the welfare scheme, shall in any manner associate themselves with the organisation and conduct of such unapproved tournaments/matches.’ Members and players which ignore the directive stand to lost benefits and privileges, including pensions granted by the board.
Kapil Dev and Tony Greig, former captains of India and England, are on the executive board of the ICL along with ex-Australia batsman Dean Jones and retired Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More, who has resigned as secretary of the Baroda Cricket Association following the BCCI letter. The ICL is planning a six-team Twenty20 competition in September and hopes to recruit Indian national team players and foreign stars for the event. Source: Sportcal, 26th Jun 2007
Tuesday, 26th June 2007
HEADLINES OF THE DAY
Chris Benoit, Family Found Dead
Source: WWE Official, 26th Jun 2007
World Wrestling Entertainment was informed today by authorities in Fayetteville County, Ga., that WWE Superstar Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy, and his son were found dead in their home. Authorities are investigating, but no other details are available at this time. Instead of its announced programming for tonight on USA Network, WWE will air a three-hour tribute to Chris Benoit.
Chris was beloved among his fellow Superstars, and was a favorite among WWE fans for his unbelievable athleticism and wrestling ability. He always took great pride in his performance, and always showed respect for the business he loved, for his peers and towards his fans. This is a terrible tragedy and an unbearable loss. WWE extends its sincere condolences and prayers to the Benoit family and loved ones in this time of tragedy.
Source: Impact Wrestling, 26th Jun 2007
Impact Wrestling was informed that police were dispatched to the Benoit home after receiving a call from WWE officials who were concerned that they were not able to get in touch with Benoit. Impact Wrestling was also told that police found the bodies at around 4pm local time and that police would not say how the family died other than they were not shot to death. It could have been carbon monoxide but we do NOT want to speculate on anything.
Source: The Winnipeg Free Press, 26th Jun 2007
Chris Benoit was known to pro wrestling fans around the world as the “Canadian Crippler”. Benoit, 40, was born in Edmonton, trained by the famous Hart family in Calgary and is considered one of the greatest in-ring performers of all time. He began his career in 1985, working for Stu Hart’s Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling promotion. Benoit moved to Japan in 1989 but returned to North America in 1994, working for Extreme Championship Wrestling and the Ted-Turner led World Championship Wrestling. Benoit went to work for Vince McMahon in 2000 and had been with WWE ever since.
Source: AOL Sports, 26th Jun 2007
This is why WWE really shouldn't have done that whole "Vince McMahon is dead" storyline. The WWE first announced the deaths of Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy and their 7-year-old son on its web site this afternoon, and for much of the day, fans everywhere expressed "yeah, right" skepticism because the WWE was in the midst of a storyline in which they had faked the death of McMahon, the WWE's owner. But the Journal-Constitution and Atlanta TV stations have quoted local law enforcement authorities confirming the deaths, and McMahon himself showed up in the opening of tonight's Monday Night RAW to explain that Benoit's death was real.
Source: TNA Wrestling Official, 26th Jun 2007
Everyone in the TNA family joins the entire wrestling world in mourning the untimely passing of Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and their son Daniel. Many TNA staff and stars worked closely with Chris throughout his career and we are all shocked and saddened to lose a friend and legendary competitor. Benoit was considered a consummate professional both in and out of the ring. Please keep Chris and the Benoit family in your thoughts and prayers during this time of tragedy.
Source: Pro Wrestling Insider, 25th Jun 2007
Word is spreading that Chris Benoit, Nancy Benoit and their son Daniel were found dead in the Benoit home today. Benoit's other children from his previous marriage were not at the home. WWE.com has posted a photo gallery of Benoit pictures and removed all references to the Mr. McMahon explosion storyline from the main page of the website. As previously reported, the plans for tonight's Raw have been discarded, and the show will now be a tribute to Chris Benoit.
THIS WEEK
Tue, 26th Jun 2007
Copa America 2007: Group A - Venezuela v Bolivia, San Cristobal
Copa America 2007: Group A - Uruguay v Peru, Merida
Wed, 27th Jun 2007
Copa America 2007: Group B - Mexico v Brazil, Puerto Ordaz
Copa America 2007: Group B - Ecuador v Chile, Puerto Ordaz
Thu, 28th Jun 2007
Copa America 2007: Group C - USA v Argentina, Maracaibo
Copa America 2007: Group C - Paraguay v Colombia, Maracaibo
Sat, 30th Jun 2007
Masters Football: North West Masters
Copa America 2007: Group A - Bolivia v Uruguay, San Cristobal
Copa America 2007: Group A - Venezuela v Peru, San Cristobal
Sun, 1st Jul 2007
Copa America 2007: Group B - Mexico v Ecuador, Maturin
Copa America 2007: Group B - Brazil v Chile, Maturin
SPORTS SHORTS
* Informa Media says pay-TV in the Middle East and North Africa will grow by 36% over the next 5 years. The report says the region has 4.5m pay-TV subs at the end of last year, and will grow to 6.1m by 2012. Much of the growth will come from Israel and Turkey, neither of which are Arab markets. Of the region’s 54.8m TV homes, 30.5m have a multichannel TV service, giving a 55.4% penetration rate. This will grow, says the study, to about 40m homes by 2012 or a 62.3% penetration. Source: Rapid TV News, 25th Jun 2007
* EPL club, Portsmouth FC will take part in this year’s prestigious Asia Trophy Cup. The Asia Trophy Cup Tournament, which is jointly hosted by the Hong Kong Football Association and the Football Association Premier League (FAPL), will kick off next month in Hong Kong. In January this year, OKI Printing Solutions extended its sponsorship with Portsmouth FC until 2009, based on the success of the partnership over the past two seasons. Source: Sport Business, 25th Jun 2007
* Indian sports and TV rights management giant Nimbus Communications has made its first foray into movie rights. World rights to "Naqaab" are to be handled by the firm's Nimbus Motion Pictures division and will be released in India and elsewhere on July 13. Rights were secured in a deal with the Tips film and music conglomerate, previously responsible for hits including "Raaz," "Raja Hindustani" and "Coolie No. 1," but which has been out of the movie production business for the last three years. Source: Variety Asia, Indian Television, 25th Jun 2007
* The German Football League has warned that the future of ‘Sportschau', the Saturday evening highlights show covering the German Bundesliga, is not guaranteed in the next contract period. Public service broadcaster, ARD, currently pays around €85 million ($114.3 million) a year to broadcast Bundesliga highlights at 6.30pm on Saturdays, but the DFL is hoping to maximise its domestic revenue when the new contract period starts in 2009-10 and may look to offer more exclusivity to pay-television broadcasters.
