HEADLINE NEWS
Total Sports Asia Wins Malaysia Telekom Contract
Malaysia-based Total Sports Asia (TSA) has been appointed by Telekom Malaysia (TM) as its sports marketing agency. TSA will support Telekom Malyasia’s sports and sponsorship strategy and activities in areas related to its title sponsorship of the Malaysian Football League and various other sports properties.
"TM’s involvement in sports is driven by a variety of factors. Brand building, developing new revenue streams and nation building are all important aspects for TM,” said TM senior VP group marketing Dato’ Ranbir Singh Nara. “We believe TSA’s skill sets match our needs and have engaged them to manage these areas for us on a day to day basis."
TSA will provide TM with a full range of sports marketing services, ranging from consulting, content development to Below the line execution. Source: Sport Business, 29th Aug 2007
Yonex-Sunrise India Open 2007 Postponed
THE Badminton World Federation regrets to announce that the Yonex Sunrise India Open 2007 has been postponed to an indefinite date. Badminton Association of India president Mr V.K. Verma informed the Federation that the decision was made in consultation with the Indian Government and sponsors of the US$150,000 tournament. The tournament was scheduled to run from Sept 4 to Sept 9 at the Kotla Indoor Vijay Bhaskar Reddy SAP Stadium in Hyderabad.
Two bomb blasts in Hyderabad on Saturday has to date claimed 42 lives, and with the safety of the players given utmost importance, the organisers have been left with very little option but to postpone the tournament. The BWF is also mindful of the security concerns that member associations may have, and as such, respect and accept the decision by the Badminton Association of India. Source: BWF’s Official, 28th Aug 2007, Sportcal, Reuters IN, 29th Aug 2007
RESULTS
U.S. Open 2007 – Day 3
Men’s Singles Results Highlights
* Rafael Nadal (2) ESP def. Alun Jones AUS 7-5 3-6 6-4 6-1
* Marat Safin (25) RUS def. Frank Dancevic CAN 7-5 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (9-7)
* Tim Henman GBR def. Dmitry Tursunov (27) RUS 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4
Women’s Singles Results Highlights
* Serena Williams (8) USA def. Maria Elena Camerin ITA 7-5 6-2
* Venus Williams (12) USA def. Ioana Raluca Olaru ROU 6-4 6-2
* Justine Henin (1) BEL def. Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-4 6-0
* Ekaterina Makarova RUS def. Ai Sugiyama (28) JPN 6-4 4-6 6-2 UPSET!
Men’s Doubles Results Highlights
* Lee Hyung-Taik KOR & Travis Parrott USA def. Simone Bolelli ITA & Ivan Ljubicic CRO 3-6 7-5 7-6 7-1
Women’s Doubles Results Highlights
* Katarina Srebotnik SLO (3) & Ai Sugiyama JPN (3) def. Chunmei Ji CHN & Shengnan Sun CHN 6-0 6-1
* Yung-Jan Chan TPE (5) & Chia-Jung Chuang TPE (5) def. Jamie Hampton USA & Melanie Oudin USA 6-1 6-1
* Shuai Peng CHN (10) & Zi Yan CHN (10) def. Edina Gallovits ROU & Lilia Osterloh USA 4-6 6-1 6-4
* Rika Fujiwara JPN & Aiko Nakamura JPN def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA & Virginie Razzano FRA 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 7-5
* Akiko Morigami JPN & Meilen Tu USA def. Maria Kirilenko RUS (11) & Elena Vesnina RUS (11) 6-4 6-1
COURTSIDE: AT THE US OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007
Sportcal, 29th Aug 2007
National network CBS has succeeded in selling more than 90% of its advertising time during its coverage of the US Open tennis championships, which began on Monday. It is claimed that the broadcaster has achieved mid-to-high single digit cost per thousand increases for its 30-second commercial spots and new advertisers include Aviva, Canon, Fed Ex, Goodyear, ING and Valspar. CBS hopes to have 40 advertisers in place by the time of its first broadcast on Saturday. The network is due to provide 37 hours of action, including matches from the third round this coming weekend and the men’s and women’s semi-finals and finals from September 7 to 9. In addition, there will be 107 hours of weekday coverage on the USA Network, the NBC-owned cable broadcaster, and 300 hours of coverage from News Corp-controlled satellite broadcaster DirecTV. Meanwhile, organisers are predicting record attendance figures for the US Open fortnight at Flushing Meadow in New York. Some 625,000 tickets had been sold by Tuesday and the record of 659,563 set in 2005 is likely to be exceeded. The profile of the event, the last grand slam of the season, has been boosted by promotional campaigns by major sponsors such as JP Morgan Chase and American Express.
The Telegraph UK, 30th Aug 2007
Could this be the first grand slam tournament in history to be partly decided by a little red dress? "You put on a nice outfit and some make-up," Maria Sharapova said of the crystal-encrusted evening dress she is wearing for the US Open, "and you're the bomb." So do not underestimate the effect that some glamour, and feeling like she is "the bomb", can have on the mindset of the defending champion. Fashion does not detract from Sharapova's tennis; indeed, it positively enhances it. She disclosed that if she is happy with how she is dressed on the court, then she is more likely to play her best tennis. Sharapova would not be the same player if she had turned up here in a shapeless, frumpy dress.
US Open Official, 28th Aug 2007
The USTA has announced that all-time attendance records for the US Open have been set over the first two days of the 2007 US Open. The all-time attendance record of 60,619 for combined day and night sessions was set on Tuesday, August 28. This record included the all-time single day session record of 36,886, as well as the second consecutive sold-out night session. These records follow the all-time Opening Day session attendance record of 35,058, which was set on Monday, August 27. Both night sessions for the first two days of the 2007 tournament have been sell-outs. The new capacity of Arthur Ashe Stadium is 23,733. The previous combined day and night session attendance record of 60,506 was set on Monday, September 4, 2006. The previous single session attendance record of 36,830 was set on Sunday, September 3, 2006. There are a very limited number of tickets remaining for the remainder of the 2007 US Open, with total attendance projected to top 700,000 for the first time.
THIS WEEK
Mon to Sun, 27th Aug to 1st Sep 2007
US Open Tennis Championships 2007: Early Rounds
Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Cincinnati Open
DTM 2007: Race Day – Nurburgring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Knockhill, UK
SPORTS SHORTS
* The Southeast Asian Games Federation will vote on whether to charge for television rights to the biennial event. The organisers of this year’s games in the Thailand want to sell the rights to meet the cost of staging the event, estimated at $6.6 million. However, they have resistance from the national Olympic committees of Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam, who point out that the rights belong to the participating countries. Hoang Vinh Giang, the general secretary of the Vietnam Olympic Committee, said that the federation’s rules would only be changed if the Thai proposal receives majority backing. The 2007 games, which will feature 43 sports, are scheduled for December 6 to 16. Source: Sportcal, 29th Aug 2007
* China plans to ban all tobacco advertising and promotion by the start of 2011. It has until that year to honour commitments made to the World Health Organisation. Xu Guihua, deputy head of the China Tobacco Control Association, said: ‘China is quite backward when it comes to controlling the use of tobacco, and the biggest problem is the lack of national regulations to ban smoking.’ China has an estimated 350 million smokers, accounting for a quarter of the world’s total. Xu said that all forms of tobacco promotion, including sponsorship of sports events, would be outlawed by 2011. Source: Sportcal, 29th Aug 2007
* There are conflicting reports over Taiwan’s opposition to the torch relay route for the Beijing Olympic Games, with the China Post reporting that Taiwan will accept a compromise with China over the row. Taiwan has been refusing to be included in the route unless the order of the final stops is changed to respect its sovereignty. The newspaper quoted Tsai Chen-wei, the chairman of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, as saying that the dispute could be resolved ‘by simply a slight change of some wording.’ Tsai added that the two sides would hold talks aimed at ending the row at the end of this month. However, contacted by press agency DPA, Jonathan Liu, vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top China policy planning body, retorted that ‘no decision has been made yet,’ and added: ‘It is not the problem of wording, but the problem of principle’. Source: Sportcal, 29th Aug 2007
MORE NEWS
Hong Kong/Broadcaster: PCCW TV outshines group
Hong Kong’s PCCW saw subscribers to its Now TV IPTV platform rose 35% over the last year. The service, which offers a la carte channels and channel packages as well as on-demand content, had 818,000 subscribers by the end of June. Revenues at PCCW’s TV and content unit for the six months to the end of June rose 42% over the corresponding period the previous year. Revenues were HK$715 million (US$92 million), with ARPU up 19% to HK$166 per month. EBITDA loss fell by over 50% to HK$74 million. The paying base for content and interactive services – those with a regular subscription – reached 560,000.
PCCW said that the ARPU increase was driven by the launch in March 2007 of the Mega Sports Pack. The unit has been aggressively buying up sports rights, including English Premier League and UEFA Champions’ League soccer. Now TV has around 150 local and international channels, including over 70 that are exclusive. Broadband internet access subscriptions also rose, “fuelled by now TV's growth momentum and by rising demand for high-quality internet value-added services, including MOOV digital music streaming service.” Source: Rapid TV News, Advanced Television, 29th Aug 2007
Asia/Broadcaster: Star TV - ‘Profit 4 Years Away’
Just about everything Rupert Murdoch has touched – at least in terms of TV - has turned to gold. But his Asian operation is still struggling to make progress. Local reports suggest that Star Group will take four more years to recover to the $120m operating income level it was enjoying up to 2006. This past year has seen a 30% fall in income, for example. Murdoch has 14 channels operating in India and Star Plus is the leading entertainment service. Reportedly, Star will also launch its first regional channel shortly, and Mr Murdoch has reportedly promised further investment in new channels for India.
Media Partners Asia reports that by mid-2011 Star’s operating income will hit $122m, which represents an eight per cent CAGR from this past year’s numbers. Business, says MPA, will start picking up from June 2008. India’s increased advertising revenues came from Star Plus. Subscription revenue growth was primarily driven by an increase in direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers. Star’s 20% owned DTH platform TataSky achieved the one-million subscriber mark in July, just 11 months after its commercial launch. Source: Rapid TV News, 29th Aug 2007
Japan/New Media: Ahead in Broadband Speed Race
The US is in the slow lane as far as typical high-speed broadband access is concerned. Broadband delivery speeds are getting faster, according to Cisco System’s Pepper division. And Japan has surged ahead over the past year or so, even beating arch-rival South Korea in terms of typical download speed. And it isn’t just speed (important as that is to users). Japan is also leading the world in terms of price. Typical price (when measured in terms of Purchasing Power Parity) is an ultra-low $0.22 per Mbit/s, almost half the price of Sweden (35c) and Korea (42c), or $3.18 in the US, $3.62 in the UK, $5.31 in Ireland, $12.49 in Poland and an eye-watering $81.13 in Turkey.
Japanese consumers are benefiting from the significant unbundling regulations which are now helping generate real competition amongst DSL suppliers. The cost to these DSL players is just $2 a month (for unbundled copper twisted pairs) and competition is keeping typical prices to uses at about $22 a month for a DSL connection that’s claimed to reach median download speeds of 61 Mbit/s, compared to 46 Mbit/s in South Korea, 21 Mbit/s in Finland and a miserable 2 Mbit/s in the US (all according to the Information Technology Information Foundation/CWA).
Japan also has a governmental target to double the number of tele-commuters working from home by 2010. Japan is also helped by a much better local infrastructure in terms of shorter loops to telephone exchanges, and of being a highly urbanised, densely populated society. Source: Rapid TV News, 29th Aug 2007
Elsewhere/Rights: Unity Media Decides Against Another Bid for Bundesliga Right
Unity Media, the German cable consortium, has vowed that it will not bid for rights to German soccer's top-tier Bundesliga for the 2009-10 season onwards. Parm Sandhu, Unity Media's managing director, confirmed the decision as the company's financial results for the second quarter were announced. Unity Media originally won the live rights to the Bundesliga for three years, starting with the 2006-07 season, agreeing a deal worth €240 million ($327.4 million) per year. It showed games on its Arena channel, but recently lost the rights under a sub-licensing arrangement with pay-television rival Premiere.
Germany’s cartel office last month approved the sub-licensing of Arena’s live rights to Premiere for €100 million a year for the next two seasons, although Arena was granted permission to broadcast Premiere’s Bundesliga coverage via cable and satellite over the same period. The withdrawal of Unity Media from the contest for live Bundesliga rights beyond the 2009-10 season leaves Premiere in a commanding position, although Reinhard Rauball, the newly-elected president of the German Football League, has claimed that there could still be more than one bidder when the tender is issued at the end of 2007 or beginning of 2008.
Unity Media's second quarter results were boosted by the acquisition of a 16.7-per-cent stake in Premiere as part of the tie-up which allowed Premiere to show Bundesliga games on satellite. Turnover at grew by 28 per cent to €183 million, with earnings before interest, taxes, demortisation and amortisation rising by 19 per cent to €82 million. Unity Media is now set to concentrate on its various cable networks and promote its triple-play offering, which has 550,000 television customers, 200,000 internet customers and 120,000 telephone customers. Source: Sportcal, 29th Aug 2007
Global/General: Cricket Begins Campaign for Olympic Twenty20 Tournament
Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council, said today that the sport’s governing body wants to become a member of the International Olympic Committee so that the Twenty20 version of the sport can one day form part of the Olympic Games. In order to be considered for Olympic inclusion, the ICC will first have to join the Association of the IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF). IOC members will subsequently have to be convinced that cricket is deserving of a place at the games, although, under the present system, the sports at an Olympics are decided seven years in advance. Speed told reporters in India: ‘The long-term objective is to have cricket in the Olympics.’
Cricket has only featured in the Olympics on one occasion – back in 1900 – but a one-day tournament formed part of the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the sport will be played at the 2010 Asian Games in the Chinese city of Guangzhou. Five sports represented by federations in ARISF – karate, golf, roller sports, rugby union sevens and squash – made the shortlist for inclusion in the 2012 Olympics, but none received enough votes to replace baseball and softball, which have been axed for the games in London.
Meanwhile, the ICC has said that it will not approve the new Indian Cricket League until the body is recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The ICL, which is backed by Essel Group, the owner of Indian media group Zee Telefilms, has recruited around 50 domestic and international players for competitions, beginning with a Twenty20 series between city teams in October and November. However, the BCCI is refusing to sanction the league and says it will ban players who have signed up from appearing in official competitions and for the national team. Source: Sportcal, 29th Aug 2007
Wednesday, 29th August 2007
RESULTS
U.S. Open 2007 – Day 2
Men’s Singles Results Highlights
* Andy Roddick USA (5) def. Justin Gimelstob USA 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-3
* James Blake (6) USA def. Michael Russell USA 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
* Novak Djokovic (3) SRB def. Robin Haase NED 6-2 6-1 6-3
* Wayne Odesnik def. Danai Udomchoke THA 6-7 (7-2) 6-3 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2)
Women’s Singles Results Highlights
* Maria Sharapova RUS (2) def. Roberta Vinci ITA 6-0 6-1
* Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (4) def. Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-2 6-3
* Julia Vakulenko UKR def. Daniela Hantuchova (9) SVK 6-4 3-6 6-1 UPSET!
