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