* South African public service broadcaster, SABC, has secured rights to the next three Olympic Games and the English Premier League as it bids to overcome the loss of domestic soccer coverage to pay-television rival SuperSport. The deal with the Premier League is worth R285 million ($40 million) over three years and gives SABC rights to show live Monday night matches. The agreement is a boost for SABC after South Africa’s Premier Soccer League sold live rights for the next five seasons to SuperSport in a deal worth more than R1 billion. Source: Sportcal, 25th Jun 2007
* US broadcasters NBC and ESPN are reported to be close to finalising multi-year renewal with the All England Lawn Tennis Club for the TV rights of Wimbledon. The NBC deal, which takes effect next summer, is estimated to be worth between $12 million and $13 million a year until 2011. ESPN is also reported to be close to a deal that would give the media group TV rights and a more expansive set of digital rights that will increase the reach and breadth of its coverage. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 25th Jun 2007
* The All England Tennis Championships and Wimbledon are celebrating two major broadcasting anniversaries. The BBC first broadcast coverage of the tournament in 1937, albeit for only half-an-hour a day, and it began colour transmissions in 1967. Aside from those 70th and 40th birthdays, Wimbledon transmissions are into their second HD year and the Hawk-Eye computerized tracking system is now being used on court to allow players to challenge line calls as well as for TV analysis. Source: Rapid TV News, 25th Jun 2007
* Tinopolis has acquired APP Broadcast, a sailing and adventure sports production specialist, to join Sunset + Vine, the sports production company that it acquired last year. APP Broadcast was responsible for television production and distribution of Ellen MacArthur’s record-breaking sailing expeditions. The company, which has broadcast partnerships with sailing sponsors including Omega, Allianz and Volvo, recently completed a 12-part series, Ocean!, for the UK’s Channel 4 and distributes programming to over 140 countries every month. Source: Sportcal, 25th Jun 2007
* Fifa President, Sepp Blatter, has raised the possibility that a continental rotational policy for selecting World Cup hosts could be scrapped after the 2014 tournament. North and Central America and the Caribbean region is due to stage the 2018 World Cup, with USA having already expressed an interest in bidding. But Blatter said that the competition had become such a big event, it no longer mattered where it was played. Fifa’s executive committee will make a decision on the policy in November. Source: Sportcal, 25th Jun 2007
* France’s hopes of staging soccer’s 2016 European Championships are gathering momentum after Jean-Pierre Escalettes, the president of national soccer federation the FFF, confirmed that he was considering a bid. France last hosted a major tournament when it played host to the World Cup in 1998. Source: Sportcal, 25th Jun 2007
* Uefa has decided on the format for the region’s qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. There will be eight groups of six teams and one group of five, with the group winners qualifying automatically and the best eight runners-up will play home and away play-off matches to determine the other four qualifiers. As a result, a total of 13 European teams will make the trip to South Africa for the finals. Uefa president Michel Platini is reportedly happy with the system. Source: Sportcal, 25th Jun 2007
* Players on the PGA's Champions Tour will play for a record $55.2 million in 2008. The PGA released the 2008 schedule for what was formerly called the seniors tour Monday. There will be 29 Charles Schwab Cup events in 16 U.S. states as well as two tournaments outside the United States. The foreign events are the March 31-April 6 tournament in the Dominican Republican and the Senior British Open in Scotland July 21-27. Source: Earthtimes, 25th Jun 2007
ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS
The Tim Vickery Column
Source: Tim Vickery writes about South American football for The BBC, 25th Jun 2007
Brazil's Kaka, Ronaldinho and Ze Roberto have all pulled out of the Copa America, and Luis Jimenez made himself unavailable for Chile. But plenty of South America's stars are in Venezuela for the tournament. Argentina's Lionel Messi tops the bill, but many other big name players from the top European clubs have made the trip back across the Atlantic. It is the strongest line-up that the Copa America has had for some time.
That's not just because this year's tournament is taking place in a land famous for producing beauty queens. It has more to do with the timing of the competition in relation to the main event in South American international football - the World Cup qualifiers. Eleven years ago a new era began when the continent adopted the marathon format of World Cup qualification, with all 10 nations playing each other home and away.
At last it gave the South American teams the type of structure that European national sides take for granted. Until this point international football in South America had tended to take place in quick bursts, with huge gaps in between. Expanding the World Cup qualifiers meant that there would be regular competitive matches, thus allowing the traditionally weaker countries to keep a side together and grow in confidence and tactical awareness.