* Sania Mirza IND (26) def. Kaia Kanepi EST 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-1
* Flavia Pennetta ITA def. Shuai Peng CHI 1-6 6-3 6-4
* Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP def. Cho Yoon Jeong KOR 3-6 6-3 6-3
* Agnieszka Radwanska POL (30) def. Akiko Morigami JPN 6-2 6-1
THIS WEEK
Mon to Sun, 27th Aug to 1st Sep 2007
US Open Tennis Championships 2007: Early Rounds
Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Cincinnati Open
DTM 2007: Race Day – Nurburgring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Knockhill, UK
SPORTS SHORTS
* ESPN Star Sports has kicked off auditions in Mumbai of Clinic All Clear Dream Job, a national talent hunt for a sports presenter. Based on a successful format followed in the US and Europe, Clinic All Clear Dream Job offers a 1-year contract with the broadcaster. The winner will become a presenter for Star Cricket. The Mumbai round saw sports enthusiasts queue up for auditions. The participants were taken through various rounds of spontaneous commentary and interviews in front of the celebrated jury that comprised expert cricket analyst and commentator, Alan Wilkins, noted actor and cricket presenter Mandira Bedi, and ESS executive producer, news Sharon Van Zwieten. Source: Indian Television, 28th Aug 2007
* A resolution between golf’s governing bodies the Asian Tour and European Tour is edging closer. The two have been at odds after the ET confirmed events on its calendar in India and South Korea. AT chiefs were angered at the move and publicly vented their anger at what they saw as the ET muscling in on their territory. But now Gerry Norquist, senior vice president of the AT, says talks have thawed between the two parties, although he warned peace had not yet broken out. He said: “We’ve held talks and relations are better, but there are still issues to be sorted out. The European Tour has admitted it breached protocol with the two events and we have accepted that.” Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
* Malaysia has finally signed an extension to continue hosting a round of motor racing’s Formula 1 World Championship until 2015. The deal paves the way for night races to be held in the Asian country. Malaysia’s existing contract runs until 2010 and an extension was agreed in April. However, the government delayed putting pen to paper while it considered the ramifications of a clause covering night races. Under the new deal, Sepang is committed to stage a grand prix at night ‘at any time upon notification’ from Formula One Management. The proposal still requires the official endorsement of the FIA, motor sport’s world governing body, and the Formula 1 authorities and teams. Source: Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
* Local icon, Yao Ming, will meet in China next month for the first CBA - Euroleague Challenge 2007. The Challenge is first of its kind in China and one of the biggest basketball showcases in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The event brings teams from four countries for a pair of double-headers on September 30 and October 1. Euroleague runner-up CSKA Moscow will take on the Sydney Kings of Australia in the first game on Sep 30, followed by Team China vs. Benetton Treviso. On Oct 1, Benetton plays Sydney and Team China vs. CSKA. All games of the Challenge will be played in Kunshan in the modern complex "Kunshan New Stadium" with a capacity of 6,000 spectators. Source: Sports e-Media, 28th Aug 2007
* Irish state broadcaster RTE has been confirmed as a rights holder of soccer's 2008 European Championships. The deal with Uefa, European soccer’s governing body, will see all 31 Euro 2008 games screened free-to-air on RTE. As part of the deal, the broadcaster will also offer highlights of every match. It was reported earlier this year that RTE had agreed to pay a 'low seven-figure sum' for the rights. Sportfive, the international sports agency, is marketing the rights in Europe on behalf of Uefa. Source: Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
* The International Water Ski Federation (IWSF), recognized as the sole Waterski authority by the IOC has an estimated 30,000,000 active participants and 52,000 competitors. The IWSF is all set for the 2007 Waterski World Championships in the city of Linz, Austria’s third largest City, situated in Upper Austria. Asian countries competing: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Lebanon, South Korea and Taiwan. The highly successful 2005 Waterski World Championships took place in Tianjin in China. Source: Sports e-Media, 28th Aug 2007
MORE NEWS
Asia/General: TV Hardware Market to Hit $22 Billion This Year
The total size of the television market in Asia is estimated to hit $22 billion for the full year 2007. In the first half of the year, LCD televisions comprised the largest television category in terms of value, capturing 60% of total consumer spend. This compares with conventional televisions which had a 22% share while plasma televisions took away 16% and rear projection televisions 1%. On a volume basis, LCD televisions are out-selling plasma televisions in retail channels at rates of six-to-one in Asia and 13-to-one in China.
GfK Asia has released its 2007 Half Year Pan Asian Consumer Electronics Data Summary, highlighting the trends in the region's consumer electronics sector. Gfk Asia notes that LCD TVs are literally flying off the shelves in China and all across Asia. "In Asia, it measures year-on-year growth rates 115% on a volume basis for LCD TVs. In the first half of the year, China registers LCD TV year-on-year growth above 100% on a value basis, with the market now forecast to be above $7 billion in 2007. Overall, it is a remarkable trend for LCD TV manufacturers and consumers alike," states the firm.
Sales of DVD portable players (battery-powered devices) are on the upswing across Asia. This is the only segment of the DVD player market that is on a growth trend, recording a 34% gain on a volume basis against the same time frame in 2006. The market value of DVD portable player sales across 12 countries in the Asian Region is forecast to reach nearly $200 million in 2007, representing around 12% of the overall DVD player market demand. On aggregate, the forecast is for almost 24 million DVD players to be sold in 2007 in the Asian Region.
On-demand portable video content is still quite limited. Several broadcast technologies suitable for mobile and portable video, for example DVB-H and DMB, will vie for widespread adoption. These technologies will put television in the palm of your hand. The current growth in portable video playback suggests that Asian consumers are ready for this future 'mobile TV' reality. In fact, that future has already arrived in South Korea.
Sales of MP4 digital portable video players are continuing to surge, growing by more than 40% year-on-year on a volume basis. MP4 digital portable video player sales are forecast to approach 10 million units. Overall, the digital portable player category is forecast to exceed 22 million units in 2007 and reach $2.3 billion in total demand. Source: Indian Television, 28th Aug 2007
Elsewhere/Rights: Feud Escalates as Sogecable Demands €200m from Mediapro
Sogecable, the Spanish television group, has claimed that it is owed €200 million ($273 million) by Mediapro, the Spanish media rights agency, in a continuing dispute over the broadcasting rights to Spanish soccer’s top-tier Primera Liga. Audiovisual Sport, which owns Sogecable, issued a statement yesterday calling on Mediapro to end its coverage of La Liga matches because it does not own the rights. The legal claim comes after Mediapro’s free-to-air channel La Sexta aired three matches over the weekend. Audiovisual Sport claims that Mediapro has been ‘systematically violating’ contracts between the two companies over the past few years.
In response, La Sexta said that it ‘had complied, is complying, and will comply thoroughly with the law in force.' It added: ‘As agreed in the contract we have, La Sexta is following its legal obligation to air each week at least one free-to-air match, despite the recent absurd actions by Audiovisual Sport. ‘La Sexta reiterates that it maintains it has a contract with Mediapro which was completed in a totally thorough way on behalf of both parties over a year ago.’ The claim for €200 million is on top of the €58 million that Audiovisual Sport said it was owed by Mediapro last week.
The relationship between the two companies broke down when Mediapro announced deals with 39 of the 42 teams in the country’s top two soccer leagues starting from the 2009-10 season. Sogecable threatened legal action over the claims, on the basis that it holds a majority of Spanish soccer television rights through Audiovisual Sport, in which it has an 80% stake. It claims to have ‘numerous contracts with soccer clubs running through to 2013.'
La Sexta added: ‘In relation to the conflict between Sogecable and Mediapro, La Sexta has been in touch with Mediapro, which has ratified the execution of the terms of the contract.’ It said that, according to the contract, La Sexta had the rights to one La Liga match per week throughout the 2007-08 season, as well as the highlights for the second-tier Segunda Divison. Sogecable’s Digital Plus pay-television service relies heavily on airing the Primera Liga to attract subscribers. The latest developments could represent a further blow after subscriber numbers already dropped slightly between April and June. The three matches aired on La Sexta last week-end were Sevilla-Getafe, Murcia-Zaragoza and Valencia-Villareal. Source: Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
Elsewhere/General: France to Host 2008 Beach Soccer World Cup
Marseille in France has been chosen to host next year’s beach soccer World Cup, while it has been confirmed that Dubai will stage the event in 2009. It represents the first time the tournament will be held outside its birthplace Brazil. Mauritius, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia and Turkey had all expressed an interest in staging the two editions.
Fifa general secretary Jérôme Valcke said: ‘What's happened in the last three years since the integration of beach soccer in the Fifa family has been fantastic. ‘I don't know if any other sport has ever made such rapid progress in such a short space of time – both on the pitch and in running the game. It is now a fascinating combination of organised football and lifestyle. By moving the event first to Marseille and then to Dubai, we are convinced that we will be taking yet another giant step in the dynamic world of beach soccer.’
Dubai, as was announced earlier this year, will also host the Asian beach soccer finals in 2007 and 2008, the qualifiers for the World Cup, as part of the deal. This year's beach soccer World Cup will be held in Brazil in November, and the draw for the competition was made in Marseille on Sunday. Russia will meet Mexico in the tournament’s opening match, and are joined in Group A by holders Brazil, along with the Solomon Islands. France, coached by former great Eric Cantona, will face United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and Argentina.
The full group line-up is:
Group A: Brazil, Solomon Islands, Russia, Mexico
Group B: USA, Spain, Portugal, Iran,
Group C: Japan, Senegal, Uruguay, Italy
Group D: UAE, France, Nigeria, Argentina
Source: Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS
EPL Broadcasting Changes Offer Opportunities For Competitors In Asia
Geoffrey Gold, CEO of Sports Dynamics has his views published in Goal.com, 28th Aug 2007
THE SPORTS MEDIA LANDSCAPE IN ASIA changed dramatically on the weekend of 11-12 August as the English Premier League dropped from the schedules of many of its last remaining major free-to-air terrestrial television broadcasters. Promoters, who'd paid the EPL most of the record £625 million it received from foreign rights for 2007-2010, began to recoup their investment. In some markets, even Pay-TV stations were churned in the search for higher returns. In others, licensees are using the EPL as Rupert Murdoch's proverbial "battering ram" to lead fans to support new Pay TV operations.
IN CHINA, THE CHANGE TO PAY-TV had been well announced. "It's time to say goodbye to those TV channels that provided Premier League games free of charge," said WinTV Chief Executive Song Zheng in February after successfully bidding a reported US$50 million for PRC market. Song, whose station had just 40,000 subscribers, said he was confident of winning over viewers. "I know that most Chinese people have been getting used to viewing soccer matches on free channels. It will be difficult to change this habit in the beginning, but I believe that more and more people will choose pay-TV in the future." And yet, at kick-off for the new EPL season, subsidiary contracts with regional cable TV operators in major regions, including the largest city Shanghai, had yet to be concluded. A boon to a few companies offering live games via the internet, it was a scenario feared by some of England's biggest clubs who were reportedly "furious" that "limited Pay-TV audience may restrict the dynamic growth of English football in the world's most populous country."
IN INDONESIA THE CHANGE CAME AS A SHOCK. The week prior to the start of the EPL season, it was announced that ESPN-STAR Sports' arrangement with national FTA broadcaster Trans7 would not be continued. Trans7 said it "wouldn't be able to cover the cost of buying the rights even if we sold all the advertising spots, combined with other income from sponsors." But the hundreds of thousands of subscribers used to watching English football on the two ESS channels on established Pay-TV services Kabelvision and Indovision found they too would miss out. Paralleling the exclusive deal ESS made with Astro Supersport for the Malaysian market in 2001, Astro's brand new Indonesian subsidiary was suddenly announced as the new EPL sub-licensee for Asia's third largest nation for an undisclosed amount. "Our basic idea by bringing EPL into the country is to give Indonesian people access to watch the league," vice president for corporate affairs at PT Direct Vision's Astro Indonesia, Halim Mahfudz, confusingly told The Jakarta Post.
LAST-MINUTE BRINKMANSHIP also occurred in Japan where Pay-TV J Sports signed an exclusive three-year contract with Sportfive - after the first 10 games of the new Premiership season had been concluded. The Japan Times anticipated that fans would be forced to test the quality of internet transmissions or to watch illegal displays at pubs and bars and discovered venues would be tapping into a South African channel for their customers. This did not appear to concern the rights-holders. "The deal we agreed with J Sports represents a continuation of our excellent partnership in the past", said Sportfive executive vice president Robert Müller von Vultejus. EPL CEO Richard Scudamore praised the process. “We are very satisfied with the result of Sportfive’s distribution of our rights [and] welcome J Sports to the circle of partners of the English Premier League,” he said.
THE MANOEUVRINGS SHOW THE FORMIDABLE market power of the English Premier League throughout Asia but also provide a window of opportunity to competitors. The free-to-air broadcasters and non-EPL Pay-TV networks are filling their programming with other European football, notably Spanish, Italian and German and, increasingly domestic and regional competitions. But the EPL's competitors have significant weaknesses. How much better for La Liga marketing in Asia if Real Madrid and Barcelona collaborated? How much better for SerieA if it had a clean image for punters? How much better for Bundesliga if it hand-fed media with in-depth data and statistics?
CLAIRE KENNY TIPTON, THE AFC'S DIRECTOR of Marketing and Media and Communications pointed out that 61% of all football revenues in Asia goes to the English Premier League and, in South East Asia in particularly, the English Premiership is the most supported football product. She argued, however, against the proposition that the overwhelming broadcasting of European football somehow got fans involved in local football. “One of the problems in these countries, Indonesia excepted, is that fans don't go to stadiums. A generation of latent fans has been created. They've never been to a live football game. They don't play football. They don't have a passion for the game. They watch it on TV. They get together with their mates next door or in a coffee shop. They say they support Man United or Liverpool or Real Madrid but they'll buy the shirt and that’s it. That's where it begins and where it ends, “ she said.
The Asian Cup was brought to South East Asia “at great expense” so the Asian Football Confederation could say: “Malaysia, you can one day be as good as Japan if you put Malaysian football first; if you create a platform for domestic football. Same in Thailand and in Vietnam,” she said. It was easiest to attract spectators in Indonesia and Vietnam and difficult “as expected” in Malaysia and Thailand. But what was astonishing is that while the opening games of the group stages in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were very poorly attended, the domestic TV ratings - with RTM in Malaysia and Channel 7 in Thailand, were huge. “The Thai matches on 7 were bigger than the World Cup ratings or the European Champions League ratings or the FA Cup final ratings,” she said.
