Wednesday, 11th July 2007

HEADLINE NEWS

Toro Rosso Takes Bullish Approach to Asia

Total Sports Asia was appointed as official sponsorship agent in Asia and the Middle East for the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One team. The region currently hosts Formula One races in China, Japan, Malaysia and Bahrain and there are races already on the horizon in Singapore, Korea and Abu Dhabi, and India. TSA has six offices across the region including all the current Formula One markets.

“At a time when the world of sports sponsorship is increasingly drawing interest from Asian brands, understanding their cultural issues, market needs and the business processes of the region are paramount in being able to bring together established and emerging Asian brands with the emerging Formula One team at Toro Rosso” said Marcus Luer, Chief Executive Officer of Total Sports Asia.

“We have spent many years building up our network and our experience, and now boast a team that not only understands the market, but that also operates in local language’s and has a track record of success in the area of sports marketing. In a team like Toro Rosso, we see many synergies, an Formula One team which is bringing together key experience with innovative ideas and a challenging approach amidst tough competition”

Commenting on the appointment Toro Rosso’s Team Principal, Franz Tost said: “It’s clear that any commercial strategy in sport must now consider strongly the influence and strength of the Asian and Middle Eastern markets and their respective brands. As a challenger team we require specialists in all areas of our operation, sponsorship and commercial partners are no exception. In Total Sports Asia we feel we have identified a partner with specialist experience in a key sector for our business”. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 10th Jul 2007


RESULTS

Copa America 2007: SF1 - Uruguay v Brazil, Maracaibo
Brazil 2 – 2 Uruguay (Brazil wins 6-5 on penalties)


THIS WEEK

Wed, 11th Jul 2007
Copa America 2007: SF2 - Argentina v Mexico, Puerto Ordaz

Sat, 14th Jul 2007
Masters Football: Scottish Masters

Sun, 15th Jul 2007
DTM 2007: Race Day, Mugello, Italy
BTCC 2007: Race Day, Donington Park, UK
Copa America 2007: Final – TBC


SPORTS SHORTS

* John Cena appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live, joined by past WWE wrestlers Chris Jericho, Steve Blackman, Ted Dibiase and Bret Hart to talk about the Chris Benoit they knew. Cena did note the WWE had brought in counselors to help employees with concerns they have had since the tragedy. When news broke of Benoit and his family's death before Monday Night RAW on June 25, Vince McMahon and the WWE made the decision to cancel the event. Cena called this decision "a great call." Nothing new was revealed during the one-hour show but allowing Cena, the company’s largest draw, on the show, showed the WWE was not trying to hide from the media. Source: Canoe Slam Sports, 10th Jul 2007

* Real Madrid announced the signing of central defender Pepe from FC Porto. The Real website claimed that Pepe was "wanted by half of Europe." Real have not stated how much they have paid for the 24 year-old Brazilian, but Porto are claiming on their official site that the transfer fee is around €30 million ($40.87 million). Real have confirmed that Pepe will sign a five-year contract. Born Kepler Laveran Lima Ferreira in the Brazilian city of Maceio, Pepe left Brazil for Portugal in 2001 to play for Maritimo, who sold him onto Porto in 2004, as replacement for Ricardo Carvalho. Source: Earth Times, 10th Jul 2007

* International Mobile Broadcasting Pte Ltd (IMB) has made an appearance in Singapore, unveiling plans to be Asia’s first regional mobile TV operator utilising S-band spectrum. The goal is to provide a 90+ channels service with both pull and push content (audio/video/data) with interactivity, says Tom Navasero, IMB chairman and chief executive. With offices in Manila and Los Angeles, IMB is currently setting up its headquarters and broadcast hub in Singapore. Content partners will be both established television/media brands and new mobile content players. Source: Content Asia, 9th Jul 2007

* China’s only licensed IPTV service has 400,000 subscribers and is hoping to reach 1 million by the end of 2007. Operated jointly by Shanghai Media Group (SMG) and China Telecom, Bes TV launched in Shanghai in the last quarter of 2006. The service uses MPEG-4. At launch, Bes TV expected only 300,000 subscribers by end 2007, but has surpassed that figure over six months ahead of schedule. SMG launched a mobile TV service last week for subscribers of China Mobile and China Unicom. The service will offer short news, sport and entertainment clips. Source: Rapid TV News, 10th Jul 2007

