Monday, 18th June 2007

HEADLINE OF THE DAY

At the Sudirman Cup in Glasgow

Source: Channel News Asia, 18th Jun 2007
China lifted the Sudirman Cup for a record sixth time on Sunday after a 3-0 win over Indonesia in the final of the 10th World Team Championships. The result was a repeat of the 3-0 victory over Indonesia when the championships were last played in Beijing in 2005. With China winning the first three games to put the match beyond doubt, it meant that the women's doubles and men's singles did not need to be played. The disappointment was that the crowd and worldwide television audience were denied the chance of a contest between China's world champion Lin Dan and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat.

Source: China Daily, Badzine Info, 16th Jun 2007
The BWF formally unveiled its new logo at the Sudirman Cup world mixed team badminton championship in Glasgow on Friday. The new logo, shaped like a racquet head which also signifies a globe, came after the general meeting in Madrid last year, whic h approved the name change to Badminton World Federation. The new logo represents badminton's wide and growing appeal with 163 members and the swoosh in the logo also signifies the dynamic nature of the sports. The 3-month logo design competition prompted 1,669 entries and Aboeb Luthfy of Indonesia finally earned the honour of providing the BWF with its new visual trademark as well as a US$ 5,000 prize. Entries were received from 57 countries but almost 50 percent came from just Malaysia and Indonesia.

Source: Reuters, 18th Jun 2007
Changes need to be made to the draw system for the next Sudirman Cup after a major embarrassment on the final day, championship director Anne Smillie has acknowledged. Spectators and TV stations globally were robbed on Sunday of a much anticipated clash between Chinese world number one Lin Dan and Indonesia's Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat. Saturday night's draw for the order of play had unfortunately put Lin and Hidayat last of the five matches but such is the dominance of the Chinese the final was always highly unlikely to go to a fifth match. However, Smillie defended referee Keith Hawthorne, explaining: "In the latter stages of the tournament the draw is out of a hat for matches one to five and that is what happened.

Source: People’s Daily Online, 18th Jun 2007
The Sudirman Cup order of play issue became fuse for Chinese head coach Li Yongbo to vent his anger to the badminton world governing body BWF on Sunday. For the first time in the badminton history, the order of play had been decided by draw since the semifinals of the Cup. And it became even more controversial when tournament officials were trying to change the drawn order hours before the kickoff of Sunday's final between China and Indonesia, which was refused by Li. "This is absurd. I believe it hardly happens in other sports to decide the play order in such a casual way," Li told a press conference after China beat Indonesia 3-0 in the final for their sixth title in the biennial event.

OTHER RESULTS

Source: AP on The Honolulu Advertiser, 18th Jun 2007
Punahou graduates Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger beat Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers 21-19, 21-15 in the men's final of the AVP Crocs Tour event today at the Charleston (S.C.) Open for their second title of the year. In the women's final, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their eighth consecutive event, beating Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs 21-13, 21-12.

Source: BBC Sports, 18th Jun 2007
Troy Bayliss cut James Toseland's lead at the top of the World Superbikes Championship to 21 points after securing two victories in San Marino. Toseland finished in fourth and sixth place, struggling to come to terms with the pace of the front runners. Race one saw Max Biaggi collide with Nori Haga as Bayliss finished ahead of Australian compatriot Troy Corser. And Bayliss led from start to finish in race two, with Haga taking second place and Biaggi in third. The Ducati Xerox rider was delighted to have won both races at the Misano track, the closest circuit to his team's Bologna headquarters.


THIS WEEK’S EVENTS

Wed, 20th Jun 2007 Copa Libertadores: Finals Leg 2 - Grêmio (BRA) v Boca Juniors (ARG)
Sat, 23rd Jun 2007 Masters Football: Yorkshire Masters
Sun, 24th Jun 2007 WWE Monthly Special: Vengeance, Houston, Texas
Sun, 24th Jun 2007 DTM 2007: Race Day, Norisring, Germany
Sun, 24th Jun 2007 BTCC 2007: Race Day, Oulton Park, UK