This indicates “a culture of people who demonstrate their passion for the sport by watching it on TV,” she warned. “In South East Asia the numbers attending club matches has not increased, it has decreased. The number of children playing football has not increased. If anything in certain countries it has got worse. The commercial revenue has decreased and the television coverage has virtually disappeared.” So rather than inspiring local football, the foreign broadcasting “presses it down,” she said.
U.S. Open 2007 – Day 2
Men’s Singles Results Highlights
* Andy Roddick USA (5) def. Justin Gimelstob USA 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-3
* James Blake (6) USA def. Michael Russell USA 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 7-6 (7-4)
* Novak Djokovic (3) SRB def. Robin Haase NED 6-2 6-1 6-3
* Wayne Odesnik def. Danai Udomchoke THA 6-7 (7-2) 6-3 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-2)
Women’s Singles Results Highlights
* Maria Sharapova RUS (2) def. Roberta Vinci ITA 6-0 6-1
* Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (4) def. Klara Zakopalova CZE 6-2 6-3
* Julia Vakulenko UKR def. Daniela Hantuchova (9) SVK 6-4 3-6 6-1 UPSET!
* Sania Mirza IND (26) def. Kaia Kanepi EST 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-1
* Flavia Pennetta ITA def. Shuai Peng CHI 1-6 6-3 6-4
* Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP def. Cho Yoon Jeong KOR 3-6 6-3 6-3
* Agnieszka Radwanska POL (30) def. Akiko Morigami JPN 6-2 6-1
THIS WEEK
Mon to Sun, 27th Aug to 1st Sep 2007
US Open Tennis Championships 2007: Early Rounds
Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Cincinnati Open
DTM 2007: Race Day – Nurburgring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Knockhill, UK
SPORTS SHORTS
* ESPN Star Sports has kicked off auditions in Mumbai of Clinic All Clear Dream Job, a national talent hunt for a sports presenter. Based on a successful format followed in the US and Europe, Clinic All Clear Dream Job offers a 1-year contract with the broadcaster. The winner will become a presenter for Star Cricket. The Mumbai round saw sports enthusiasts queue up for auditions. The participants were taken through various rounds of spontaneous commentary and interviews in front of the celebrated jury that comprised expert cricket analyst and commentator, Alan Wilkins, noted actor and cricket presenter Mandira Bedi, and ESS executive producer, news Sharon Van Zwieten. Source: Indian Television, 28th Aug 2007
* A resolution between golf’s governing bodies the Asian Tour and European Tour is edging closer. The two have been at odds after the ET confirmed events on its calendar in India and South Korea. AT chiefs were angered at the move and publicly vented their anger at what they saw as the ET muscling in on their territory. But now Gerry Norquist, senior vice president of the AT, says talks have thawed between the two parties, although he warned peace had not yet broken out. He said: “We’ve held talks and relations are better, but there are still issues to be sorted out. The European Tour has admitted it breached protocol with the two events and we have accepted that.” Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
* Malaysia has finally signed an extension to continue hosting a round of motor racing’s Formula 1 World Championship until 2015. The deal paves the way for night races to be held in the Asian country. Malaysia’s existing contract runs until 2010 and an extension was agreed in April. However, the government delayed putting pen to paper while it considered the ramifications of a clause covering night races. Under the new deal, Sepang is committed to stage a grand prix at night ‘at any time upon notification’ from Formula One Management. The proposal still requires the official endorsement of the FIA, motor sport’s world governing body, and the Formula 1 authorities and teams. Source: Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
* Local icon, Yao Ming, will meet in China next month for the first CBA - Euroleague Challenge 2007. The Challenge is first of its kind in China and one of the biggest basketball showcases in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics. The event brings teams from four countries for a pair of double-headers on September 30 and October 1. Euroleague runner-up CSKA Moscow will take on the Sydney Kings of Australia in the first game on Sep 30, followed by Team China vs. Benetton Treviso. On Oct 1, Benetton plays Sydney and Team China vs. CSKA. All games of the Challenge will be played in Kunshan in the modern complex "Kunshan New Stadium" with a capacity of 6,000 spectators. Source: Sports e-Media, 28th Aug 2007
* Irish state broadcaster RTE has been confirmed as a rights holder of soccer's 2008 European Championships. The deal with Uefa, European soccer’s governing body, will see all 31 Euro 2008 games screened free-to-air on RTE. As part of the deal, the broadcaster will also offer highlights of every match. It was reported earlier this year that RTE had agreed to pay a 'low seven-figure sum' for the rights. Sportfive, the international sports agency, is marketing the rights in Europe on behalf of Uefa. Source: Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
* The International Water Ski Federation (IWSF), recognized as the sole Waterski authority by the IOC has an estimated 30,000,000 active participants and 52,000 competitors. The IWSF is all set for the 2007 Waterski World Championships in the city of Linz, Austria’s third largest City, situated in Upper Austria. Asian countries competing: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Lebanon, South Korea and Taiwan. The highly successful 2005 Waterski World Championships took place in Tianjin in China. Source: Sports e-Media, 28th Aug 2007
MORE NEWS
Asia/General: TV Hardware Market to Hit $22 Billion This Year
The total size of the television market in Asia is estimated to hit $22 billion for the full year 2007. In the first half of the year, LCD televisions comprised the largest television category in terms of value, capturing 60% of total consumer spend. This compares with conventional televisions which had a 22% share while plasma televisions took away 16% and rear projection televisions 1%. On a volume basis, LCD televisions are out-selling plasma televisions in retail channels at rates of six-to-one in Asia and 13-to-one in China.
GfK Asia has released its 2007 Half Year Pan Asian Consumer Electronics Data Summary, highlighting the trends in the region's consumer electronics sector. Gfk Asia notes that LCD TVs are literally flying off the shelves in China and all across Asia. "In Asia, it measures year-on-year growth rates 115% on a volume basis for LCD TVs. In the first half of the year, China registers LCD TV year-on-year growth above 100% on a value basis, with the market now forecast to be above $7 billion in 2007. Overall, it is a remarkable trend for LCD TV manufacturers and consumers alike," states the firm.
Sales of DVD portable players (battery-powered devices) are on the upswing across Asia. This is the only segment of the DVD player market that is on a growth trend, recording a 34% gain on a volume basis against the same time frame in 2006. The market value of DVD portable player sales across 12 countries in the Asian Region is forecast to reach nearly $200 million in 2007, representing around 12% of the overall DVD player market demand. On aggregate, the forecast is for almost 24 million DVD players to be sold in 2007 in the Asian Region.
On-demand portable video content is still quite limited. Several broadcast technologies suitable for mobile and portable video, for example DVB-H and DMB, will vie for widespread adoption. These technologies will put television in the palm of your hand. The current growth in portable video playback suggests that Asian consumers are ready for this future 'mobile TV' reality. In fact, that future has already arrived in South Korea.
Sales of MP4 digital portable video players are continuing to surge, growing by more than 40% year-on-year on a volume basis. MP4 digital portable video player sales are forecast to approach 10 million units. Overall, the digital portable player category is forecast to exceed 22 million units in 2007 and reach $2.3 billion in total demand. Source: Indian Television, 28th Aug 2007
Elsewhere/Rights: Feud Escalates as Sogecable Demands €200m from Mediapro
Sogecable, the Spanish television group, has claimed that it is owed €200 million ($273 million) by Mediapro, the Spanish media rights agency, in a continuing dispute over the broadcasting rights to Spanish soccer’s top-tier Primera Liga. Audiovisual Sport, which owns Sogecable, issued a statement yesterday calling on Mediapro to end its coverage of La Liga matches because it does not own the rights. The legal claim comes after Mediapro’s free-to-air channel La Sexta aired three matches over the weekend. Audiovisual Sport claims that Mediapro has been ‘systematically violating’ contracts between the two companies over the past few years.
In response, La Sexta said that it ‘had complied, is complying, and will comply thoroughly with the law in force.' It added: ‘As agreed in the contract we have, La Sexta is following its legal obligation to air each week at least one free-to-air match, despite the recent absurd actions by Audiovisual Sport. ‘La Sexta reiterates that it maintains it has a contract with Mediapro which was completed in a totally thorough way on behalf of both parties over a year ago.’ The claim for €200 million is on top of the €58 million that Audiovisual Sport said it was owed by Mediapro last week.
The relationship between the two companies broke down when Mediapro announced deals with 39 of the 42 teams in the country’s top two soccer leagues starting from the 2009-10 season. Sogecable threatened legal action over the claims, on the basis that it holds a majority of Spanish soccer television rights through Audiovisual Sport, in which it has an 80% stake. It claims to have ‘numerous contracts with soccer clubs running through to 2013.'
La Sexta added: ‘In relation to the conflict between Sogecable and Mediapro, La Sexta has been in touch with Mediapro, which has ratified the execution of the terms of the contract.’ It said that, according to the contract, La Sexta had the rights to one La Liga match per week throughout the 2007-08 season, as well as the highlights for the second-tier Segunda Divison. Sogecable’s Digital Plus pay-television service relies heavily on airing the Primera Liga to attract subscribers. The latest developments could represent a further blow after subscriber numbers already dropped slightly between April and June. The three matches aired on La Sexta last week-end were Sevilla-Getafe, Murcia-Zaragoza and Valencia-Villareal. Source: Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
Elsewhere/General: France to Host 2008 Beach Soccer World Cup
Marseille in France has been chosen to host next year’s beach soccer World Cup, while it has been confirmed that Dubai will stage the event in 2009. It represents the first time the tournament will be held outside its birthplace Brazil. Mauritius, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia and Turkey had all expressed an interest in staging the two editions.
Fifa general secretary Jérôme Valcke said: ‘What's happened in the last three years since the integration of beach soccer in the Fifa family has been fantastic. ‘I don't know if any other sport has ever made such rapid progress in such a short space of time – both on the pitch and in running the game. It is now a fascinating combination of organised football and lifestyle. By moving the event first to Marseille and then to Dubai, we are convinced that we will be taking yet another giant step in the dynamic world of beach soccer.’
Dubai, as was announced earlier this year, will also host the Asian beach soccer finals in 2007 and 2008, the qualifiers for the World Cup, as part of the deal. This year's beach soccer World Cup will be held in Brazil in November, and the draw for the competition was made in Marseille on Sunday. Russia will meet Mexico in the tournament’s opening match, and are joined in Group A by holders Brazil, along with the Solomon Islands. France, coached by former great Eric Cantona, will face United Arab Emirates, Nigeria and Argentina.
The full group line-up is:
Group A: Brazil, Solomon Islands, Russia, Mexico
Group B: USA, Spain, Portugal, Iran,
Group C: Japan, Senegal, Uruguay, Italy
Group D: UAE, France, Nigeria, Argentina
Source: Sportcal, 28th Aug 2007
ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS
EPL Broadcasting Changes Offer Opportunities For Competitors In Asia
Geoffrey Gold, CEO of Sports Dynamics has his views published in Goal.com, 28th Aug 2007
THE SPORTS MEDIA LANDSCAPE IN ASIA changed dramatically on the weekend of 11-12 August as the English Premier League dropped from the schedules of many of its last remaining major free-to-air terrestrial television broadcasters. Promoters, who'd paid the EPL most of the record £625 million it received from foreign rights for 2007-2010, began to recoup their investment. In some markets, even Pay-TV stations were churned in the search for higher returns. In others, licensees are using the EPL as Rupert Murdoch's proverbial "battering ram" to lead fans to support new Pay TV operations.
IN CHINA, THE CHANGE TO PAY-TV had been well announced. "It's time to say goodbye to those TV channels that provided Premier League games free of charge," said WinTV Chief Executive Song Zheng in February after successfully bidding a reported US$50 million for PRC market. Song, whose station had just 40,000 subscribers, said he was confident of winning over viewers. "I know that most Chinese people have been getting used to viewing soccer matches on free channels. It will be difficult to change this habit in the beginning, but I believe that more and more people will choose pay-TV in the future." And yet, at kick-off for the new EPL season, subsidiary contracts with regional cable TV operators in major regions, including the largest city Shanghai, had yet to be concluded. A boon to a few companies offering live games via the internet, it was a scenario feared by some of England's biggest clubs who were reportedly "furious" that "limited Pay-TV audience may restrict the dynamic growth of English football in the world's most populous country."
IN INDONESIA THE CHANGE CAME AS A SHOCK. The week prior to the start of the EPL season, it was announced that ESPN-STAR Sports' arrangement with national FTA broadcaster Trans7 would not be continued. Trans7 said it "wouldn't be able to cover the cost of buying the rights even if we sold all the advertising spots, combined with other income from sponsors." But the hundreds of thousands of subscribers used to watching English football on the two ESS channels on established Pay-TV services Kabelvision and Indovision found they too would miss out. Paralleling the exclusive deal ESS made with Astro Supersport for the Malaysian market in 2001, Astro's brand new Indonesian subsidiary was suddenly announced as the new EPL sub-licensee for Asia's third largest nation for an undisclosed amount. "Our basic idea by bringing EPL into the country is to give Indonesian people access to watch the league," vice president for corporate affairs at PT Direct Vision's Astro Indonesia, Halim Mahfudz, confusingly told The Jakarta Post.
LAST-MINUTE BRINKMANSHIP also occurred in Japan where Pay-TV J Sports signed an exclusive three-year contract with Sportfive - after the first 10 games of the new Premiership season had been concluded. The Japan Times anticipated that fans would be forced to test the quality of internet transmissions or to watch illegal displays at pubs and bars and discovered venues would be tapping into a South African channel for their customers. This did not appear to concern the rights-holders. "The deal we agreed with J Sports represents a continuation of our excellent partnership in the past", said Sportfive executive vice president Robert Müller von Vultejus. EPL CEO Richard Scudamore praised the process. “We are very satisfied with the result of Sportfive’s distribution of our rights [and] welcome J Sports to the circle of partners of the English Premier League,” he said.
THE MANOEUVRINGS SHOW THE FORMIDABLE market power of the English Premier League throughout Asia but also provide a window of opportunity to competitors. The free-to-air broadcasters and non-EPL Pay-TV networks are filling their programming with other European football, notably Spanish, Italian and German and, increasingly domestic and regional competitions. But the EPL's competitors have significant weaknesses. How much better for La Liga marketing in Asia if Real Madrid and Barcelona collaborated? How much better for SerieA if it had a clean image for punters? How much better for Bundesliga if it hand-fed media with in-depth data and statistics?
CLAIRE KENNY TIPTON, THE AFC'S DIRECTOR of Marketing and Media and Communications pointed out that 61% of all football revenues in Asia goes to the English Premier League and, in South East Asia in particularly, the English Premiership is the most supported football product. She argued, however, against the proposition that the overwhelming broadcasting of European football somehow got fans involved in local football. “One of the problems in these countries, Indonesia excepted, is that fans don't go to stadiums. A generation of latent fans has been created. They've never been to a live football game. They don't play football. They don't have a passion for the game. They watch it on TV. They get together with their mates next door or in a coffee shop. They say they support Man United or Liverpool or Real Madrid but they'll buy the shirt and that’s it. That's where it begins and where it ends, “ she said.