The rise of the likes of Ecuador and Venezuela is directly attributable to this change. But as a consequence the Copa America inevitably became devalued. In recent Copas, a country's approach to the tournament was heavily influenced by where they were standing in the World Cup qualification table. Those doing well tended to send experimental squads in order to look at fringe players. Those doing badly used the Copa as an opportunity to regroup.
That criteria does not apply to this tournament in Venezuela. No-one is doing either well or badly because we are not in the middle of a qualification campaign. The next one is due to get under way in October, which makes this Copa America the perfect opportunity to prepare a team for the battles ahead.
Venezuela will win the 2007 Copa America no matter what happens on the field. This explains why the squads in Venezuela are stronger than they have been for recent tournaments. A new cycle is beginning, and a fresh set of coaches want to have a look at what they have. Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay are playing their first competitive matches under their current coach. Argentina, Uruguay and Peru have re-appointed men who were previously in charge - well over a decade ago in the case of the first two.
For their coaches, these are the first competitive matches of their second spell. The only coach who remains from the last Copa America, held just three years ago, is Venezuela's Richard Paez. That is precisely because he has been building towards this tournament. Everyone else is primarily concerned with preparing for World Cup qualification.
This is important for Venezuela, too. But as hosts they have a responsibility to put on a good show in the Copa. History is against them. Venezuela's only win in the competition came in 1967, 40 years and over 40 games ago. But they have made great strides in recent years and their task is eased by the fact that they have been placed in the easiest of the three groups.
The home crowds are expectant - it will be fascinating to see how the team cope with the pressure. Hosting the competition has spurred Venezuela towards making massive investments in their footballing infrastructure. They are using nine stadiums - three of them brand new. It is a very ambitious Copa - possibly too ambitious, and there could be problems along the way. But after the headaches have been forgotten the stadiums remain, allowing Venezuela to increase its first division from 10 clubs to 18.
Monday, 25th June 2007
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Source: Wrestling Edge, 25th Jun 2007
Super Crazy defeated Carlito in a dark match before WWE’s Vengeance began tonight in Houston, Texas. As expected Chris Benoit did miss tonight’s pay-per-view. He was replaced by Johnny Nitro. 41 minutes into the event announcer Justin Roberts said that Benoit would miss his match with CM Punk for the ECW World title due to “personal reasons.” Apparently he had a family emergency and had to fly back home to Georgia. We certainly wish him and his family the best.
Source: Eurosport, 25th Jun 2007
Bruno Spengler claimed his first DTM win of the season at the Norisring, hauling himself back into championship contention. The 23-year-old Canadian led most of the race and assumed the top spot once all the pit-stops had shaken up the order. He maintained a narrow advantage over his AMG Mercedes team-mate Bernd Schnieder to take a well-deserved win. Spengler led away at the lights and built up an early two-second lead over Mika Hakkinen in another AMG. But the race turned towards the Canadian as he made his first pit-stop at exactly the same time the safety car was triggered for an accident that befell Vanina Ickx' Kolles Audi. The red light at the end of the pit-lane was lit momentarily after Spengler left the pit-lane, meaning he was able to get back out and resume a decent track position while the rest were forced to wait until the whole field had bunched up before pitting.
Source: Eurosport, 25th Jun 2007
Mat Jackson claimed a brilliant first British Touring Car win at Oulton Park, keeping his nose clean in the third race of the day while a first-corner accident eliminated most of the front-runners. The win for the 24-year-old driver's family-run Jackson Motorsport added to victories for Gordon Shedden and Colin Turkington in the earlier races, as title contenders Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jason Plato were forced to take a back seat for a change.
THIS WEEK
Tue, 26th Jun 2007 Copa America 2007: Group A - Venezuela v Bolivia, San Cristobal
Copa America 2007: Group A - Uruguay v Peru, Merida
Wed, 27th Jun 2007 Copa America 2007: Group B - Mexico v Brazil, Puerto Ordaz
Copa America 2007: Group B - Ecuador v Chile, Puerto Ordaz
Thu, 28th Jun 2007 Copa America 2007: Group C - USA v Argentina, Maracaibo
Copa America 2007: Group C - Paraguay v Colombia, Maracaibo
Sat, 30th Jun 2007 Masters Football: North West Masters
Copa America 2007: Group A - Bolivia v Uruguay, San Cristobal
Copa America 2007: Group A - Venezuela v Peru, San Cristobal
Sun, 1st Jul 2007 Copa America 2007: Group B - Mexico v Ecuador, Maturin
Copa America 2007: Group B - Brazil v Chile, Maturin
INFO BOX
Top 10 Emerging Mobile Markets
Source: Info IQ, 22nd Jun 2007
Developing countries account for over half of mobile subscriber growth worldwide, with the top 10 adding around 285 million new subscribers in 2006 alone. With the exception of the U.S., the world's top 10 mobile growth markets are all in countries considered to be "emerging" in Asia/Pacific, Africa, and Latin America.
With every 10% increase in mobile phone penetration, a country's GDP increases by 0.6%. India and China are ahead of the pack in terms of volume: India added more than 73 million new mobile customers, while China added close to 68 million new users. The next country on the list, Pakistan, added 29 million. The U.S. added 23 million subscribers last year, which would have put it in fifth place.
* India - India emerged as the hottest mobile market in the world in 2006, overtaking China. Indian mobile operators signed up 73.56 million new customers last year, a 97% increase, to reach 149.5 million in total. A growing middle class and the world's lowest mobile call rates (as little as US$0.02/min) combine to spark a booming demand for telecom services in a country with over 1.1 billion people and only 15% of the population have mobile phones, leaving huge room for growth.