INFO BOX

Wireless Statistics
Source: Info IQ, 14th Jun 2007

* 132,000 hotspots worldwide in 2006
* 179,500 Wi-Fi hotspots globally by the end of 2007
* 31.43 million WiMAX subscribers in Asia-Pacific
* 8.39 million WiMAX users in China in 2011
* 90% of all wireless broadband to be WiMAX by 2012
* Bluetooth shipments to grow 47% in 2007
* Mobile content platforms to generate $7.1 billion by 2010
* Mobile WiMAX to connect 8% of global broadband subscribers in 2012


SPORTS SHORTS

* The threat of a Copa America boycott appears to have been lifted after South America’s football federations united to reject a ban on matches being played at high altitude. CONMEBOL agreed to call on FIFA to suspend the ban, which would affect several countries and clubs in the Americas. Fifa initially banned games from being played above 2,500 metres although CONMEBOL officials say this has been risen to 3,000 metres, and such a ban would still exclude games being played in Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, and the Peruvian city of Cusco. Source: Copa America 07 Blog, 16th Jun 2007

* Ronaldinho has admitted he has let Barcelona down this season - because he hasn't been fit enough. The Brazilian has failed to live up to his superstar reputation, and Barca look like they will end the season without a trophy. Now Ronaldinho, 27, who has opted out of this summer's Copa America, says he is determined to get back to his best. He said: "I want to make sure that I'm physically fit so that I can play more comfortably. I will be like I was before. I haven't been in good shape this season.” Source: The Mirror UK, 15th Jun 2007

* Mobile TV is just one component of UAE’s Etisalat's recently-launched Weyak portal, which has covered the FIFA World Cup 2006, the GCC Football Academy, the ESPN X Games, the 18th Arabian Gulf Cup and the English Premier League. Etisalat sees huge revenue potential in its mobile TV service. With more people in the UAE spending time on the road, the mobile phone is the next best way to ensure that users don't miss the action. Weyak currently has 12 TV channels in news, sports and business for its mobile TV users. Source: ITP.net, 15th Jun 2007

* Bayern Munich will offer a 5-match package of broadcast rights for their home matches in next season’s Uefa Cup. Bayern hope to net around €10 million ($13.3 million) from selling the club’s home games in the Uefa Cup before the quarter-final stage, when the broadcast rights are sold centrally. Bayern could generate €25 million if they lift the Uefa Cup next season, less than the €30 million they generated from reaching the quarter-finals of the 2006-07 Champions League. 2007-08 is the first time in 11 years that Bayern will not taken part in the Champions League, a competition they won in 2001. Source: Sportcal, 15th Jun 2007

* Eurosport said that it plans to broadcast live coverage from Guatemala of the International Olympic Committee’s vote on July 4 to select a host city for the winter Olympic Games in 2014. Eurosport plans to show coverage of the final presentations of each of the three candidate cities – PyeongChang in South Korea, Salzburg in Austria and Sochi in Russia – followed by the announcement of the result of the vote. This is scheduled for 5pm, Guatemala time, the equivalent of 1am on July 5 across much of Europe. Source: Sportcal, 15th Jun 2007

* FINA, swimming’s world governing body, has extended its contract with Dentsu, the Japanese advertising giant, until 2013, under the same terms as the present deal. Dentsu is responsible for distribution of FINA’s international television, broadband and marketing rights. The deal included this year’s swimming world championships in Melbourne, Australia. Source: Sportcal, 15th Jun 2007

* Barcelona will play South African league champions, the Mamelodi Sundowns, in a friendly next week. Barca will travel to South Africa after their final league game on Sunday for the fixture at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria next Wednesday. It is reported that Barcelona will receive an appearance fee of almost $2 million from the match, which is being bankrolled by Sundowns president Patrice Motsepe. Source: Sportcal, 15th Jun 2007

* Major League Baseball argued in a US appeals court that online fantasy games companies cannot be allowed to operate without paying license fees to MLB to compensate players for the use of their names. MLB argues that online fantasy games exploit players by turning them into game pieces and using their names to draw customers. The fantasy league industry generates over $1.5 billion annually from millions of players. Media companies like Yahoo, ESPN and CBS pay MLB millions in annual fees to operate online fantasy leagues. Source: Sport Business, 15th Jun 2007