The Asian Cup was brought to South East Asia “at great expense” so the Asian Football Confederation could say: “Malaysia, you can one day be as good as Japan if you put Malaysian football first; if you create a platform for domestic football. Same in Thailand and in Vietnam,” she said. It was easiest to attract spectators in Indonesia and Vietnam and difficult “as expected” in Malaysia and Thailand. But what was astonishing is that while the opening games of the group stages in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok were very poorly attended, the domestic TV ratings - with RTM in Malaysia and Channel 7 in Thailand, were huge. “The Thai matches on 7 were bigger than the World Cup ratings or the European Champions League ratings or the FA Cup final ratings,” she said.
This indicates “a culture of people who demonstrate their passion for the sport by watching it on TV,” she warned. “In South East Asia the numbers attending club matches has not increased, it has decreased. The number of children playing football has not increased. If anything in certain countries it has got worse. The commercial revenue has decreased and the television coverage has virtually disappeared.” So rather than inspiring local football, the foreign broadcasting “presses it down,” she said.
Tuesday, 28th August 2007
RESULTS
U.S. Open 2007 – Day 1
Men’s Singles Results Highlights
* Roger Federer SUI (1) def. Scoville Jenkins USA 6-3 6-2 6-4
* Max Mirnyi BLR def. Marcos Baghdatis CYP (18) 6-3 7-5 3-6 7-6 (8-6)
* Nikolay Davydenko RUS (4) def. Jesse Levine USA 6-4 6-0 6-1
* Andy Murray GBR (19) def. Pablo Cuevas URU 6-2 6-3 6-0
* Lee Hyung-Taik KOR def. Dominik Hrbaty SVK 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-4
* Richard Gasquet FRA (13) def. Sergio Roitman ARG 7-5 6-1 6-2
* Tommy Haas GER (10) def. Steve Darcis BEL 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-3 6-4
Women’s Singles Results Highlights
* Justine henin-Hardenne (1) def. Julia Goerges GER 6-0 6-3
* Jelena Jankovic (3) SRB def. Jarmila Gajdosova SVK 6-2 7-6 (7-2)
* Venus Williams USA (12) def. Kira Nagy HUN 6-2 6-1
* Ana Ivanovic (5) SRB def. Aiko Nakamura JPN 6-1 6-1
* Sybille Bammer AUT def. TamarineTanasugarn THA 6-4 6-4
* Ai Sugiyama JPN (28) Andreja Klepac SLO 6-3 6-1
* Karin Knapp ITA def. Chan Yung-Jan TPE 6-2 6-0
COURTSIDE: AT THE US OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007
Source: US Open Official, 14th Aug 2007
Instant replay makes a return to the 2007 US Open following successful debut last year. The 2006 US Open was the first Grand Slam to introduce electronic review technology and on-court player challenges. This breakthrough for the sport was developed to improve officiating for players, while increasing the interest and excitement for in-stadium fans and television viewers. Once a player challenges, the official review will be provided simultaneously to the television broadcast and in-stadium video boards, allowing the players, chair umpire, on-site fans and television viewers the opportunity to see the live results of a player challenge.
Source: US Open Official, 20th Aug 2007
For the first time, American Express Cardmembers will be able to check out a free personal television, dubbed “American Express Vision”, to watch live television coverage from any of five courts, as well as the network broadcasts of the US Open by CBS and USA Network. Fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium or on the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds will be able to watch TV coverage from the outer courts, view instant replays, and access draws and player bios when and how they want, on their personal TV. The hand-held units are free for American Express cardholders.
Source: Daily Times, 28th August 2007
Jelena Jankovic and Nikolay Davydenko, both Grand Slam semi-finalists here a year ago, advanced to the second round of the US Open on Monday with straight-set victories. Serbian third seed Jankovic, nagged by a second-set problem with her left shoe, won her women’s best 68th match of the year but needed seven match points to finally subdue Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) after 80 minutes. Russian fourth seed Davydenko defeated Jesse Levine 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 in one hour and 40 minutes, taking full advantage of eight double faults and 47 unforced errors by the US wild card entrant. Davydenko, 26, will next face the winner of a later match between German Nicolas Kiefer or American Vince Spadea while fellow French Open semi-finalist Jankovic, 22, next meets Belarus’ Olga Govortsova who defeated Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Source: Yahoo! Sports, 27th Aug 2007
Venus Williams broke the main-draw record for the fastest women's serve with a 129mph bullet as she blasted past Hungarian qualifier Kira Nagy 6-2 6-1 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday. The Wimbledon champion, looking to win back-to-back grand slam titles, overpowered Nagy in just 54 minutes to set up a meeting with Iona Raluca Olaru of Romania. The 29-year-old Nagy, appearing in only her second grand slam match, seven years after her first, looked overawed as Williams roared to a 5-0 lead. The Hungarian broke Williams and held for 5-2 but the American served out and then breezed through the second set to advance. Williams's 129mph serve broke her own main-draw record, set at this year's French Open in Paris.
Source: Yahoo! Sports, 27th Aug 2007
About the only thing Roger Federer was in danger of losing at the U.S. Open on Monday was the coin toss to determine who served first. And once Scoville Jenkins called heads and the flip came up tails, Federer won that, too. Trying for his fourth straight championship at Flushing Meadows and 12th Grand Slam title overall, Federer overwhelmed the 319th-ranked qualifier 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Source: Reuters, 27th Aug 2007
Top seed Justine Henin cruised into the second round of the U.S. Open on Monday with a 6-0 6-3 victory over German qualifier Julia Goerges. The world number one, the winner in 2003 and runner-up to Maria Sharapova last year, eased through in just 62 minutes. World number 145 Goerges, who was making her grand-slam debut, fought hard in the second set but Henin broke twice to advance, clinching victory with a winning backhand return. Henin will now play another qualifier, Tsvetana Pironkova, of Bulgaria in the second round.Apart from her victory in 2003 and her run to the final last year, Henin has never been past the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
THIS WEEK
Mon to Sun, 27th Aug to 1st Sep 2007
US Open Tennis Championships 2007: Early Rounds
Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Cincinnati Open
DTM 2007: Race Day – Nurburgring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Knockhill, UK
SPORTS SHORTS
* China's CCTV5 will become a 24-hr Olympic channel starting 1st January 2008. It will become the major media window on preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the International Sports TV Forum, the executive director of CCTV5, Jiang Heping, presented general broadcasting plans on how the channel would cover the upcoming Olympic Games. It includes pre-Olympic programmes, coverage plans during the Olympics and other follow-up programmes after the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, other CCTV channels will cooperate with CCTV5 to meet viewer demands. According to Jiang, the sports channel will focus on the Chinese Olympic team's performance. Source: CCTV English, ABU, 27th Aug 2007
* The interim government of Fiji has approved free-to-air television broadcast licences for three more companies. The three companies are MAI TV Fiji Limited, Pacific Broadcasting Services Limited and Talei Vision. In a statement, the government said this brings the total free-to-air television broadcast licences issued to four to date. Channel 2 Fiji Limited has already been issued a licence. Interim Commerce Minister Taito Waradi said the issuance of the licences was in line with interim government's policy to facilitate competition in the television industry. Source: ABU Official, 23rd Aug 2007
* Japan's Rakuten Inc, embroiled in a takeover battle with TBS-Japan, reaffirmed intentions to boost its stake in the broadcaster to about 21%. Rakuten Deputy President Atsushi Kunishige said the proposed acquisition of additional TBS shares is aimed at making the broadcaster an equity-method affiliate of the Internet firm. The advisory panel for TBS, tasked with determining the legitimacy of exercising anti-takeover measures against Rakuten, is expected to conclude in mid-September whether the Internet firm is an "abusive" buyer that could damage its corporate value. Raising its stake in TBS to more than 20% will allow Rakuten, the largest TBS shareholder, to reflect the broadcaster's earnings in its consolidated accounting procedure in proportion to the size of its shareholding. Source: ABU Official, 22nd Aug 2007
* Shin Broadband Internet in Thailand has acquired satellite, HD and video on demand rights for Bennett’s entire library of programming, the Los Angeles - based distributor said earlier this month. Bennett did not say how many hours the deal involved. The library includes Bikini Destinations, Destination X, Xotic Xtreme, The Wild Side, Bikini Life Adventures, Beyond the List, Girls Fight Club, Renegade Road, Hawaiian Tropic Spring Break, Best of Hawaiian Tropic Girls, and Stag. In Korea, Bennett has sold DMB rights for Bikini Destinations, Beyond the List and Bikini Life Adventures to mobile broadcast platform TU Media. Source: Content Asia, 27th Aug 2007
* China’s IPTV users reached 736,000 by June this year, up more than 20% from the previous quarter, according to research company Analysys International. Henan, Shanghai and Heilongjiang were the top three areas, with more than 100,000 IPTV users. UTStarcom, Vcom and ZTE were the top three vendors in the market. New figures from Ovum and the GSM Association also say China is set to pass 500 million cellular connections by September this year. China Mobile leads with market share of nearly 70%, according to the “Wireless Intelligence” report. China adds about 19 million cellular connections every quarter, with market penetration at 35% in the second quarter of this year.
* Maxis, the Malaysian mobile sister company of Astro All Asia Networks, plans a DVB-H service in the first quarter of 2008 but the service is contingent on Astro winning spectrum from the government. Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission will award spectrum to players in the mobile and television sphere shortly. But whether Astro will be awarded enough spectrum to offer a service nationwide is unknown. Maxis has completed a three-month trial outside of Kuala Lumpur. Six television channels and three radio stations were offered to 100 users. Source: Rapid TV News, 27th Aug 2007
* China Mobile has been granted a license to operate mobile telecom networks in Pakistan's northern area, Xinhua Net reported. The company's Pakistan unit, Paktel, already has 3,000 base stations in the country. After several failed attempts, China Mobile bought Paktel, formerly owned by Luxembourg-based operator Millicom, early this year. The operation license is seen as important for China Mobile's communications network along the highway connecting China's Xinjiang region with northern Pakistan. Source: China Econ. Review, ABU, 27th Aug 2007
* The Board of Control for Cricket in India has agreed a reported Rs1.73 billion ($42.3 million) deal with World Sport Group for ground and title naming rights to 55 coming internationals. World Sport Group outbid Nimbus Communications and the Percept agency to win the rights for 55 test matches and one-day internationals until March 2010. The fourth bidder, 21st Century Media, was disqualified from the process after failing to submit the necessary documents. The rights for other matches held by the BCCI, including Twenty20 internationals to be played in India and domestic cricket, are 'still being negotiated' according to the BCCI marketing committee. Lalit Modi, BCCI vice-president and marketing committee chief executive, said WSG's winning bid was over three times the value of the last contracted bid of Rs10 million per match. Source: Sportcal, 27th Aug 2007
* The Delhi High Court today issued an interim order staying the termination of contracts between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and those players who have joined the Indian Cricket League. In the interest of cricket, it ruled that no action could be taken against players, adding that government organisations could not terminate or initiate disciplinary proceedings against the players. The court has said that the contracts would remain in place and no threats or intimidation should be issued against the players. The court heard the BCCI argument that the contracts with the players were exclusive in nature and stopped them from playing for anyone else. However, the court held that the argument would be heard later and in the, meantime, no action should be taken. Source: Indian Television, 27th Aug 2007
* The president of French pay-television Canal Plus, Bertrand Méheut, has warned that he is unwilling to match existing annual rights fee of €600 million ($819.6 million) for the French Ligue 1. Canal Plus' Ligue 1 contract expires with the 2007-08 season and the French professional soccer league, LFP, is looking to negotiate a new deal in November for three seasons from 2008-09 onwards, but Méheut has said that the broadcaster will not match the value of its current contract. He said that soccer had become less important for Canal Plus, admitting the broadcaster had been 'excessively dependant on football at the beginning,' but was now looking to concentrate on its six editorial mainstays - sport, cinema, fiction, documentaries, news and entertainment. Source: Sportcal, 27th Aug 2007
* English football, bankrolled by more than £2billion worth of TV deals, is facing a serious problem from pirate websites offering live football for free. The largest threat comes from highly sophisticated footballstreaming.info, for its download offerings of live games from the Premier League and football from around the globe. New rebel sites are popping up all the time, but footballstreaming, which doesn't require a subscription to join, is reckoned to be the most comprehensive website attraction for armchair supporters. The issue has became a major concern to the football authorities, whose financial health and that of their clubs depend wholly on those bonanza TV contracts, as well as the TV networks who want to protect their expensively purchased rights. Source: The Daily Mail UK, 26th Aug 2007
* UEFA president Michel Platini says he would like domestic cup winners in Europe to have a spot in the Champions League. Platini's new proposal is expected to be endorsed during the meeting of UEFA on Thursday. 16 cup winners will enter a separate qualifying competition to run parallel to the regular qualifiers for the group stage. Platini had wanted to reduce the maximum number of Champions League spots from four to three but the idea was opposed by the most powerful leagues and clubs in Europe. He now introduced the domestic cup option as a compromise. Only the winners of the domestic cup would qualify, and if the cup winner had already qualified through their league position the available spot would be granted to the next-placed club in the league. Platini's plan is likely to get the support of the English FA and Italian Federation. Source: EUFootball.biz, 27th Aug 2007
* Google is believed to be a fortnight away from the worldwide launch of its much-awaited Google Phone (Gphone) and has started talks with service providers in India for an exclusive launch on one of their networks. Talks are believed to be on-going with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, respectively India’s first and third-largest mobile telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam. Sources said a simultaneous launch across the US and Europe is expected, and announcements would be sent to media firms in India and other parts of the world. US regulatory approval is the only hurdle that Google is waiting to cross. Google plans to invest $7-8 billion for its global telephony foray. Source: Business Standard, 24th Aug 2007
MORE NEWS
Hong Kong/The Philippines/Rights: CASBAA Cows Hong Kong Pirates
Regional pay-TV body, the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa), celebrated its biggest anti-signal theft fight ever in mid-August when three Hong Kong bars agreed to an out-of-court settlement for illegal broadcasts. The bars also agreed to issue public apologies. Meanwhile, the legal nightmare in the Philippines lives on, with the courts for the moment siding with cable operators in the argument over whether satellite channels should be protected – or not, as the case may be.
In July, Casbaa attempted to stop a Philippines appellate court from dropping intellectual property action against local cable operator, Telmarc Cable Corp. The motion for reconsideration was filed at the Court of Appeals in Manila following a decision to nullify search warrants issued against Telmarc. At the time, 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.