* China - China remains the world's biggest wireless market, boasting 461.08 million mobile subscribers at the end of 2006. China saw a 17.2% increase in new mobile users last year, smaller than in previous years as its urban markets reach saturation, but that still represented an addition of 67.68 million subscriptions.
* Pakistan - In 2003, Pakistan had just 2.8 million mobile users. In 2006, it leapfrogged its way up the list with a 147% increase in subscribers to reach 45.21 million. The government awarded licenses to Norway's Telenor ASA and UAE’s Warid Telecom in 2004, taking the number of mobile operators in Pakistan to six. Wataniya Telecom is set to launch operations there later this year. With a young and mostly rural population and a growing economy, Pakistan provided a familiar environment for China Mobile Communications, which made its first acquisition outside China when it bought Paktel in January.
* Indonesia - The world's fourth most populated country, but with a lower tele-density than its neighbors, Indonesia is a key emerging market and has attracted investment from neighbouring countries in the region. The 10 operators added around 23 million subscribers last year. Mobile coverage is focused on the island of Java, although operators are expanding their networks, and four new entrants are preparing to launch services. Like most emerging markets, mobile growth in Indonesia took off with the introduction of prepaid services. According to the CDMA Development Group, Indonesia has one of the most advanced CDMA2000 markets in the world, providing prepaid voice and advanced data services.
* Bangladesh - Bangladesh saw the second highest percentage increase in new subscribers last year as its mobile users more than doubled to 21.76 million while subscriber base had been projected to hit 18 million. Deregulation and foreign investment have spurred growth in Bangladesh, attracting an influx of foreign investment. Warid Telecom International plans to launch the country's sixth operator in April. In 2005, the government introduced a controversial tax on SIM cards that slowed growth and sparked protests from operators. The tax was reduced in August 2006.
* Vietnam – Vietnam prioritized the development of its IT and telecom sectors as it prepared to enter the World Trade Organization, which paid off last year as the country added 10 million mobile users. Vietnam has exceeded the telecom targets it had set for 2010, and most operators expect to double their subscriber counts this year. Since regulations were relaxed in 2005, Vietnam has seen increased competition as the number of mobile operators has grown from four to seven.
SPORTS SHORTS
* Asia is set to best Europe in mobile television broadcasting as Europe struggles to find airwaves for broadcasts. But lack of consensus on business models and variety of technologies were holding back take-up of mobile TV. So far, DVB-H has been taken up globally, but Korea, Japan, US and China are embracing local technologies. However, spectrum availability is not a problem in many Asian countries and commercial DVB-H broadcasts have begun in India and Vietnam, with Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia set to open networks this year. Source: Telecom Asia, Advanced Television, 25th Jun 2007
* Stung by a backlash from its pay-TV price hike, Singapore’s StarHub is thinking of showing live EPL matches on broadband to PC and mobile phones when the season kicks off in August. StarHub holds exclusive broadcast rights to EPL matches for Singapore and currently screens match highlights to mobile phones for a monthly fee. According to plan, StarHub broadband and mobile subscribers could soon watch entire matches on PC and mobile phones respectively without subscription to StarHub's pay-TV package. The fee for the service has not been fixed. Source: Asia Media, 21st Jun 2007
* Nimbus Sport has tied up with television partners worldwide for global telecast of the Future Cup and the Future Friendship Cup. In UK and Europe, Zee TV will telecast the series. In the Middle East, viewers can catch the series via Ary Digital. In Pakistan it is on Ten Sports and PTV, Starhub in Singapore, Astro in Malaysia and Neo Sports in HongKong. In India, Nimbus has inked a 5 language, 6 channel broadcast deal. The same will be available on Neo Sports, SAB TV, Sun News, Gemini News, & Udaya Varthalugu. Source: Indian Television, 25th Jun 2007
* Interactive TV platform MHP is set to launch in Taiwan, the first deployment of the technology in Asia. DTT broadcaster Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV) has chosen a DVB-MHP set-top box from Zentek for its interactive services. TTV promises news, weather, traffic information and property and stock market news services. Zentek’s Asian arm is one of the technology partners for the TV2Go DVB-H trial in Singapore that Rapid TV News reported on last week. DTT launched in Taiwan in July 2004 and switch off is set for 2010. Source: Rapid TV News, 22nd Jun 2007
* Vietnam Datacommunications Company (VDC), a company within the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), will commence technical and commercial WiMAX trial in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The deployment of Motorola's wi4 WiMAX is expected to help VDC to reach a wider subscriber base, meet demand for broadband and roll out IP services like wireless VoIP. The year long trial is expected to begin in October 2007. Phase one will cover urban Hanoi and the second phase will cover urban Ho Chi Minh City. Source: Telecom Asia, 25th Jun 2007
* Hong Kong is the best place in Asia to get broadband Internet connection, says a survey by CommsDay. Hong Kong edged Singapore, Taipei, and Seoul in the inaugural survey of 28 Asian cities. Manila was ranked 19th, interestingly ahead of Bangalore and New Delhi. Hong Kong was given credit for healthy competition in its broadband market and sustainable liberalization policies. A feature of Hong Kong’s broadband landscape is the competition among access providers and the range of technologies that are available to consumers. Source: Telecom Asia, 25th Jun 2007
* Japan’s NHK has developed a system using real-time motion analysis and computer graphics (CG) which is used during broadcasts to visualise the movements of baseball pitches, golf shots, and soccer offside lines. The system has been in use by NHK in live sports broadcasts to visually describe plays by using CGs on top of pictures taken by the camera. NHK is also researching image analyses that extract, track, and identify objects in sports video to make it possible to do real-time extraction by using motion prediction techniques. Source: Indian Television, 21st Jun 2007