* India’s telecoms regulator does have jurisdiction over the broadcasting sector, a court has ruled. Delhi’s High Court dismissed a challenge by Star and SET Discovery, who had claimed that as a telecom regulator, the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) did not have the power to regulate broadcasting tariffs and subscription fees. The court said that under the government act that established TRAI, its powers could be extended to any sector. Source: Rapid TV News, 10th Jul 2007

* The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), is attempting to stop a Philippines court from dropping intellectual property action against a local cable operator. Earlier, CASBAA filed a Motion the Court of Appeals in Manila asking for a reversal of a court decision to nullify search warrants issued against local cable operator Telmarc Cable Corp for copyright infringement. CASBAA said the warrants were issued based on “real probable cause of illegal and unauthorised decoding, rebroadcast and performance of copyrighted programmes from major regional content providers such as Discovery Asia, HBO, AXN, CNN International, Star Group, National Geographic and ESPN Star Sports. Source: Content Asia, 9th Jul 2007

* UK commercial broadcaster, Channel 4, has acquired rights to Betfair Turbo Tennis, a sport which it has not shown since the mid 1990s. The one-day Turbo Tennis tournament format involves matches lasting no more than 30 minutes, the winner being the player in the lead when a klaxon sounds. Tim Henman, and brothers, Andy and Jamie Murray have signed up to compete in this year’s event and the organisers hope to line up other top players. Television rights for the event are being distributed by IMG Media, which will also handle the television production. Source: Sportcal, C21 Media, 10th Jul 2007

* The 94th Tour de France began on July 7 with a number of firsts: the first year of full high definition production, the first time the gruelling race has begun in England and the first use of a GPS/cartography animation system to show the progress of the cyclists. Host broadcaster France Televisions tested HD during last year's Tour, the crucial element being HF wireless links to get pictures from cameras on motorcycles and helicopters back to the broadcast facilities. Trials of the technology were also held in April this year for the Paris-Roubaix race. Source: Sports Video Group, 9th Jul 2007

* ESPN is planning an unprecedented avalanche of coverage for David Beckham's American debut later this month. There will be 18 cameras to chronicle the deeds of the English soccer superstar and one will remain exclusively on Beckham throughout the entire exhibition match between Los Angeles Galaxy and English Premier League team Chelsea in Carson, California. ESPN's has also planned three-hours of lead-in programming in which fans can watch his every move on ESPN360.com, where they'll be treated to a torrent of stats, facts, and the occasional peep at his family. Source: Sport Video Group, 10th Jul 2007


MORE NEWS

Singapore/Broadcaster: SingTel Mum on Mio Mystery

With less than two weeks to go to the date content suppliers have penned into their diaries for SingTel’s IPTV launch, the telco continues to keep details – including the name of the new service – under official wraps. July 20 is said to be D-Day for the long-awaited platform, believed to be called Mio TV and offered as part of a quad-play suite of services – fixed line, mobile, broadband and TV.

Mio TV is believed to include a strong on-demand element along with a handful of handpicked linear channels, a bouquet of HD channels, and a bunch of others from well-known and lesser-known content suppliers. Brands linked with Mio include BBC, Sony Pictures Television International and U.S.-based HD channel and content brand Voom.

The jury is still out on Mio TV’s prospects. Some say it’s too late for SingTel. The telco, observers say, should have entered the pay-TV market in a major way at least two years ago. This would have allowed the company to boost its quad-play phone-mobile-broadband-TV package earlier rather than giving rival StarHub, the country’s dominant pay-TV player, even more time to strengthen its defenses.

StarHub’s will make a big multi-media push later this year, when its US$160-million exclusive Singapore rights to the English Premier League is leveraged across all platforms. Details are thin at the moment but senior vice president of content and marketing, Tham Loke Kheng, says EPL plans are being developed for cable, mobile and online. Meanwhile, monopoly free-TV broadcaster MediaCorp TV offers MOBTV, a PC-based subscription video-on-demand service launched in December 2006 in Singapore. StarHub had 329,000 broadband subscribers against SingTel’s 421,000 at end March2007. Source: Content Asia, 9th Jul 2007