Casbaa has declined to comment on its latest battle in the Philippines, citing ongoing legal action. Casbaa chief executive, Simon Twiston Davies, said, however, that the Hong Kong win after a year of legal proceedings set a new benchmark for copyright cases. The Hong Kong settlements came after a Hong Kong judge derided and dismissed arguments from five bars about unauthorized broadcasts of the World Cup football tournament in June last year.
Three of the bars – Carnegies, the Bridge and the Coyote Bar & Grill – settled out of court with FIFA and local pay-TV operator Hong Kong Cable, which brought the action. Settlement figures were not disclosed, but are likely to have run into seven figures to cover costs. Two cases remain. These are against The White Stag and Devil’s Advocate. The bars argued that FIFA and
HK Cable had failed to supply sufficient evidence of exclusive distribution rights for Hong Kong. The judge threw out the argument, saying the bars had provided no reason to doubt the licensing arrangements. Source: Content Asia, 27th Aug 2007
India/Broadcaster: Ten Sports’ Campaign Takes Viewers on Tour
As part of its constant endeavour to grab eyeballs and viewership, Ten Sports has now brought forth a mega campaign that will span across six months and six different international locations. The ‘Idea & Ten Sports On Tour’ mega campaign will commence from August 25, 2007 and will continue till February 2008. The interactive contest is centred around each month’s most popular sporting event on the channel. Winners will get a chance to watch their favourite stars live at various venues worldwide.
The contest events range across a variety of sports, these include the WWE Smackdown to be held in Paris in September, followed by Moto GP in Malaysia in October, UEFA Champions League in Europe in November, the Sri Lanka versus England match in Sri Lanka in December, the South Africa versus West Indies match to be played in South Africa in January, and the Dubai Horse Racing event to be held in Dubai in February.
According to Rukin Kizilbash, General Manager, Taj TV India, “This is our most ambitious integrated marketing initiative till date. Never before has any sports broadcaster held a contest where winners get the opportunity to go to six different venues to see six different major live sporting events. We got a good response from Idea, Tata Sky and McDonald’s, who are patterning with us for this initiative.”
Viewers need to tune in to Ten Sports every day starting from August 25 till February next year, and answer a simple question based on that month’s sporting event. Every month lucky winners will travel to fascinating locations to see the sports event.
This contest is the latest addition to Tata Sky’s interactive services, and the ‘red button’ feature will enable its subscribers to participate in it. McDonald’s and Idea will have separate entry mechanisms, and the total number of winners will be 24. Every month, one winner each will be sent by McDonald’s and Tata Sky, while two winners will be sent by the partnership of Idea and Ten Sports.
Said Vikram Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Sky, “Tata Sky subscribers have been enjoying a number of exclusive interactive applications with unique contests and promotions adding to their viewing experience. This contest will now be the latest addition to Tata Sky’s interactive services and will be available to its subscribers through the hugely popular ‘red button’ feature.” Besides promoting the mega campaign on Ten Sports throughout the length of six months, print campaigns will be visible in the three editions of Mid-Day, in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Source: Exchange4Media, 27th Aug 2007
The Philippines/New Media: Mobile TV Platform Rolls Out
While regional programmers reel over a Philippines’ court decision that appears to sanction signal theft and continue to call the country the worst performing market in the region, the industry is keeping a close eye on dominant telco, the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and its television ambitions. These include the MyTV DVB-H platform. The new platform was launched at the end of July by MediaQuest Holdings’ subsidiary 360media in cooperation with PLDT subsidiary Smart. MediaQuest is a wholly owned subsidiary of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund.
MyTV bosses expect the 10-channel platform, which is being offered free until the end of August, to attract 60,000 to 70,000 subscribers. The monthly subscription is Ps488/US$10. Channels include CNN, Cartoon Network, National Geographic, Pinoy Box Office, and The History Channel. The three-channel sports package includes Basketball TV, Solar Sports, and PBA. MyTV was touted by MediaQuest bosses as a no-brainer for markets like the Philippines, which has high TV viewing and even higher mobile usage. MyTV is currently available in Mega Manila, Cebu and four other regions. Expansion has been promised.
Currently, the only handset available in the market that supports MyTV is the Nokia N92. Other handsets with myTV capability will be available later this year. The Nokia handsets without specials and contracts costs Ps22,990/US$493. MediaQuest and Smart said studies conducted earlier this year showed that key mobile TV usage drivers included the flexibility of being able to watch TV anywhere, portability and clear audio/video qualities, and the entertainment/relaxation value. Trial participants said they could see themselves subscribing to myTV to monitor breaking news, keep abreast of sports events and soap operas, and fill dead time during long commutes, while stuck in traffic or waiting in line. Source: Content Asia, 27th Aug 2007
Global/Rights: IAAF Signs Ten-Year Extension with Dentsu
Dentsu, the Japanese advertising giant and sports marketing firm, has renewed its commercial partnership with the International Association of Athletics Federations until 2019. As a result, Dentsu will continue to operate as the IAAF's worldwide marketing partner for the IAAF World Athletics Series, including all IAAF World Championships and IAAF World Athletics Final events, and will also distribute media rights on behalf of the federation outside Europe (excluding sub-Saharan Africa). Dentsu's existing deal was due to expire in 2009 and the ten-year renewal will see the firm become the longest-serving commercial partner in the federation's history.
The IAAF said that the renewed contract would facilitate the implementation of 'its own products within clearly defined areas such as generic TV programming, publications and licensing.' Lamine Diack, IAAF president, boasted that 'there can be few, if any other, international sports association or federation which can presently offer a guarantee of financial security to their members such as the one provided by this new agreement with Dentsu which virtually extends to the end of the second decade of this century.' News of the ten-year renewal was made public as the world athletics championships taking place in Osaka - an event for which Dentsu distributes the marketing rights worldwide, in addition to the broadcast rights outside of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Source: Sportcal, 27th Aug 2007
U.S. Open 2007 – Day 1
Men’s Singles Results Highlights
* Roger Federer SUI (1) def. Scoville Jenkins USA 6-3 6-2 6-4
* Max Mirnyi BLR def. Marcos Baghdatis CYP (18) 6-3 7-5 3-6 7-6 (8-6)
* Nikolay Davydenko RUS (4) def. Jesse Levine USA 6-4 6-0 6-1
* Andy Murray GBR (19) def. Pablo Cuevas URU 6-2 6-3 6-0
* Lee Hyung-Taik KOR def. Dominik Hrbaty SVK 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 6-4
* Richard Gasquet FRA (13) def. Sergio Roitman ARG 7-5 6-1 6-2
* Tommy Haas GER (10) def. Steve Darcis BEL 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-3 6-4
Women’s Singles Results Highlights
* Justine henin-Hardenne (1) def. Julia Goerges GER 6-0 6-3
* Jelena Jankovic (3) SRB def. Jarmila Gajdosova SVK 6-2 7-6 (7-2)
* Venus Williams USA (12) def. Kira Nagy HUN 6-2 6-1
* Ana Ivanovic (5) SRB def. Aiko Nakamura JPN 6-1 6-1
* Sybille Bammer AUT def. TamarineTanasugarn THA 6-4 6-4
* Ai Sugiyama JPN (28) Andreja Klepac SLO 6-3 6-1
* Karin Knapp ITA def. Chan Yung-Jan TPE 6-2 6-0
COURTSIDE: AT THE US OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007
Source: US Open Official, 14th Aug 2007
Instant replay makes a return to the 2007 US Open following successful debut last year. The 2006 US Open was the first Grand Slam to introduce electronic review technology and on-court player challenges. This breakthrough for the sport was developed to improve officiating for players, while increasing the interest and excitement for in-stadium fans and television viewers. Once a player challenges, the official review will be provided simultaneously to the television broadcast and in-stadium video boards, allowing the players, chair umpire, on-site fans and television viewers the opportunity to see the live results of a player challenge.
Source: US Open Official, 20th Aug 2007
For the first time, American Express Cardmembers will be able to check out a free personal television, dubbed “American Express Vision”, to watch live television coverage from any of five courts, as well as the network broadcasts of the US Open by CBS and USA Network. Fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium or on the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds will be able to watch TV coverage from the outer courts, view instant replays, and access draws and player bios when and how they want, on their personal TV. The hand-held units are free for American Express cardholders.
Source: Daily Times, 28th August 2007
Jelena Jankovic and Nikolay Davydenko, both Grand Slam semi-finalists here a year ago, advanced to the second round of the US Open on Monday with straight-set victories. Serbian third seed Jankovic, nagged by a second-set problem with her left shoe, won her women’s best 68th match of the year but needed seven match points to finally subdue Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) after 80 minutes. Russian fourth seed Davydenko defeated Jesse Levine 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 in one hour and 40 minutes, taking full advantage of eight double faults and 47 unforced errors by the US wild card entrant. Davydenko, 26, will next face the winner of a later match between German Nicolas Kiefer or American Vince Spadea while fellow French Open semi-finalist Jankovic, 22, next meets Belarus’ Olga Govortsova who defeated Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Source: Yahoo! Sports, 27th Aug 2007
Venus Williams broke the main-draw record for the fastest women's serve with a 129mph bullet as she blasted past Hungarian qualifier Kira Nagy 6-2 6-1 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday. The Wimbledon champion, looking to win back-to-back grand slam titles, overpowered Nagy in just 54 minutes to set up a meeting with Iona Raluca Olaru of Romania. The 29-year-old Nagy, appearing in only her second grand slam match, seven years after her first, looked overawed as Williams roared to a 5-0 lead. The Hungarian broke Williams and held for 5-2 but the American served out and then breezed through the second set to advance. Williams's 129mph serve broke her own main-draw record, set at this year's French Open in Paris.
Source: Yahoo! Sports, 27th Aug 2007
About the only thing Roger Federer was in danger of losing at the U.S. Open on Monday was the coin toss to determine who served first. And once Scoville Jenkins called heads and the flip came up tails, Federer won that, too. Trying for his fourth straight championship at Flushing Meadows and 12th Grand Slam title overall, Federer overwhelmed the 319th-ranked qualifier 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Source: Reuters, 27th Aug 2007
Top seed Justine Henin cruised into the second round of the U.S. Open on Monday with a 6-0 6-3 victory over German qualifier Julia Goerges. The world number one, the winner in 2003 and runner-up to Maria Sharapova last year, eased through in just 62 minutes. World number 145 Goerges, who was making her grand-slam debut, fought hard in the second set but Henin broke twice to advance, clinching victory with a winning backhand return. Henin will now play another qualifier, Tsvetana Pironkova, of Bulgaria in the second round.Apart from her victory in 2003 and her run to the final last year, Henin has never been past the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
THIS WEEK
Mon to Sun, 27th Aug to 1st Sep 2007
US Open Tennis Championships 2007: Early Rounds
Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Cincinnati Open
DTM 2007: Race Day – Nurburgring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Knockhill, UK
SPORTS SHORTS
* China's CCTV5 will become a 24-hr Olympic channel starting 1st January 2008. It will become the major media window on preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the International Sports TV Forum, the executive director of CCTV5, Jiang Heping, presented general broadcasting plans on how the channel would cover the upcoming Olympic Games. It includes pre-Olympic programmes, coverage plans during the Olympics and other follow-up programmes after the Olympic Games. Meanwhile, other CCTV channels will cooperate with CCTV5 to meet viewer demands. According to Jiang, the sports channel will focus on the Chinese Olympic team's performance. Source: CCTV English, ABU, 27th Aug 2007
* The interim government of Fiji has approved free-to-air television broadcast licences for three more companies. The three companies are MAI TV Fiji Limited, Pacific Broadcasting Services Limited and Talei Vision. In a statement, the government said this brings the total free-to-air television broadcast licences issued to four to date. Channel 2 Fiji Limited has already been issued a licence. Interim Commerce Minister Taito Waradi said the issuance of the licences was in line with interim government's policy to facilitate competition in the television industry. Source: ABU Official, 23rd Aug 2007
* Japan's Rakuten Inc, embroiled in a takeover battle with TBS-Japan, reaffirmed intentions to boost its stake in the broadcaster to about 21%. Rakuten Deputy President Atsushi Kunishige said the proposed acquisition of additional TBS shares is aimed at making the broadcaster an equity-method affiliate of the Internet firm. The advisory panel for TBS, tasked with determining the legitimacy of exercising anti-takeover measures against Rakuten, is expected to conclude in mid-September whether the Internet firm is an "abusive" buyer that could damage its corporate value. Raising its stake in TBS to more than 20% will allow Rakuten, the largest TBS shareholder, to reflect the broadcaster's earnings in its consolidated accounting procedure in proportion to the size of its shareholding. Source: ABU Official, 22nd Aug 2007
* Shin Broadband Internet in Thailand has acquired satellite, HD and video on demand rights for Bennett’s entire library of programming, the Los Angeles - based distributor said earlier this month. Bennett did not say how many hours the deal involved. The library includes Bikini Destinations, Destination X, Xotic Xtreme, The Wild Side, Bikini Life Adventures, Beyond the List, Girls Fight Club, Renegade Road, Hawaiian Tropic Spring Break, Best of Hawaiian Tropic Girls, and Stag. In Korea, Bennett has sold DMB rights for Bikini Destinations, Beyond the List and Bikini Life Adventures to mobile broadcast platform TU Media. Source: Content Asia, 27th Aug 2007
* China’s IPTV users reached 736,000 by June this year, up more than 20% from the previous quarter, according to research company Analysys International. Henan, Shanghai and Heilongjiang were the top three areas, with more than 100,000 IPTV users. UTStarcom, Vcom and ZTE were the top three vendors in the market. New figures from Ovum and the GSM Association also say China is set to pass 500 million cellular connections by September this year. China Mobile leads with market share of nearly 70%, according to the “Wireless Intelligence” report. China adds about 19 million cellular connections every quarter, with market penetration at 35% in the second quarter of this year.