* Wireless internet services, currently available on Japan's Tsukuba Express, are slowly making their way onto other public train networks in Asia. Singapore’s MTR, which serves more than 2.4 million passengers daily, will be looking at providing commuters with onboard internet connection and, subsequently, the implementation of wireless video surveillance. Wireless LAN access points will be deployed in all 51 MTR subway stations by the end of the year. Singapore's public trains could also be equipped with Wi-Fi capabilities. Source: Ken Radio, 22nd Jun 2007
* Attendees at the CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum were warned that wireless broadband technologies pose a significant threat to the Asia Pacific satellite industry's C-band services, if not the entire industry itself. If regional administrations allocate C-band spectrum to WiMAX services, the impact of a "spectrum grab" from broadband wireless access (BWA) technologies could be disastrous. In addition to WiMAX, various 4G telephony initiatives are targeting the C-Band spectrum in meetings of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Source: Advanced Television, 22nd Jun 2007
* Bayern München and Real Madrid have jumped on the YouTube bandwagon. Bayern's own online portal FCB.tv went on air a year ago and the club is now expanding its video service to YouTube. The new service means Bayern joins Chelsea, FC Barcelona and AC Milan, who all have their own channels on YouTube. The site will show content originally broadcast on FCB.tv (interviews, features, etc.) and services are being offered at no charge. However, match footage from the UEFA Cup, 1.Bundesliga and DFB German Cup will remain exclusively on the FCB.tv service. Source: PA Sport, 22nd Jun 2007
* Four English clubs are among the eight seeds for next season’s Uefa Champions League. Liverpool, the beaten finalists in the 2006-07 competition, are the highest ranked Premier League club, behind champions AC Milan and Barcelona, winners in the previous season. Other English seeds are Arsenal (5th), Chelsea (7th) and Manchester United (8th) and they are joined by Real Madrid (6th). The draw for the qualifying rounds will take place on June 29. Moscow will stage the final next May. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Jun 2007
* BskyB chairman, Rupert Murdoch, warned of "disaster" if Premiership football clubs were able to sell TV rights individually. Sky built its subscriber base over the past 15 years on the back of showing live football. "We'd end up having to pay a lot of money for, say, the six best teams, and the other teams would have no money." Sky has had live rights to the Premiership since 1992 and paid £1.31bn last year to retain rights through to 2010. The Premier League sells the rights collectively and all 20 of the division's clubs are guaranteed a certain amount of TV exposure. Source: Advanced Television, 22nd Jun 2007
MORE NEWS
Asia/New Media: Content Variety Crucial for Mobile TV
Every operator is trying to figure out how mobile phone consumers consume TV. At the Mobile TV Forum at BroadcastAsia, TU Media laid out some interesting findings that were done in Korea which contradict common perceptions. Here is perhaps the most surprising statistic for those who believe that mobile TV is for the youth; 30% of mobile TV subscribers are above 40. The age group under 20 is less than 10%.
In door is as important as out door in terms of mobile TV usage. People use it at home and in the office. There is no concept of primetime during the day. It happens at any hour. The assumption has always been that the commuting time will be primetime. Also the running time of content is not very important. Subscribers request variety of content.
Korea’s T-DMB is a terrestrial free service with seven video and 11 audio channels. S-DMB is a satellite pay service nation-wide with 15 video and 20 audio channels. It is forecast that there will be 21 million DMB users in 2012 in the country. TU Media says that it is the sole S-DMB Operator in Korea with more than one million subscribers. It operates its own Mobile TV network.
It cooperates with all three mobile carriers in Korea. There is a consortium of major companies in S-DMB Value Chain. SK Telecom is the largest shareholder. EchoStar, Samsung, LG and Broadcasters are shareholders. In terms of its revenue model, the monthly fee is a major source. Ads, content distribution and technology distribution are a second source. TU Media’s price strategy has aimed to be affordable to the mass: $11 a month. The firm offers 15 video channels in different genres including sports, news, drama. Source: Indian Television, ZD Net Asia, 22nd Jun 2007
Asia/New Media: Clube Dos 13 Branches Out To Asia
Clube dos 13, which represents 20 major football clubs in Brazil, has commissioned Green Dot Internet Services to launch an e-commerce portal for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets. GreenDot is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Computer Systems Limited (SCS), a leading information and communications technology service provider in Asia, and has been commissioned to create, manage, host and upgrade the interactive portal.
The portal (www.clube13.com.sg) will showcase an interactive, world-class site in several languages, including English, Arabic, Mandarin and Japanese, and extending to other Asian languages in the future. In addition to news and information about Clube dos 13 and the 20 football clubs it represents, viewers will have access to Brazilian football statistics, photo and video galleries containing highlights of Brazilian championship matches. There will also be an e-commerce facility with multiple e-payment options to enable purchases of football memorabilia online. Source: PA Sport, 22nd Jun 2007
Elsewhere/Rights: Italian Parliament Approves Central Rights Selling from 2010
A bill to re-introduce the central selling of media rights for Italian soccer’s top two divisions from the 2010-11 season onwards has been approved by the Italian parliament. The bill also includes a restructuring of broadcast revenue distribution among the 42 teams and paves the way for the league to resume distribution of the rights centrally and annulling the 1999 lege d’Alema law that allowed the clubs the right to negotiate their own broadcast contracts.