* Sony Ericsson WTA Tour said that Bangalore, India; Doha, Qatar; Istanbul, Turkey; and Monterrey, Mexico have been selected as the finalist bid cities to host the 2008 Sony Ericsson Championships. The Championships, which features the top eight singles players and top four doubles teams, has become one of the most coveted sporting events in the world, which as part of the Tour’s strategy has been showcased in different key markets around the globe in world class venues. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 15th Jun 2007

* The former president and the suspended general secretary of the AIBA, the international boxing federation, have been expelled for life over alleged financial irregularities, after the AIBA’s executive committee accepted a recommendation by its ethics commission. The motion made specific reference to former president Anwar Chowdry and suspended general secretary Caner Doganeli as being among those who ‘should be declared ineligible, for life, for any offices, function or mission of any kind with AIBA.’ Source: Sportcal, 15th Jun 2007


MORE NEWS

India/Broadcaster: India to Sign Global Pact Against TV Signal Theft

In a bold move that will help broadcasters like Star TV, Zee TV and ESPN-Star Sports prevent signal thefts, the government has agreed to certain parts of an international treaty aimed at protecting signal rights of broadcasting companies. The government has agreed to accede to the protection of broadcasting and cable casting signals while opposing to include web casting, simulcasting and IPTV in the international broadcasting treaty being devised under the aegis of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), of which India is a signatory.

A delegation from India is expected to clarify its stand during discussions, to be held in Geneva between June 18 and 22. Globally, satellite signal thefts are estimated at about $2 billion (Rs 8,200 crore) annually. Although no ready figures for signal piracy in India are available, industry sources say it is growing at round 12% annually.

“General entertainment channels get only 35% of the revenue that they should actually get due to piracy and under-declaration by cable-operators,” says an official, in condition of anonymity, of a leading broadcasting company.

The current size of the broadcast industry is pegged at Rs 19,100 crore per annum, as per a latest Ficci-PwC study, whereas cable distribution business is estimated at Rs 55,000 crore per annum by the cable operators federation of India (COFI). While favouring protection of signals for broadcasters and cable-casters, India has strongly opposed the inclusion of web casting in the treaty fearing that it could slow down the growth of Internet in the country.

Industry experts said while the treaty would be an important development, piracy and theft of signals has to be clearly defined. The treaty should not be misused to create monopoly, especially by the broadcasters. As per the Indian government’s up linking guidelines, signals can only be down-linked at the permitted teleport of the licensee and up-linked for broadcasting through permitted satellite through that teleport only. Source: Financial Express India, 16th Jun 2007

India/Broadcaster: India to Sign Global Pact Against TV Signal Theft

In a bold move that will help broadcasters like Star TV, Zee TV and ESPN-Star Sports prevent signal thefts, the government has agreed to certain parts of an international treaty aimed at protecting signal rights of broadcasting companies. The government has agreed to accede to the protection of broadcasting and cable casting signals while opposing to include web casting, simulcasting and IPTV in the international broadcasting treaty being devised under the aegis of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), of which India is a signatory.

A delegation from India is expected to clarify its stand during discussions, to be held in Geneva between June 18 and 22. Globally, satellite signal thefts are estimated at about $2 billion (Rs 8,200 crore) annually. Although no ready figures for signal piracy in India are available, industry sources say it is growing at round 12% annually.

“General entertainment channels get only 35% of the revenue that they should actually get due to piracy and under-declaration by cable-operators,” says an official, in condition of anonymity, of a leading broadcasting company.

The current size of the broadcast industry is pegged at Rs 19,100 crore per annum, as per a latest Ficci-PwC study, whereas cable distribution business is estimated at Rs 55,000 crore per annum by the cable operators federation of India (COFI). While favouring protection of signals for broadcasters and cable-casters, India has strongly opposed the inclusion of web casting in the treaty fearing that it could slow down the growth of Internet in the country.