* Maxis, the Malaysian mobile sister company of Astro All Asia Networks, plans a DVB-H service in the first quarter of 2008 but the service is contingent on Astro winning spectrum from the government. Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission will award spectrum to players in the mobile and television sphere shortly. But whether Astro will be awarded enough spectrum to offer a service nationwide is unknown. Maxis has completed a three-month trial outside of Kuala Lumpur. Six television channels and three radio stations were offered to 100 users. Source: Rapid TV News, 27th Aug 2007
* China Mobile has been granted a license to operate mobile telecom networks in Pakistan's northern area, Xinhua Net reported. The company's Pakistan unit, Paktel, already has 3,000 base stations in the country. After several failed attempts, China Mobile bought Paktel, formerly owned by Luxembourg-based operator Millicom, early this year. The operation license is seen as important for China Mobile's communications network along the highway connecting China's Xinjiang region with northern Pakistan. Source: China Econ. Review, ABU, 27th Aug 2007
* The Board of Control for Cricket in India has agreed a reported Rs1.73 billion ($42.3 million) deal with World Sport Group for ground and title naming rights to 55 coming internationals. World Sport Group outbid Nimbus Communications and the Percept agency to win the rights for 55 test matches and one-day internationals until March 2010. The fourth bidder, 21st Century Media, was disqualified from the process after failing to submit the necessary documents. The rights for other matches held by the BCCI, including Twenty20 internationals to be played in India and domestic cricket, are 'still being negotiated' according to the BCCI marketing committee. Lalit Modi, BCCI vice-president and marketing committee chief executive, said WSG's winning bid was over three times the value of the last contracted bid of Rs10 million per match. Source: Sportcal, 27th Aug 2007
* The Delhi High Court today issued an interim order staying the termination of contracts between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and those players who have joined the Indian Cricket League. In the interest of cricket, it ruled that no action could be taken against players, adding that government organisations could not terminate or initiate disciplinary proceedings against the players. The court has said that the contracts would remain in place and no threats or intimidation should be issued against the players. The court heard the BCCI argument that the contracts with the players were exclusive in nature and stopped them from playing for anyone else. However, the court held that the argument would be heard later and in the, meantime, no action should be taken. Source: Indian Television, 27th Aug 2007
* The president of French pay-television Canal Plus, Bertrand Méheut, has warned that he is unwilling to match existing annual rights fee of €600 million ($819.6 million) for the French Ligue 1. Canal Plus' Ligue 1 contract expires with the 2007-08 season and the French professional soccer league, LFP, is looking to negotiate a new deal in November for three seasons from 2008-09 onwards, but Méheut has said that the broadcaster will not match the value of its current contract. He said that soccer had become less important for Canal Plus, admitting the broadcaster had been 'excessively dependant on football at the beginning,' but was now looking to concentrate on its six editorial mainstays - sport, cinema, fiction, documentaries, news and entertainment. Source: Sportcal, 27th Aug 2007
* English football, bankrolled by more than £2billion worth of TV deals, is facing a serious problem from pirate websites offering live football for free. The largest threat comes from highly sophisticated footballstreaming.info, for its download offerings of live games from the Premier League and football from around the globe. New rebel sites are popping up all the time, but footballstreaming, which doesn't require a subscription to join, is reckoned to be the most comprehensive website attraction for armchair supporters. The issue has became a major concern to the football authorities, whose financial health and that of their clubs depend wholly on those bonanza TV contracts, as well as the TV networks who want to protect their expensively purchased rights. Source: The Daily Mail UK, 26th Aug 2007
* UEFA president Michel Platini says he would like domestic cup winners in Europe to have a spot in the Champions League. Platini's new proposal is expected to be endorsed during the meeting of UEFA on Thursday. 16 cup winners will enter a separate qualifying competition to run parallel to the regular qualifiers for the group stage. Platini had wanted to reduce the maximum number of Champions League spots from four to three but the idea was opposed by the most powerful leagues and clubs in Europe. He now introduced the domestic cup option as a compromise. Only the winners of the domestic cup would qualify, and if the cup winner had already qualified through their league position the available spot would be granted to the next-placed club in the league. Platini's plan is likely to get the support of the English FA and Italian Federation. Source: EUFootball.biz, 27th Aug 2007
* Google is believed to be a fortnight away from the worldwide launch of its much-awaited Google Phone (Gphone) and has started talks with service providers in India for an exclusive launch on one of their networks. Talks are believed to be on-going with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, respectively India’s first and third-largest mobile telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam. Sources said a simultaneous launch across the US and Europe is expected, and announcements would be sent to media firms in India and other parts of the world. US regulatory approval is the only hurdle that Google is waiting to cross. Google plans to invest $7-8 billion for its global telephony foray. Source: Business Standard, 24th Aug 2007
MORE NEWS
Hong Kong/The Philippines/Rights: CASBAA Cows Hong Kong Pirates
Regional pay-TV body, the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa), celebrated its biggest anti-signal theft fight ever in mid-August when three Hong Kong bars agreed to an out-of-court settlement for illegal broadcasts. The bars also agreed to issue public apologies. Meanwhile, the legal nightmare in the Philippines lives on, with the courts for the moment siding with cable operators in the argument over whether satellite channels should be protected – or not, as the case may be.
In July, Casbaa attempted to stop a Philippines appellate court from dropping intellectual property action against local cable operator, Telmarc Cable Corp. The motion for reconsideration was filed at the Court of Appeals in Manila following a decision to nullify search warrants issued against Telmarc. At the time, 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.
Casbaa has declined to comment on its latest battle in the Philippines, citing ongoing legal action. Casbaa chief executive, Simon Twiston Davies, said, however, that the Hong Kong win after a year of legal proceedings set a new benchmark for copyright cases. The Hong Kong settlements came after a Hong Kong judge derided and dismissed arguments from five bars about unauthorized broadcasts of the World Cup football tournament in June last year.
Three of the bars – Carnegies, the Bridge and the Coyote Bar & Grill – settled out of court with FIFA and local pay-TV operator Hong Kong Cable, which brought the action. Settlement figures were not disclosed, but are likely to have run into seven figures to cover costs. Two cases remain. These are against The White Stag and Devil’s Advocate. The bars argued that FIFA and
HK Cable had failed to supply sufficient evidence of exclusive distribution rights for Hong Kong. The judge threw out the argument, saying the bars had provided no reason to doubt the licensing arrangements. Source: Content Asia, 27th Aug 2007
India/Broadcaster: Ten Sports’ Campaign Takes Viewers on Tour
As part of its constant endeavour to grab eyeballs and viewership, Ten Sports has now brought forth a mega campaign that will span across six months and six different international locations. The ‘Idea & Ten Sports On Tour’ mega campaign will commence from August 25, 2007 and will continue till February 2008. The interactive contest is centred around each month’s most popular sporting event on the channel. Winners will get a chance to watch their favourite stars live at various venues worldwide.
The contest events range across a variety of sports, these include the WWE Smackdown to be held in Paris in September, followed by Moto GP in Malaysia in October, UEFA Champions League in Europe in November, the Sri Lanka versus England match in Sri Lanka in December, the South Africa versus West Indies match to be played in South Africa in January, and the Dubai Horse Racing event to be held in Dubai in February.
According to Rukin Kizilbash, General Manager, Taj TV India, “This is our most ambitious integrated marketing initiative till date. Never before has any sports broadcaster held a contest where winners get the opportunity to go to six different venues to see six different major live sporting events. We got a good response from Idea, Tata Sky and McDonald’s, who are patterning with us for this initiative.”
Viewers need to tune in to Ten Sports every day starting from August 25 till February next year, and answer a simple question based on that month’s sporting event. Every month lucky winners will travel to fascinating locations to see the sports event.
This contest is the latest addition to Tata Sky’s interactive services, and the ‘red button’ feature will enable its subscribers to participate in it. McDonald’s and Idea will have separate entry mechanisms, and the total number of winners will be 24. Every month, one winner each will be sent by McDonald’s and Tata Sky, while two winners will be sent by the partnership of Idea and Ten Sports.
Said Vikram Mehra, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Sky, “Tata Sky subscribers have been enjoying a number of exclusive interactive applications with unique contests and promotions adding to their viewing experience. This contest will now be the latest addition to Tata Sky’s interactive services and will be available to its subscribers through the hugely popular ‘red button’ feature.” Besides promoting the mega campaign on Ten Sports throughout the length of six months, print campaigns will be visible in the three editions of Mid-Day, in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Source: Exchange4Media, 27th Aug 2007
The Philippines/New Media: Mobile TV Platform Rolls Out
While regional programmers reel over a Philippines’ court decision that appears to sanction signal theft and continue to call the country the worst performing market in the region, the industry is keeping a close eye on dominant telco, the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and its television ambitions. These include the MyTV DVB-H platform. The new platform was launched at the end of July by MediaQuest Holdings’ subsidiary 360media in cooperation with PLDT subsidiary Smart. MediaQuest is a wholly owned subsidiary of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund.
MyTV bosses expect the 10-channel platform, which is being offered free until the end of August, to attract 60,000 to 70,000 subscribers. The monthly subscription is Ps488/US$10. Channels include CNN, Cartoon Network, National Geographic, Pinoy Box Office, and The History Channel. The three-channel sports package includes Basketball TV, Solar Sports, and PBA. MyTV was touted by MediaQuest bosses as a no-brainer for markets like the Philippines, which has high TV viewing and even higher mobile usage. MyTV is currently available in Mega Manila, Cebu and four other regions. Expansion has been promised.
Currently, the only handset available in the market that supports MyTV is the Nokia N92. Other handsets with myTV capability will be available later this year. The Nokia handsets without specials and contracts costs Ps22,990/US$493. MediaQuest and Smart said studies conducted earlier this year showed that key mobile TV usage drivers included the flexibility of being able to watch TV anywhere, portability and clear audio/video qualities, and the entertainment/relaxation value. Trial participants said they could see themselves subscribing to myTV to monitor breaking news, keep abreast of sports events and soap operas, and fill dead time during long commutes, while stuck in traffic or waiting in line. Source: Content Asia, 27th Aug 2007
Global/Rights: IAAF Signs Ten-Year Extension with Dentsu
Dentsu, the Japanese advertising giant and sports marketing firm, has renewed its commercial partnership with the International Association of Athletics Federations until 2019. As a result, Dentsu will continue to operate as the IAAF's worldwide marketing partner for the IAAF World Athletics Series, including all IAAF World Championships and IAAF World Athletics Final events, and will also distribute media rights on behalf of the federation outside Europe (excluding sub-Saharan Africa). Dentsu's existing deal was due to expire in 2009 and the ten-year renewal will see the firm become the longest-serving commercial partner in the federation's history.
The IAAF said that the renewed contract would facilitate the implementation of 'its own products within clearly defined areas such as generic TV programming, publications and licensing.' Lamine Diack, IAAF president, boasted that 'there can be few, if any other, international sports association or federation which can presently offer a guarantee of financial security to their members such as the one provided by this new agreement with Dentsu which virtually extends to the end of the second decade of this century.' News of the ten-year renewal was made public as the world athletics championships taking place in Osaka - an event for which Dentsu distributes the marketing rights worldwide, in addition to the broadcast rights outside of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Source: Sportcal, 27th Aug 2007
Monday, 27th August 2007
THIS WEEK
Mon to Sun, 27th Aug to 1st Sep 2007
US Open Tennis Championships 2007: Early Rounds
Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Cincinnati Open
DTM 2007: Race Day – Nurburgring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Knockhill, UK
RESULTS
AVP Official, 27th Aug 2007
Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser earned their ninth victory this season when they defeated Aaron Wachtfogel and Scott Wong in Saturday's final. On Sunday, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh captured their 11th AVP Crocs Tour crown this season with a victory over Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs on Sunday. The victory increased May-Treanor and Walsh's point total to 5,958 points while Branagh and Youngs held on to the second position with 5,238 points. Rachel Wacholder and Tyra Turner remain in third place on the women's side with 4,770 points.
COURTSIDE: AT THE US OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007
USTA Hires Security Firm to Prevent Gambling at US Open
The organisers of the US Open, the last grand slam tennis tournament of the season, have appointed a security firm to ensure that there are no gambling scandals at the event, which begins on Monday. SafirRosetti, which has worked with horse racing’s New York Racing Association and various professional sports leagues and clubs, with have an investigative team in place throughout the two-week event in New York. The US Tennis Association said: ‘We don’t believe there is a problem [with gambling], but we want to educate ourselves to what can be better.’
There are some concerns over the impact of betting on tennis after Betfair, the UK-based online bookmaker, decided to void all bets on a recent match between Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko and Argentina’s Martin Vassallo Arguello in the Prokom Open in Poland because of suspicious gambling activity. The ATP, the governing body of men’s tennis, has launched an investigation into the affair and signs clarifying the US Open’s anti-gambling policy have been placed around players’ facilities at the Flushing Meadow venue. The issue of gambling in sport has been to the fore in the USA of late after former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to betting on games, some of which he was involved, and faces up to 25 years in jail. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
Tennis Fans Can Pick Their Shots
Sporting events these days are getting more than just traditional television coverage, and the upcoming U.S. Open is only the latest example. The USA Network beginning Monday will offer 107 hours of weekday coverage, with 95 being live, while CBS will have more than 37 hours of mostly weekend coverage. But another 300 hours -- up to 100 matches -- will be available through a multichannel DirecTV package that is free to subscribers during the first five days of the Open. On DirecTV channels 692-696 will be matches not on USA. There is also a "mix channel" (690) that will have five matches on the screen at once. Customers with interactive system equipment can click on any one of those matches and it goes to full screen. DirecTV offered a similar package for the first time last year.
A new interactive feature this year provides a schedule of current and upcoming matches that users can click on to go to the correct channel. The USA weekday coverage all next week will be on from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and again from 4-8 p.m., with the match of the day being shown at 11 p.m. The DirecTV supplemental coverage more than likely will continue after USA signs off the air at 2 p.m. and will also include interviews and news conferences not available on USA.
After the first five days, there will be coverage only on CBS and USA. CBS, which Sunday at 9 a.m. will show highlights of Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, will have Open coverage throughout Labor Day weekend and on the final three days, Sept. 7-9. USA will also televise the Open Sept. 4-6. And in case that isn't enough tennis for DirecTV customers, the satellite service launches the Tennis Channel on Monday. It can be found on channel 617. Source: Los Angeles Times, 24th Aug 2007
USTA Looks to Broadband, Mobile for Open
It's a very new media U.S. Open that kicks off this weekend as, in a new twist this year, fans in the stands will be able to watch video on other courts on handheld devices from WiseDV. And with CBS Sports backing off its late-night U.S. Open wrap-up show the USTA has stepped in with two of its own online wrap-up programs every night. Sponsored by American Express, the programs will be put together with an Apple Final Cut Pro system and an EVS [Spot]Box, giving USTA fans a recap of the day’s events and preview of the night session at 6:30 and a full-day wrap up at 11:30 p.m.
“We’ll also build a flypack with additional tape machines and edit it in short three-minute segments that can be easily played back online,” says Steve Gorsuch, Director of Broadcast Operations for the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center. While the online highlight shows will help fans at home keep on top of the action a new technology from WiseDV will make its debut at the USTA Center itself, giving fans in the stands the first-ever opportunity to watch matches on up to six courses via a handheld MPEG-4 video player.
With the help of American Express, 2,000 Wise DV devices will be available free to American Express cardholders. Fans will be able to walk up to the American Express booth, have their card swiped (for a deposit of $350 to make sure the device is returned) and then dial in and watch six channels of Am Ex Vision Live at the U.S. Open.
Gorsuch says a WiseDV headend has been set up in the TV compound and will pull in a variety of signals from around the compound. A closed-circuit TV system has been in place for years, allowing fans around the tennis center to see action on other courts and the new system will tap into that network and also deliver live simulcasts of CBS or USA Network feeds. A stats page will also be available.