The proposed law is intended to restore competitive balance to the league after a period in which 80% of the annual value of the rights for top-tier Serie A soccer has been controlled by the big five clubs: Juventus, AC Milan, Internazionale, AS Roma and Lazio. The 2010 date for the return to central rights selling is crucial as it represents a concession from the Italian government, which had proposed implementation of the new regulations from next season, despite the array of deals signed by clubs with broadcasters and agencies until 2010.
Some clubs have voiced their opposition against the parliament’s decision, arguing that if the majority of the clubs from the top two divisions vote to uphold individual selling, then a law could not oppose a commercial decision taken by a private consortium of private companies. The clubs also plan to take this argument up with the European Union, it is understood.
A new distribution model for the top two leagues has also been approved, with 50% of media revenues split evenly between all 42 clubs from the top two divisions, and remaining 50% being handed out based on performance and attendances. The bill also rules that new broadcasting contracts should not exceed three years, while broadcasters will be prevented from buying rights ‘if it does not aim to exploit them but only to re-sell them,’ according to the Italian press. Broadcasters would also have to make the rights available at a ‘fair price’ should they not exploit the rights acquired.
In recent years, three domestic broadcasters have been waging competitive campaigns to sign up the top clubs in individually-negotiated deals. Mediaset, the commercial broadcaster, holds the digital terrestrial rights of Juventus, AC Milan, Internazionale, Lazio and Roma, among others, until the end of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Satellite rights for many top clubs are held by Sky Italia in deals that also expire after the 2008-09 season. Meanwhile, another commercial broadcaster La7 holds the digital terrestrial rights to some of the smaller Serie A clubs.
The international rights for Serie A clubs are split between two agency groupings: Media Partners & Silva and a joint venture between RAI Trade, the rights distribution arm of the Italian public-service broadcaster, and Sportfive, the international sports agency. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Jun 2007
Elsewhere/General: Fifa Wastes No Time in Affirming Visa Deal after Settlement
Fifa is set to implement a new eight-year sponsorship contract with credit card company Visa immediately after settling a legal dispute with former partner MasterCard. MasterCard had gone to court after Fifa broke off negotiations over a new contract covering its competitions from 2007 to 2014 and agreed an alternative deal with Visa.
A sponsor of the last four World Cups, MasterCard claimed that Fifa ignored the firm’s right of first refusal over a new sponsorship contract, but it has now agreed to drop the action and sever links with the federation in return for $90 million in compensation. The figure covers costs, the annulment of the contested right of first refusal and a settlement of a marketing dispute between MasterCard and Fifa over the company’s two hemispheres logo.
The deal agreed with Visa in April 2006 was worth $180 million, plus $15 million in so-called ‘marketing-in-kind’ benefits, and will see the credit card company become a top-tier sponsor alongside German sportswear firm Adidas, Korean car manufacturer Hyundai, Japanese electronics corporation Sony, soft drinks giant Coca-Cola and Dubai-based airline Emirates. MasterCard general counsel Noah Hanft professed himself satisfied with the settlement. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Jun 2007
Friday, 22nd June 2007
HEADLINES OF THE DAY
Fifa Pays $90m to Shake off Mastercard and Embrace Visa
Fifa, soccer’s world governing body today freed itself to resume its controversial sponsorship deal with credit card company Visa by reaching agreement for an out-of-court settlement with Visa’s rival Mastercard. The settlement comes at a high cost, however. Fifa will pay $90 million in compensation to Mastercard, nearly half the value of the sponsorship deal it agreed with Visa.
MasterCard took legal action against Fifa for breaking off negotiations with the company over a new sponsorship contract covering its competitions from 2007 to 2014 and agreeing an alternative deal with Visa, worth $180 million, plus $15 million in so-called ‘marketing-in-kind’ benefits. The deal was worth only marginally more than Mastercard had indicated it was willing to pay.
The settlement comes the week before a Fifa executive committee meeting at which a major restructuring of the organisation is due to be finalised. Last week it emerged that Jérôme Valcke, the former head of Fifa Marketing and TV who was one of four top officials ‘dismissed’ by Fifa in December last year for their part in the controversial sponsorship deal with Visa, has been working with Fifa president Sepp Blatter on the restructuring.