Industry experts said while the treaty would be an important development, piracy and theft of signals has to be clearly defined. The treaty should not be misused to create monopoly, especially by the broadcasters. As per the Indian government’s up linking guidelines, signals can only be down-linked at the permitted teleport of the licensee and up-linked for broadcasting through permitted satellite through that teleport only. Source: Financial Express India, 16th Jun 2007

Global/Rights: Latest IOC Award Increases Beijing New Media Coverage

Internet and mobile broadcast rights for next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing have been awarded in Chinese Taipei to ELTA, the privately-owned digital media company. The award by the International Olympic Committee is the latest in a series involving internet and mobile rights, with the IOC predicting that the Beijing games will be seen in over 100 territories live over the internet and delayed via mobile phones (see table below).

ELTA has acquired rights to show live Olympic footage over the internet and to show highlights clips on mobile phones. Television rights had earlier been awarded to CTBP, a pool consisting of Chinese Taipei’s four main broadcasters. The IOC has recently launched tenders for internet and mobile phone rights in several territories, including China and Hong Kong, China.

The table of confirmed Beijing Olympic new media deals below is expected to grow as broadcasters that have acquired new media rights as part of their broadcasting deals make clear their plans for exploiting them. Source: Sportcal, 15th Jun 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: ARD and ZDF to Win Exclusive Euro 2008 Rights After All?

Conflicting media reports about the allocation of German broadcast rights for Euro 2008 continue to surface, with a report today claiming that public broadcaters ARD and ZDF, are to sign an exclusive deal for the rights. Stern.de, the German news website, reported that ARD and ZDF will pay €122 million ($163 million) for exclusivity to all 31 games after months of negotiation between SportA, the broadcasters’ acquisitions agency, and Sportfive.

Earlier this week it had been reported that RTL, the German commercial broadcaster, had been asked to pay €35 million by Sportfive for an eight-game package to Euro 2008, with the remaining 20 games to go to ARD and ZDF for €105 million. The eight-game package on offer to RTL was believed to include the opening match and one match involving Germany, but Stern reports that RTL has now been ruled out of the race.

Sportfive was originally said to be targeting between €150 million and €160 million from the German market but it has appeared increasingly likely that it would not hit its target after lengthy negotiation with SportA failed to secure a deal for all 31 games. A €122-million contract with ARD and ZDF for all 31 games at Euro 2008 would equate to €3.94 million a match, exceeding the €3.75 million a game that the broadcasters paid to show 48 out of the 64 matches at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

A lack of exclusivity on offer to pay-television operators has dampened the bidding war that Sportfive had hoped for in order to reach its initial target for the German market , with Premiere, the cable and satellite broadcaster, having ruled itself out of the auction. Source: Sportcal, 15th Jun 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Major Spat over Award of South African Soccer Rights

South African pay-television broadcaster, SuperSport, is claiming that it has secured the rights to the country’s top-tier Premier Soccer League for the next five seasons although this is being disputed by public-service rival SABC and the deal has been criticised throughout the country because of fears that the average fan will be deprived of coverage.

Following protracted negotiations, Irvin Khoza, the chairman of the PSL, announced yesterday that the rights from the start of the 2007-08 season had been awarded to SuperSport in an agreement worth an estimated R300 million ($42 million) per year. However, Dali Mpofu, the group chief executive of SABC, which has televised the league for the past nine seasons, argues that the rights are the subject of an arbitration dispute between SABC and the PSL.

SuperSport has been sublicensing rights from SABC and said that, as specified by the PSL, it was prepared to make ‘a substantial proportion of local soccer’ available to SABC and/or privately-owned free-to-air channel e.tv, but no further details on shared coverage were forthcoming. While admitting that the deal was worth more than R1 billion, PSL chief operating officer Ronnie Schloss said that SABC had not even yet submitted a bid for the rights.

There are concerns that the deal with SuperSport could result in most of South Africa’s 45 million people being unable to watch top-flight soccer in the run-up to the World Cup in the country in 2010. The Communication Workers Union said today that PSL managers ‘had lost touch with reality’ in allowing the rights to be picked up by a pay-television broadcaster which is only available in a small proportion of homes.

