Wednesday, 25th July 2007

HEADLINE NEWS

Total Sports Asia Signs Pianist

Total Sports and Entertainment India (TSEIPL), a subsidiary of Total Sports Asia (TSA), has signed up Western Classical pianist - Timothy Birendra Marthand. It will organise a series of piano recitals by him across Asia and the Middle East in December 2007. Marthand is looking to bring Western Classical music back to India along with TSEIPL. He will begin with a series of his own performances and thereafter perform with other artists he has met in the course of his studies across the globe.

Being a 'Son of the Soil', born in Hyderabad, Marthand feels that he should bring back to India the tradition of western classical music, and increase the awareness and appreciation for this form of music. Notably, Marthand is the first Indian to be accepted by the International Piano Foundation (IPF) in Italy. This provides him the opportunity to work with legendary artists such as Martha Argerich, Murray Perahia, and Leon Fleisher. The director of IPF has made no concessions in saying that "Marthand is a musician who strives for perfection and there is no doubt that he will be a pioneer and asset for generations to come."

Marthand's concert programme will include the monumental Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach as well as music by Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. His performing experiences have been marked by events held in locations across Europe and America. Marthand says, "I am very fortunate to have the support of TSEIPL. In addition to sharing my artistic goals the TSEIPL team also brings positive energy and creative ideas that are bound to take my music to a vast audience in India and abroad."

TSEIPL MD Indian Subcontinent and Middle East Navneet Sharma says, "Timothy Marthand performs an enthralling recital, bringing to life the timeless compositions by these maestros of Classical Piano. The concert itself is a dynamic event during which his audiences are not only experiencing the most incredible music, but also are transported back in time to the idealism of the classical era." Source: Indian Television, 23rd Jul 2007


THIS WEEK

Sun, 15th Jul 2007
DTM 2007: Race Day – Zandvoort, The Netherlands
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Snetterton, UK


SPORTS SHORTS

* ESPN Software has signed with multi-system operator, Hathway, for its cricket-only channel, STAR Cricket. The channel, featuring the ongoing India-England series, was accepted with some reluctance by some cable and DTH operators. However, ESPN Software has now tied with Siticable, Incable and Hathway amongst the large MSOs. The channel is also available on DTH platforms, Dish TV and Tata Sky. Source: Business Line, 23rd Jul 2007

* India’s telecoms regulator has issued its consultation paper on setting up a framework for Headend In The Sky. HITS is a digital cable system under which pay channels are decrypted and aggregated at a central facility, then uplinked to a satellite with a single conditional access system. Channels are then downlinked at the cable operator’s headend. HITS will help speed digitisation and encryption of India’s cable networks allowing smaller operators to download channels direct from satellite feeds, without the need for costly cable headend equipment. It would lead to a single conditional access system for all operators using HITS. And, say cable operators, it would allow subscribers more flexibility in their packages, allowing them to pick channels and use pay-per-view much more easily. Source: Rapid TV News, 24th Jul 2007

* World Championship Sports Network and Yahoo! Sports announced a strategic partnership to provide fans an exclusive opportunity to sample select live events and on-demand coverage of world class Olympics sports competitions leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games at Yahoo! Sports. Fans can get a preview of major competitions that will play a significant role in determining who will compete in the Beijing Games, on Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/) and Yahoo! Olympics (http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics). Source: Sports e-Media, 24th Jul 2007

* Cycling.tv has signed distribution agreements with Joost and video search engine blinkx. Joost and blinkx will feature free Cycling.tv content which includes top professional cycling from the British and European calendars. Blinkx is an advanced internet video search engine that generates previews and full plays of videos within the sports, news, business and entertainment sectors, along with user-generated videos. Cycling.tv and blinkx are to share advertising revenue generated through the dedicated Cycling.tv player available on the blinkx website. Source: Rapid TV News, 24th Jul 2007

* Leverage Sports has created a NASCAR-themed television show that examines life inside the garage and targets the hard-core race fan. Three Wide Life will undergo one phase of distribution in September for the fall season, with a full launch scheduled for early 2008. MGM Studios will distribute the show and sell sponsorships in tandem with Leverage who will also handle production. Syndication is expected to reach 70% of the nation's markets this fall. Ryan Kurek, Leverage's CEO and founder, said network channels are underserved with motorsports programming because so much of it goes on cable with Speed and ESPN's networks. Source: Sporting News, 23rd Jul 2007


MORE NEWS

Japan/New Media: One-seg Usage Reveals Insight into Future of Mobile TV

Although there has been recent excitement surrounding the vast potential of mobile TV (One-seg) handsets in Japan, one study reveals that a profitable business model to support mobile TV broadcasting has yet to be developed and thus, the future of mobile TV in Japan may not be as lucrative as it initially seemed. According to “The Mobile TV Insight Report,” released by the Mobile Consumer Lab at the International University of Japan, One-seg TV users in Japan appear to be in fact lowering their usage of the most profitable mobile phone services like voice and e-mail.

"Business leaders across the mobile TV value-chain must seriously reconsider their approach to delivering television content via the mobile platform, as Japan's current One-seg users are clearly behaving in ways that could threaten the long term profitability of mobile TV services," said the author of the report, Prof. Philip Sugai, Director of the Mobile Consumer Lab.

However, the report also revealed that mobile TV users are more likely to use advanced data services such as the mobile Internet, games and music. Therefore, mobile TV has the possibility to create incremental revenues for mobile operators, broadcasters and mobile content and service providers. The report drew from research with more than 800 mobile phone subscribers in Japan, which looked at how mobile TV usage influenced the subscribers’ overall mobile behaviors. More information regarding this report is available on the Mobile Consumer Lab's website www.MoCoBe.com. Source: Entertainment Asia, 24th Jul 2007

Singapore/Broadcaster: Pay TV Operator M2B World Turning to Ads to Boost Revenue

In a response to more viewers being reluctant to pay for content, media entertainment company M2B World has decided to turn to advertising to increase its revenue in Singapore. M2B hopes that their new model will compete with rival operators StarHub and SingTel and be able to draw enough viewers thereby making it an attractive advertising medium for potential advertisers.

According to M2B’s new business model, which is expected to be completed in a few months, advertising will make up 60 to 70% of the company’s revenue, with the rest coming from merchandising and pay-per-view premium content. Subscriptions will either be free or cost just a few dollars a month, which is in stark contrast to the current monthly fee of USD 30.

The company, which has set aside more than USD 5 million to buy quality content for its service, is currently working on a backdoor listing in Singapore via a reverse takeover with Sesdaq-listed education player Auston International. Source: Entertainment Asia, 24th Jul 2007