Thursday, 30th August 2007

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