It added: ‘This confirms our view that South African soccer has been hijacked from the poor. The SABC has played a major role in building the PSL. We call on all parties to respect the arbitration process and allow sanity to prevail in the awarding of PSL broadcasting rights.’ Source: Sportcal, IOL South Africa, i-Africa.com, Super Sports SA, 15th Jun 2007

Singapore/Broadcaster: StarHub’s Non-sports Subscribers Aren't Subsiding Hike

DESPITE the rumblings from the ground, it seems cable TV subscribers have resigned themselves to the fact that they'll just have to grit their teeth and fork out the extra. The price increase has been hinted at for a while now. In February, StarHub chief executive Terry Clontz said the higher costs of buying the rights of English Premier League (EPL) football for 2007-2010 would have to be passed on to the customers.

In order to quash the competition that is ESPN Star Sports (ESS) and SingTel, StarHub reportedly bid about S$250 million to win the rights, four times more than ESS paid for the 2004-2007 three-season contract. Is that why sports fans - whether they watch football or not - will have to cough up $10 more a month from October?

A round sum of S$10 seems to be about as much as the sports subscriber can stomach. But The New Paper wanted to know if the non-sports subscriber is helping to foot the rest of the bill (via the S$4 increase per month for its basic group packages). Ee though, stressed that this is the first time since 1995 that StarHub had increased basic cable TV subscription prices. 'The S$4 increase in our basic pay-TV subscription fees from 11 July this year is a result of escalating costs in general.

Also increasing are StarHub's subscriber numbers and revenue. Currently, it has 490,000 home cable TV subscribers, up from 417,000 in March 2005. 'Revenue has increased with subscriber growth, but costs have escalated at a higher rate,' said Ee. Despite that, StarHub boasted double-digit growths across all its businesses in the fourth quarter of last year (cable TV grew by 19 per cent), posting net profits of S$141.7 million from October to December. It closed its financial year with a 63% increase in net profit to S$360.2 million. Source: The Electric New Paper Singapore, 18th Jun 2007

Meanwhile, the Media Development Authority (MDA) says that Starhub Cable Vision (SCV) was "not required" to seek their approval on its decision to raise subscription fees, the regulatory body said on Thursday in response to Today's queries. Nevertheless, MDA added: "StarHub is required to inform MDA of any changes to its published subscription rates and it did so." Under the existing media competition code, MDA does not regulate the pricing of media services. Source: Channel News Asia, 18th Jun 2007


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

Should Satellite TV be Allowed to the Singapore Public?
Full Article by Dawn Chia on Singapore’s The Electric New Paper, 16th Jun 2007

PRICE hikes never sit well with anyone. The recent announcement by StarHub to increase its subscription prices is no different. Subscribers have to pay an additional $4 or $10 a month, depending on the packages they subscribe to. Among other things, disgruntled subscribers are asking why alternatives like satellite TV cannot be considered.

Yesterday, a forum writer to The Straits Times asked whether the concern for regulation of content on satellite TV could be resolved with 'proper implementation of policy and the choice of a responsible service provider'. Mr Wong Wai Pong noted how his relatives in Malaysia paid for satellite TV only a fraction of the charges paid in Singapore. Mr Wong wrote: 'We will soon have the Formula 1 race and casinos, and we have ditched many stereotypes about Singapore in the last five years.

But is Singapore ready for satellite TV?

'There are currently no plans to introduce satellite TV as there are already many alternatives available in the market,' said the Media Development Authority. StarHub Cable Vision (SCV) is not the only pay TV operator in Singapore. There are other pay TV operators, such as:

# M2B World, who offers over 40 VOD (video-on-demand) channels of content,
# MediaCorp, who offers a wide range of VOD content over its MOBTV service.
# SingTel, who offers VOD content services and will be launching pay TV services via IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) soon.

To Mr Wong's point about the disparity between satellite TV being allowed at hotels but not to the general population, MDA said that this decision was to enable hotels 'to offer a competing range of entertainment choices befitting Singapore's aspirations to be a world-class tourism destination'.

The rise in SCV's subscription prices means sports fans will have to fork out $10 more, up from the current $15, to get their fix. Basic pay TV subscription will go up to $24 (from $20) from 11 July.

While satellite TV will provide consumers with more choices and keep prices competitive, Associate Professor Hao Xiaoming from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information warned of the sensitivity of content. Assoc Prof Hao, who is associate chair for research at the Division of Electronic and Broadcast Media, said: 'Careful consideration has to go into the approval of satellite TV because of different cultural contexts, political and racial issues.'