WiseDV was selected over competing technologies because its form factor and look are better suited for the tennis fan than, say, the KangarooTV device seen at NASCAR races. “KangarooTV works great for NASCAR fans but the WiseDV device is a little slicker and cooler,” he explains. “We were intrigued about the product and brought it to American Express’ agency and they were excited.” WiseDV has also made the interface simple, making it usable by both the tech savvy and tech newbies. “We didn’t want a device that required a 14-year old to show you how to use it,” says Gorsuch.
The WiseDV LVIS system, set within the tennis center, sends audio and video signals to a hand-held four-inch LCD video player. It replays action on demand from any camera angle at full speed or slow motion as well as showing stats and more immediate information such as where to get food. “We’ve developed our own system and it interfaces with the tennis center cameras and audio,” says Atul Anandpura, WiseDV founder and CEO. The transmitter antennas connected via fiber to the headend and are located at the top of Arthur Ashe, Armstrong, the Grandstand courts and on top of the AmEx corporate suites to ensure AmEx guests can receive signals inside.
The biggest challenge will be one of the classic conundrums facing hand-held device users: battery life. The USTA is working to ensure that battery life isn’t an issue, with 1,500 extra batteries on site and a large number of chargers to keep up with demand. And then there is the enemy of all LCD screens: the sun. “At high noon it’s similar to looking at a cellphone screen so you need to move around a little,” says Gorsuch. “But in the shade or at nighttime it’s spectacular.” Source: Sport Video Group, 23rd Aug 2007
SPORTS SHORTS
* Dubai Investment Group (DIG) has bought a 40% stake in India’s Time Broadband Services. The deal has been done via DIG subsidiary, Dubai Ventures, and when Time Broadband is set to launch an IPTV-based service in India. It is promising to introduce linear TV, new movies, interactive TV as well as on-demand movies and programming. DIG is one of the investment vehicles of Dubai Holdings, controlled by the Emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. Source: Rapid TV News, 24th Aug 2007
* India’s ace shuttler Anup Sridhar has attained his career best World Ranking of 29 as per the latest rankings brought out by the Badminton World Federation today. Sridhar's sterling performance in the recently concluded World Championship in Kuala Lumpur - where he reached the quarterfinals after scalping Olympic gold medalist Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia and former All England Champion Hafiz Hashim (Malaysia) - fetched him 6600 points and helped him jump 11 places from 40 to the current ranking of 29. Source: The Hindu, 25th Aug 2007
* The Indian cricket board is set to launch its own Twenty20 competition to counter the threat posed by an unofficial league which launches this autumn. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has not yet introduced the short format version of the game at domestic level, but has been forced to accelerate its plans because of the emergence of the Indian Cricket League, which it has refused to sanction. Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, told Reuters: ‘All I can say for now is it is at an early stage. The idea was actually floated last year. The modalities will be discussed at a meeting next month and we could have foreign players participating.’ It is thought that the BCCI’s ‘Premier Cricket League’ could comprise franchise teams owned by corporations and that players could be bought, sold or transferred as in professional soccer. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
* The International Rugby Board holds world TV and marketing rights for The Rugby World Cup, reportedly worth more than $200 million. Marketing mavens note that rugby fans tend to skew toward the more educated and affluent, in line with the adage that calls rugby a ruffian's game played by gentlemen. Also helping is the game's swift pace and other TV-friendly elements like the haka, the popular pregame war dance of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. In a surprising statistic, the Cup's worldwide TV audience exceeded 3 billion four years ago. Although shy of the most recent soccer World Cup (30 billion for all matches) and Summer Olympics (4 billion), it's still No. 3 on the list. Excerpted from Reuters CA, 24th Aug 2007
* GlobeCast is putting HD in the spotlight at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, providing end-to-end satellite and fibre services for host broadcaster TVH. GlobeCast will deploy 15 SNG vehicles to all matches in France, including three trucks dedicated to HD. Additionally, for the first time in Europe, GlobeCast will provide long-distance, terrestrial transport of non-compressed HD signals – a development that promises to help telcos transport HD video without modifying infrastructures, updating equipment or compromising quality. This experiment will be held at matches in Marseille. As a security measure, GlobeCast will also ensure the transport in SD of all backup feeds via satellite. Source: Sports e-Media, Rapid TV News, 24th Aug 2007
* With two weeks before the deadline for candidature applications, five cities have applied to host the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge named the applicants as Algiers, Athens, Moscow, Turin, and Singapore. Olympics specialist website Around the Rings reports that Guatemala City, which hosted last month’s IOC session, and Guadalajara in Mexico, are expected to bid. Rogge was speaking after a meeting of the IOC executive board and the council of the IAAF, world athletics’ governing body, a meeting that takes place in the lead-up to the athletics world championships. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
*South Africa is to bid to host the World University Games (Universiade) in 2015, the South African Student Sport Union has announced. Following this year’s edition of the biennial games, which ended in Bangkok, Thailand last weekend, Glen Bentley, the SASSU’s president said that it would hold an executive meeting next month to begin planning the bid. Belgrade in Serbia and Shenzhen in China have been chosen to host the 2009 and 2011 editions, respectively. Milan (Italy), an unnamed city in Kazakhstan, Brasilia (Brazil) and Manila (Philippines) are thought to be prepared to bid for the 2013 edition. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
* FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has refused to apologise for his blast at the Football Association - and stands by his claim that England is disliked by the rest of Europe. Warner said in a BBC interview this month that the FA had made little impact on world football and that his Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) would fight England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup. Warner wants FIFA to continue the policy of rotating the World Cup around the continents, but European FIFA members believe the finals should be held in Europe every three tournaments. A decision is expected at FIFA's next executive committee meeting on October 30. Source: Soccerex Newsletter, 24th Aug 2007
* CBS SportsLine.com has undergone a rebranding - and will now be known simply as CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive, which operates the site, says the change gives advertisers the ability to more readily associate with the CBS Sports brand and reach sports fans across a range of platforms. The move to CBSSports.com will be marked by increased on-site and on-air integration with CBS Sports. Source: 24th Aug 2007
* Tennis sensation Venus Williams has teamed up retailer Steve & Barry’s to launch what is being billed as the ‘largest fashion collection by a female athlete’. The collection, called EleVen by Venus Williams, will get a high profile debut when she wears the signature item in the line – the V-Court court shoe - during next week’s US Open. The full 120-piece range includes gear for both and off the court. EleVen will be sold exclusively at Steve & Barry's stores in US from November. Source: Sport Business, 24th Aug 2007
* The International Olympic Committee is beginning its global promotional campaign, entitled ‘The Best of Us’ with a television advertisement. The advertisement is already available on the IOC website. The promotional campaign is intended to drive key Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect to a global youth audience and has been developed by the Voluntarily United Group of Creative Agencies (United), a unit of global advertising giant WPP. The IOC will work with United across a range of media including television, the internet, print, viral promotion, experiential and PR activities. The campaign will be rolled out in a phased approach in the run-up to and beyond the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
MORE NEWS
The Yonex-Sunrise India Open: Malaysia’s Trip in Jeopardy
The participation of the Malaysian badminton team in the India Open now hangs in the balance following bomb blasts in Hyderabad on Saturday. There were three blasts at Hyderabad that left more than 30 people dead. The incident had been linked to terrorism. The India Open, which is offering its highest-ever prize money of US$150,000, is scheduled for Sept 4-9 and it is one of the tournaments that offers Olympic qualifying points.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) secretaryP. Ganga Rao said yesterday that they would make a decision on the team's participation this week. “The bomb blasts were very close to the badminton venue (Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium). We will have to look into the players' safety. We (the BAM) will discuss the matter with the NSC (National Sports Council) before we come to s decision,” he said.
National number one Lee Chong Wei is the top seed and the other Malaysian entries in the men's singles include Mohd Hafiz Hashim and veteran Wong Choong Hann. The tournament has also drawn the participation of China's Bao Chunlai and Chen Yu and Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat. In the men's doubles, Malaysia have three national pairs among the entries – Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, Chan Chong Ming-Hoon Thien How and Gan Teik Chai-Lin Woon Fui.
Among the top pairs in the fray are the Indonesian-American combination of Candra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan, South Koreans Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae and Lee Jae-jin-Hwang Ji-man and China's Xie Zhongbo-Guo Zhengdong. If Malaysia opt out of the tournament, the next assignment for the national shuttlers will be the Japan Open, which is the seventh leg of the Super Series, scheduled for Sept 11-16 in Tokyo. Source: The Star MY, 27th Aug 2007
South East Asia/Rights: Thais Want Money for SEA Games TV rights
A Thai proposal to commercialize television rights for this year’s Southeast Asian Games came under fire at a meeting in Bangkok Thursday. The rights are usually given free to all participating nations. Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia opposed the host nation’s call to scrap article 59 of the SEA Games Federation regulation prescribing free rights, Hoang Vinh Giang, the Vietnam Olympic Committee general secretary said.
The article further permits the Olympic committees of the participating nations to confer the rights to one (or more) local TV stations. The Malaysian and Singaporean national committees also advised domestic TV networks not to hold any negotiations with the SEA Games organizing committee (SGOC) on the matter. Sumonpan Kosonsiriset, coordinator of the International Broadcasting Center – a member of the SGOC – said the proceeds from the rights sales would cover part of the organizing expenses of approximately US$6.6 million.
Vietnam Olympic Committee chairman Nguyen Danh Thai rejected the argument saying that for the 2003 SEA Games his country hosted, VND120 billion ($7.5 million) was spent only to buy TV equipment to provide free coverage. The SGOC said it would convene another meeting Friday to further discuss the issue. The 24th SEA Games will be held from December 6 to 15. Source: Thanh Nien Daily, 24th Aug 2007
China/New Media: No Special Olympic Editorial Rights for Sohu.com
The International Olympic Committee today rejected a claim by Sohu.com, a Chinese website, that it would get preferential access to report on next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing for its own commercial use. Sohu.com claimed the privilege as one of the benefits of its partnership with the games organising committee, of which it is an official sponsor. However, the IOC told Sportcal: ‘The Olympic Games are covered by a number of media outlets. Being a BOCOG [organising committee] partner does not grant exclusive or special editorial rights to cover the Beijing games. Currently the new media and mobile rights to show live or highlight footage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games have not been granted in mainland China.’
The deadline for Chinese companies to bid for internet and mobile phone rights for the games elapsed in April. The games organising committee had replied cryptically when challenged over the issue by the Wall Street Journal newspaper, saying: ‘BOCOG welcomes all media coverage on the Olympics.’ The IOC declined to become involved in a parallel row in which rival Chinese websites are up in arms over a stipulation that other organising committee sponsors can use the games logo only when advertising with Sohu.com, and not on the rival sites.
The organising committee said that Olympic sponsors are ‘only allowed to release their Olympic-related online advertisements on Sohu.’ The restriction applies only to the organising committee’s sponsors and not to those of the IOC. The rival sites claim that, under its sponsorship deal, Sohu acquired only the right to manage the official games website and to use the games logo in its own advertising. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
Global/Rights: FA Issues Invitation to Tender for International Rights
The Football Association, English soccer’s governing body, today issued an invitation to tender for the international media rights for England’s home games and the FA Cup top-tier knockout competition for a four-year period beginning with the 2008-09 season. The tender offers two packages of live matches, covering the FA Cup and England matches respectively, and two delayed rights packages including highlights and various clips and edit rights.
The FA said that all of the rights will be available across the three platforms of traditional broadcast, internet and mobile. Bidders are free to submit bids either for selected territories, or on a global basis. The tender also requests separate bids for the sale of ‘second-party rights’ for England qualification matches in the World Cup and European Championships. These are media rights in the country of the visiting team when England are playing home qualifying matches.
Broadcasters acquiring FA rights will be free to agree their own broadcast sponsorship deals, subject to an obligation to offer the FA’s sponsors the first option to acquire the rights in each of the FA sponsors’ industry sectors. The tender documents are now available via the FA’s website at www.TheFA.com/ITT, after it began the process by seeking expressions of interest in May from broadcasters, agencies and specialist media operations, including mobile phone and IPTV networks.
The majority of the rights are distributed by Sportfive, the international sports agency, under the present deal which is worth about £50 million ($100 million). The rights cover the annual FA Cup competition, England matches, England Under-21 matches, and the FA Community Shield, the traditional ‘curtain-raiser’ to the English season. A domestic deal worth £425 million has already been agreed with commercial broadcaster ITV and pay-television operator Setanta. The deadline for submissions of bids is midday, UK time, on September 28. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
Mon to Sun, 27th Aug to 1st Sep 2007
US Open Tennis Championships 2007: Early Rounds
Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Cincinnati Open
DTM 2007: Race Day – Nurburgring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Knockhill, UK
RESULTS
AVP Official, 27th Aug 2007
Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser earned their ninth victory this season when they defeated Aaron Wachtfogel and Scott Wong in Saturday's final. On Sunday, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh captured their 11th AVP Crocs Tour crown this season with a victory over Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs on Sunday. The victory increased May-Treanor and Walsh's point total to 5,958 points while Branagh and Youngs held on to the second position with 5,238 points. Rachel Wacholder and Tyra Turner remain in third place on the women's side with 4,770 points.
COURTSIDE: AT THE US OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007
USTA Hires Security Firm to Prevent Gambling at US Open
The organisers of the US Open, the last grand slam tennis tournament of the season, have appointed a security firm to ensure that there are no gambling scandals at the event, which begins on Monday. SafirRosetti, which has worked with horse racing’s New York Racing Association and various professional sports leagues and clubs, with have an investigative team in place throughout the two-week event in New York. The US Tennis Association said: ‘We don’t believe there is a problem [with gambling], but we want to educate ourselves to what can be better.’
There are some concerns over the impact of betting on tennis after Betfair, the UK-based online bookmaker, decided to void all bets on a recent match between Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko and Argentina’s Martin Vassallo Arguello in the Prokom Open in Poland because of suspicious gambling activity. The ATP, the governing body of men’s tennis, has launched an investigation into the affair and signs clarifying the US Open’s anti-gambling policy have been placed around players’ facilities at the Flushing Meadow venue. The issue of gambling in sport has been to the fore in the USA of late after former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to betting on games, some of which he was involved, and faces up to 25 years in jail. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
Tennis Fans Can Pick Their Shots
Sporting events these days are getting more than just traditional television coverage, and the upcoming U.S. Open is only the latest example. The USA Network beginning Monday will offer 107 hours of weekday coverage, with 95 being live, while CBS will have more than 37 hours of mostly weekend coverage. But another 300 hours -- up to 100 matches -- will be available through a multichannel DirecTV package that is free to subscribers during the first five days of the Open. On DirecTV channels 692-696 will be matches not on USA. There is also a "mix channel" (690) that will have five matches on the screen at once. Customers with interactive system equipment can click on any one of those matches and it goes to full screen. DirecTV offered a similar package for the first time last year.