Despite Fifa’s claim to have dismissed Valcke and three of his colleagues after a New York court found that they ‘lied repeatedly,’ both to Visa and MasterCard, it emerged that Valcke was only suspended, not sacked, and could even return to the organisation in a new role as a result of the restructuring in which he is directly involved. Fifa announced the ‘dismissals’ the week after the court ruled that it must ditch its lucrative deal with Visa and instead proceed with a deal with MasterCard that had been provisionally agreed. Source: Sportcal, 21st Jun 2007
THIS WEEK
Sat, 23rd Jun 2007
Masters Football: Yorkshire Masters
Sun, 24th Jun 2007
WWE Monthly Special: Vengeance, Houston, Texas
DTM 2007: Race Day, Norisring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day, Oulton Park, UK
SPORTS SHORTS
* Personal physician to Diego Maradona told media on Tuesday that Argentine star is "better than ever mentally" and said the former player had made a tremendous effort to recover from alcoholism. Maradona will travel to Venezuela to give the first kickoff in the Copa America. He said that Maradona plays tennis daily, and when the time permits he will return to indoor football, a variant of soccer known as showbol in Latin America. Source: Vietnam Net, 20th Jun 2007
* South-East Asian countries are aiming to define guidelines and encourage adoption of digital television in the region by 2008. Spearheaded by Singapore and Brunei, the ASEAN Digital Broadcasting Cooperative Initiative is seeking to pave the way for over 540 million people in the region to enjoy sharper picture and sound quality of digital TV. When the 10-member countries would do away with analogue broadcasts has not yet been decided, but officials said ongoing discussions would provide clearer indication on when to make the switch. Source: Earth Times, 21st Jun 2007
* ESPN has announced a restructuring of its content division aimed at adapting the company’s organization in light of a changing media landscape. It will launch a division focused on content development that travels across multiple media platforms. That group will essentially replace ESPN Original Entertainment, as the company now looks to produce content for platforms in addition to TV, including print, radio, mobile and the Web. Keith Clinkscales has been appointed Senior VP, content development & enterprises. Source: Mediaweek, Mediapost, B&C, 21st Jun 2007
* USA Network green-lighted a companion to its WWE wrestling fare - a reality show hosted by Steve-O in a Queer Eye-inspired makeover series which will see him "de-wussify" wimpy guys by making them perform his trademark crazy stunts. The show will run weekly on Mondays at 11 p.m., directly following USA's WWE Monday Night Raw. USA has been looking for a companion for Raw, which regularly ranks as the most-viewed weekly cable program, for several years. Source: Broadcasting & Cable, 21st Jun 2007
* Premium TV has agreed a 3-year deal to manage internet and mobile production for the English Premier League. PTV will produce near-live mobile match clips, match highlights, preview and round-up programmes. For broadband, it will produce highlights and round-ups. The clips will be distributed to the EPL’s international rights holders. The same delays apply as those imposed on club sites: clips of Saturday matches can be shown from the first minute of Monday, while other matches can be shown from the first minute of the following day they are played. Source: Sportcal, 21st Jun 2007
* Yahoo has acquired leading college sports website Rivals.com. The acquisition expands Yahoo's exposure to over 2.5 million fans of high school and college football and basketball and will boost Yahoo's presence in US sports. The site has over 180,000 subscribers and its revenue comes from e-commerce, subscribers and advertising. The acquisition boosts Yahoo's presence in sporting area, with Yahoo Sports attracting over 15 million visitors monthly, more than ESPN's 12.7 million. Source: Earth Times, NY Times, Mediaweek, Brand Republic, 21st Jun 2007
* Manchester City has today backed a takeover bid of £81.6 million ($162.7 million) from former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The telecoms billionaire is proceeding with an offer despite facing corruption charges in his home country. The offer comprises £0.40 in cash for each share, valuing the existing issued share capital of the club at £21.6 million plus net debt of approximately £60 million. There is speculation that Sven-Goran Eriksson will come in as team manager if the takeover goes ahead. Source: Sportcal, Channel News Asia, 21st Jun 2007
* Some of UK’s top tennis players will join former Wimbledon champs Goran Ivanisevic and Pat Cash in Turbo Tennis, a short-form knockout competition at London’s O2 Arena later this year. Six players will compete in 30-min matches in which there will be no lets and deuce is replaced by a single deciding point. The winner is whoever is in front at the end of the timed period. Andy Murray will be joined by his brother Jamie, Tim Henman and James Blake. The one-day event takes place on September 15. Source: Sportcal, 21st Jun 2007
* Six international golf tournaments taking place before the end of 2007 will form the early part of the European Tour’s 2008 schedule, beginning with the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, from Nov 8 to 11. The $5-million event will be jointly sanctioned by the European Tour, the Asian Tour, the PGA Tour of Australia and the China Open. Other early events in the schedule are due to take place in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa (two events), concluding with the South African Airways Open in Cape Town, South Africa. Source: Sportcal, 21st Jun 2007
* The Gold Coast Airport Marathon has broken last year’s record of 13,814 entries and the event will be beamed to an audience of up to 40 million people in Japan thanks to a landmark broadcast deal. The marketing campaign secured a dedicated television program to be shown on the TBS in Japan in a prime afternoon slot on Sunday, July 15. The program is produced by Kyodo Television. The Gold Coast Airport Marathon has a sister marathon relationship with the Senshu International Marathon which is held in Osaka each February. Source: Sports e-Media, 21st Jun 2007
* The Olympic future of cycling is secure despite massive doping problems, IOC president Jacques Rogge said. Rogge said the sport's governing body UCI can not be held responsible for doping offences of riders and that the UCI was doing its best to restore credibility in the sport. Cycling has been battered by doping over the past years. Rogge said that the IOC will highlight its zero tolerance policy against doping by further raising the number of doping tests from 3,700 in Athens 2004 to 4,500 next year in Beijing and 5,000 in London 2012. Source: Earth Times, 21st Jun 2007
MORE NEWS
WWE: New Broadcast Deals in Central, Eastern Europe
WWE has secured new deals with free and pay-TV broadcasters in Poland, Serbia, Greece and Turkey, totaling 196 hours of original programming to these four new markets. In Poland, WWE Raw will be broadcast on Extreme Sports Channel, a cable channel wholly owned by Liberty Global Europe. Extreme Sports Channel is available on digital cable as well as on many digital satellite services, airing in more than 50 territories and in 12 languages.
In Greece, Multichoice Hellas will broadcast WWE Raw on Supersport, terrestrially and via satellite on Nova, a DTH satellite service owned and operated by Multichoice Hellas. WWE Raw will launch in Serbia on Fox Televizija, and Digiturk, a DTH operator, will broadcast WWE Raw on S’NEK in Turkey.