A new interactive feature this year provides a schedule of current and upcoming matches that users can click on to go to the correct channel. The USA weekday coverage all next week will be on from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and again from 4-8 p.m., with the match of the day being shown at 11 p.m. The DirecTV supplemental coverage more than likely will continue after USA signs off the air at 2 p.m. and will also include interviews and news conferences not available on USA.
After the first five days, there will be coverage only on CBS and USA. CBS, which Sunday at 9 a.m. will show highlights of Arthur Ashe Kids' Day, will have Open coverage throughout Labor Day weekend and on the final three days, Sept. 7-9. USA will also televise the Open Sept. 4-6. And in case that isn't enough tennis for DirecTV customers, the satellite service launches the Tennis Channel on Monday. It can be found on channel 617. Source: Los Angeles Times, 24th Aug 2007
USTA Looks to Broadband, Mobile for Open
It's a very new media U.S. Open that kicks off this weekend as, in a new twist this year, fans in the stands will be able to watch video on other courts on handheld devices from WiseDV. And with CBS Sports backing off its late-night U.S. Open wrap-up show the USTA has stepped in with two of its own online wrap-up programs every night. Sponsored by American Express, the programs will be put together with an Apple Final Cut Pro system and an EVS [Spot]Box, giving USTA fans a recap of the day’s events and preview of the night session at 6:30 and a full-day wrap up at 11:30 p.m.
“We’ll also build a flypack with additional tape machines and edit it in short three-minute segments that can be easily played back online,” says Steve Gorsuch, Director of Broadcast Operations for the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center. While the online highlight shows will help fans at home keep on top of the action a new technology from WiseDV will make its debut at the USTA Center itself, giving fans in the stands the first-ever opportunity to watch matches on up to six courses via a handheld MPEG-4 video player.
With the help of American Express, 2,000 Wise DV devices will be available free to American Express cardholders. Fans will be able to walk up to the American Express booth, have their card swiped (for a deposit of $350 to make sure the device is returned) and then dial in and watch six channels of Am Ex Vision Live at the U.S. Open.
Gorsuch says a WiseDV headend has been set up in the TV compound and will pull in a variety of signals from around the compound. A closed-circuit TV system has been in place for years, allowing fans around the tennis center to see action on other courts and the new system will tap into that network and also deliver live simulcasts of CBS or USA Network feeds. A stats page will also be available.
WiseDV was selected over competing technologies because its form factor and look are better suited for the tennis fan than, say, the KangarooTV device seen at NASCAR races. “KangarooTV works great for NASCAR fans but the WiseDV device is a little slicker and cooler,” he explains. “We were intrigued about the product and brought it to American Express’ agency and they were excited.” WiseDV has also made the interface simple, making it usable by both the tech savvy and tech newbies. “We didn’t want a device that required a 14-year old to show you how to use it,” says Gorsuch.
The WiseDV LVIS system, set within the tennis center, sends audio and video signals to a hand-held four-inch LCD video player. It replays action on demand from any camera angle at full speed or slow motion as well as showing stats and more immediate information such as where to get food. “We’ve developed our own system and it interfaces with the tennis center cameras and audio,” says Atul Anandpura, WiseDV founder and CEO. The transmitter antennas connected via fiber to the headend and are located at the top of Arthur Ashe, Armstrong, the Grandstand courts and on top of the AmEx corporate suites to ensure AmEx guests can receive signals inside.
The biggest challenge will be one of the classic conundrums facing hand-held device users: battery life. The USTA is working to ensure that battery life isn’t an issue, with 1,500 extra batteries on site and a large number of chargers to keep up with demand. And then there is the enemy of all LCD screens: the sun. “At high noon it’s similar to looking at a cellphone screen so you need to move around a little,” says Gorsuch. “But in the shade or at nighttime it’s spectacular.” Source: Sport Video Group, 23rd Aug 2007
SPORTS SHORTS
* Dubai Investment Group (DIG) has bought a 40% stake in India’s Time Broadband Services. The deal has been done via DIG subsidiary, Dubai Ventures, and when Time Broadband is set to launch an IPTV-based service in India. It is promising to introduce linear TV, new movies, interactive TV as well as on-demand movies and programming. DIG is one of the investment vehicles of Dubai Holdings, controlled by the Emirate’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. Source: Rapid TV News, 24th Aug 2007
* India’s ace shuttler Anup Sridhar has attained his career best World Ranking of 29 as per the latest rankings brought out by the Badminton World Federation today. Sridhar's sterling performance in the recently concluded World Championship in Kuala Lumpur - where he reached the quarterfinals after scalping Olympic gold medalist Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia and former All England Champion Hafiz Hashim (Malaysia) - fetched him 6600 points and helped him jump 11 places from 40 to the current ranking of 29. Source: The Hindu, 25th Aug 2007
* The Indian cricket board is set to launch its own Twenty20 competition to counter the threat posed by an unofficial league which launches this autumn. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has not yet introduced the short format version of the game at domestic level, but has been forced to accelerate its plans because of the emergence of the Indian Cricket League, which it has refused to sanction. Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, told Reuters: ‘All I can say for now is it is at an early stage. The idea was actually floated last year. The modalities will be discussed at a meeting next month and we could have foreign players participating.’ It is thought that the BCCI’s ‘Premier Cricket League’ could comprise franchise teams owned by corporations and that players could be bought, sold or transferred as in professional soccer. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
* The International Rugby Board holds world TV and marketing rights for The Rugby World Cup, reportedly worth more than $200 million. Marketing mavens note that rugby fans tend to skew toward the more educated and affluent, in line with the adage that calls rugby a ruffian's game played by gentlemen. Also helping is the game's swift pace and other TV-friendly elements like the haka, the popular pregame war dance of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. In a surprising statistic, the Cup's worldwide TV audience exceeded 3 billion four years ago. Although shy of the most recent soccer World Cup (30 billion for all matches) and Summer Olympics (4 billion), it's still No. 3 on the list. Excerpted from Reuters CA, 24th Aug 2007
* GlobeCast is putting HD in the spotlight at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, providing end-to-end satellite and fibre services for host broadcaster TVH. GlobeCast will deploy 15 SNG vehicles to all matches in France, including three trucks dedicated to HD. Additionally, for the first time in Europe, GlobeCast will provide long-distance, terrestrial transport of non-compressed HD signals – a development that promises to help telcos transport HD video without modifying infrastructures, updating equipment or compromising quality. This experiment will be held at matches in Marseille. As a security measure, GlobeCast will also ensure the transport in SD of all backup feeds via satellite. Source: Sports e-Media, Rapid TV News, 24th Aug 2007
* With two weeks before the deadline for candidature applications, five cities have applied to host the inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge named the applicants as Algiers, Athens, Moscow, Turin, and Singapore. Olympics specialist website Around the Rings reports that Guatemala City, which hosted last month’s IOC session, and Guadalajara in Mexico, are expected to bid. Rogge was speaking after a meeting of the IOC executive board and the council of the IAAF, world athletics’ governing body, a meeting that takes place in the lead-up to the athletics world championships. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
*South Africa is to bid to host the World University Games (Universiade) in 2015, the South African Student Sport Union has announced. Following this year’s edition of the biennial games, which ended in Bangkok, Thailand last weekend, Glen Bentley, the SASSU’s president said that it would hold an executive meeting next month to begin planning the bid. Belgrade in Serbia and Shenzhen in China have been chosen to host the 2009 and 2011 editions, respectively. Milan (Italy), an unnamed city in Kazakhstan, Brasilia (Brazil) and Manila (Philippines) are thought to be prepared to bid for the 2013 edition. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
* FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has refused to apologise for his blast at the Football Association - and stands by his claim that England is disliked by the rest of Europe. Warner said in a BBC interview this month that the FA had made little impact on world football and that his Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) would fight England’s bid for the 2018 World Cup. Warner wants FIFA to continue the policy of rotating the World Cup around the continents, but European FIFA members believe the finals should be held in Europe every three tournaments. A decision is expected at FIFA's next executive committee meeting on October 30. Source: Soccerex Newsletter, 24th Aug 2007
* CBS SportsLine.com has undergone a rebranding - and will now be known simply as CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive, which operates the site, says the change gives advertisers the ability to more readily associate with the CBS Sports brand and reach sports fans across a range of platforms. The move to CBSSports.com will be marked by increased on-site and on-air integration with CBS Sports. Source: 24th Aug 2007
* Tennis sensation Venus Williams has teamed up retailer Steve & Barry’s to launch what is being billed as the ‘largest fashion collection by a female athlete’. The collection, called EleVen by Venus Williams, will get a high profile debut when she wears the signature item in the line – the V-Court court shoe - during next week’s US Open. The full 120-piece range includes gear for both and off the court. EleVen will be sold exclusively at Steve & Barry's stores in US from November. Source: Sport Business, 24th Aug 2007
* The International Olympic Committee is beginning its global promotional campaign, entitled ‘The Best of Us’ with a television advertisement. The advertisement is already available on the IOC website. The promotional campaign is intended to drive key Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect to a global youth audience and has been developed by the Voluntarily United Group of Creative Agencies (United), a unit of global advertising giant WPP. The IOC will work with United across a range of media including television, the internet, print, viral promotion, experiential and PR activities. The campaign will be rolled out in a phased approach in the run-up to and beyond the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
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The Yonex-Sunrise India Open: Malaysia’s Trip in Jeopardy
The participation of the Malaysian badminton team in the India Open now hangs in the balance following bomb blasts in Hyderabad on Saturday. There were three blasts at Hyderabad that left more than 30 people dead. The incident had been linked to terrorism. The India Open, which is offering its highest-ever prize money of US$150,000, is scheduled for Sept 4-9 and it is one of the tournaments that offers Olympic qualifying points.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) secretaryP. Ganga Rao said yesterday that they would make a decision on the team's participation this week. “The bomb blasts were very close to the badminton venue (Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium). We will have to look into the players' safety. We (the BAM) will discuss the matter with the NSC (National Sports Council) before we come to s decision,” he said.
National number one Lee Chong Wei is the top seed and the other Malaysian entries in the men's singles include Mohd Hafiz Hashim and veteran Wong Choong Hann. The tournament has also drawn the participation of China's Bao Chunlai and Chen Yu and Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat. In the men's doubles, Malaysia have three national pairs among the entries – Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, Chan Chong Ming-Hoon Thien How and Gan Teik Chai-Lin Woon Fui.
Among the top pairs in the fray are the Indonesian-American combination of Candra Wijaya-Tony Gunawan, South Koreans Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae and Lee Jae-jin-Hwang Ji-man and China's Xie Zhongbo-Guo Zhengdong. If Malaysia opt out of the tournament, the next assignment for the national shuttlers will be the Japan Open, which is the seventh leg of the Super Series, scheduled for Sept 11-16 in Tokyo. Source: The Star MY, 27th Aug 2007
South East Asia/Rights: Thais Want Money for SEA Games TV rights
A Thai proposal to commercialize television rights for this year’s Southeast Asian Games came under fire at a meeting in Bangkok Thursday. The rights are usually given free to all participating nations. Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia opposed the host nation’s call to scrap article 59 of the SEA Games Federation regulation prescribing free rights, Hoang Vinh Giang, the Vietnam Olympic Committee general secretary said.
The article further permits the Olympic committees of the participating nations to confer the rights to one (or more) local TV stations. The Malaysian and Singaporean national committees also advised domestic TV networks not to hold any negotiations with the SEA Games organizing committee (SGOC) on the matter. Sumonpan Kosonsiriset, coordinator of the International Broadcasting Center – a member of the SGOC – said the proceeds from the rights sales would cover part of the organizing expenses of approximately US$6.6 million.
Vietnam Olympic Committee chairman Nguyen Danh Thai rejected the argument saying that for the 2003 SEA Games his country hosted, VND120 billion ($7.5 million) was spent only to buy TV equipment to provide free coverage. The SGOC said it would convene another meeting Friday to further discuss the issue. The 24th SEA Games will be held from December 6 to 15. Source: Thanh Nien Daily, 24th Aug 2007
China/New Media: No Special Olympic Editorial Rights for Sohu.com
The International Olympic Committee today rejected a claim by Sohu.com, a Chinese website, that it would get preferential access to report on next year’s Olympic Games in Beijing for its own commercial use. Sohu.com claimed the privilege as one of the benefits of its partnership with the games organising committee, of which it is an official sponsor. However, the IOC told Sportcal: ‘The Olympic Games are covered by a number of media outlets. Being a BOCOG [organising committee] partner does not grant exclusive or special editorial rights to cover the Beijing games. Currently the new media and mobile rights to show live or highlight footage of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games have not been granted in mainland China.’
The deadline for Chinese companies to bid for internet and mobile phone rights for the games elapsed in April. The games organising committee had replied cryptically when challenged over the issue by the Wall Street Journal newspaper, saying: ‘BOCOG welcomes all media coverage on the Olympics.’ The IOC declined to become involved in a parallel row in which rival Chinese websites are up in arms over a stipulation that other organising committee sponsors can use the games logo only when advertising with Sohu.com, and not on the rival sites.
The organising committee said that Olympic sponsors are ‘only allowed to release their Olympic-related online advertisements on Sohu.’ The restriction applies only to the organising committee’s sponsors and not to those of the IOC. The rival sites claim that, under its sponsorship deal, Sohu acquired only the right to manage the official games website and to use the games logo in its own advertising. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007
Global/Rights: FA Issues Invitation to Tender for International Rights
The Football Association, English soccer’s governing body, today issued an invitation to tender for the international media rights for England’s home games and the FA Cup top-tier knockout competition for a four-year period beginning with the 2008-09 season. The tender offers two packages of live matches, covering the FA Cup and England matches respectively, and two delayed rights packages including highlights and various clips and edit rights.
The FA said that all of the rights will be available across the three platforms of traditional broadcast, internet and mobile. Bidders are free to submit bids either for selected territories, or on a global basis. The tender also requests separate bids for the sale of ‘second-party rights’ for England qualification matches in the World Cup and European Championships. These are media rights in the country of the visiting team when England are playing home qualifying matches.
Broadcasters acquiring FA rights will be free to agree their own broadcast sponsorship deals, subject to an obligation to offer the FA’s sponsors the first option to acquire the rights in each of the FA sponsors’ industry sectors. The tender documents are now available via the FA’s website at www.TheFA.com/ITT, after it began the process by seeking expressions of interest in May from broadcasters, agencies and specialist media operations, including mobile phone and IPTV networks.
The majority of the rights are distributed by Sportfive, the international sports agency, under the present deal which is worth about £50 million ($100 million). The rights cover the annual FA Cup competition, England matches, England Under-21 matches, and the FA Community Shield, the traditional ‘curtain-raiser’ to the English season. A domestic deal worth £425 million has already been agreed with commercial broadcaster ITV and pay-television operator Setanta. The deadline for submissions of bids is midday, UK time, on September 28. Source: Sportcal, 24th Aug 2007