“These television deals are milestones in the roll-out of WWE programming in Eastern and Southern Europe; it’s a direct response by program buyers who have seen the strong commercial potential of WWE throughout Europe,” said Andrew Whitaker, the deputy chief executive for international TV at WWE. “We appreciate the buyers’ confidence and are certain that our branded products will deliver the anticipated advertising, subscription and viewing results.” Source: Worldscreen, 21st Jun 2007
India/Broadcaster/New Media: Nimbus Launches Online Platform for Cricket
Nimbus is launching a new website which will offer live coverage of top international matches. The site – www.nimbuscricket.com – is going online in time for the ‘Summer Series’ of one-day internationals in Northern Ireland and Scotland, which begins Saturday. There will be live coverage of matches between India and Ireland, South Africa and Ireland, the three-match Future Cup series between India and South Africa, all of which take place in Belfast, and the Future Friendship Cup match between India and Pakistan in Glasgow.
Nimbus, which shows India’s matches on Neo Sports, already has distribution deals for the ‘Summer Series’ with five domestic broadcasters including state-owned Doordarshan, but is said to be struggling to attract advertisers. Nimbus stepped in to cover the matches after Zee Telefilms pulled out of its five-year, $219-million deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to show matches played at neutral venues. It already holds the rights to India's home matches until March 2010. Source: Sportcal, 21st Jun 2007
Global/General: Rosy forecast for HDTV by DTH
According to IMS Research, high-definition take-up will grow worldwide to some 148 million homes by 2011, with almost 41% receiving HD transmissions from satellite. IMS’ latest study, The Future of High-Definition TV - 2007 Edition, says growth in satellite-delivered HDTV over the next four years will be driven by US and European subscribers. IMS says that in Europe, slow deployment of digital cable opens opportunities for satellite to be the more common method of receiving pay-HDTV.
"Europe is expected to surpass the Asia Pacific region by the end of 2011 to become the second-largest HDTV market in the world behind the Americas," said Paul Erickson, market analyst at IMS Research. "Much of this growth will be fuelled by reduced MPEG-4 AVC set-top box costs for both operators and consumers, higher availability of local HD content, more competitive pricing for HD services, the growing popularity of flat-screen TVs, and sports-driven demand for HDTV." Source: Rapid TV News, Advanced Television, 21st Jun 2007
Global/General: Entertainment, Media Industry to Hit $2 Trillion in 2011
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the global entertainment and media industry will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4% to $2 trillion in 2011, with the Internet, TV platforms and video games as the fastest-growing sectors, and Brazil, Russia, India and China as key markets for rapid growth.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2007-2011 predicts double-digit growth for digital and mobile spending during the next five years, rising to $153 billion by 2011. Furthermore, the spending on the distribution of entertainment and media on convergent platforms will exceed 50% of global spending by 2011.
Within the next five years, nearly half of the total industry growth is expected to be generated through online and wireless technologies and, during the same period, broadband households will grow by 300 million to 540 million subscribers and wireless subscribers will increase by 1.1 billion to 3.4 billion. Global advertising will increase at a 5.4 % CAGR to $531 billion in 2011 from $407 billion in 2006. The Internet will remain the fastest growing advertising medium, with a projected 18.3% CAGR to $73 billion in 2011, comprising 14 % of the global advertising market.
Spending on convergent platforms will grow faster than other platforms and will account for 72 % of the total entertainment and media growth during the next five years. Asia Pacific will be the fastest growing convergent platform region, with a projected 13.5 % increase. Double-digit growth is expected in Latin America.
Economic expansion and a surging entertainment and media market are driving significant growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). Led by India and China, E&M spending in BRIC will increase by a 14.7% CAGR to $251.5 billion in 2011, accounting for 24% of global E&M growth during the next five years. In Asia Pacific, spending on distribution of TV programming on mobile phones is expected to reach $6.5 billion in 2011 from just $26 million in 2006.
Led by Saudi Arabia/Pan Arab and South Africa, Middle East/Africa will continue grow, averaging 8.5 % CAGR during the forecast period. TV distribution, Internet advertising and access spending and video games will be the fastest growth segments. Asia Pacific will remain the fastest-growing region. Spending in Asia Pacific will average 9.6 % annual growth, increasing from $297 billion in 2006 to $470 billion in 2011. India will be the fastest growing during the next five years at 18.5 % CAGR, followed by China with a 16.8 % CAGR. Latin America's E&M market, the second fastest-growing region, is projected to rise at an 8.9 % CAGR to $68 billion in 2011. Canada is projected to expand at a 5.6 % CAGR to $47 billion in 2011.
The global Internet market rose 21.8 %, the fastest-growing segment in 2006. Advertising rose 37.9 % and access spending increased 18.8 %. Globally, Internet advertising and access spending is expected to grow from $177 billion in 2006 to $332 billion in 2011. The global television distribution market, the second fastest-growing segment, increased by 9.4 % in 2006, an improvement compared with the 6.5 % increase in 2005.
Aggressive rollout of Internet protocol television from telephone companies is stimulating competition and fueling subscriber growth. Globally, the television distribution market will increase from $161 billion in 2006 to $251 billion in 2011.
The TV network market rose 6.2 % in 2006. Globally, spending will increase from $172 billion in 2006 to $228 billion in 2011. Sports increased 12 %. Spending in the sports segment is expected to increase from $96 billion in 2006 to $124 billion in 2011. Filmed entertainment rebounded in 2006 with a 2.9 % advance following a 2.6 % decline in 2005. Globally, filmed entertainment spending will rise from $81 billion in 2006 to $103 billion in 2011. Source: Worldscreen, Reuters, 21st Jun 2007