Thursday, 9th August 2007

HEADLINE NEWS

Brazil World Cup Qualifiers on Korean TV

Public broadcaster Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) agreed a deal with the Traffic Sports Marketing and Total Sports Asia agencies for the rights to broadcast all nine of Brazil’s home matches of the 2010 South American World Cup Qualifying Tournament. The matches are held over a period of three years starting with the first match on October 17, 2007. The deal covers all media platforms.

Jean Marc Schwartzenberg, Director of International Business at Traffic Sports Marketing said, “We are very happy to have reached this agreement with KBS. They are an ideal partner for matches of this magnitude and we are confident that the network will give the Brazilian National Team the coverage it deserves in Korea.“

“Since we have a plenty of experience airing the Brazil’s qualifying matches for 2006 Germany, we strongly believe that this will be another precious chance to meet the expectations of Korean audience“, said Young Moon Park, Head of Sports Business Team of KBS.

Total Sports Asia, exclusive representative of Traffic Sports Marketing in Asia brokered the deal. “KBS is one of the most prestigious broadcasters in South Korea, and we believe this deal is the evidence of the popularity of South American soccer in general and that of Brazil in particular. KBS has been a valued partner of Total Sports Asia for many years and we are excited at this opportunity to further reinforce our relationship”, said Chung See LIANG, Managing Director (Korea/Japan) of Total Sports Asia. Source: Sport Business, Sports e-Media, Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007


THIS WEEK

Sun, 12th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Manhattan Beach Open


INFO BOX

A Peek Into the Average User's Computer
Source: Info IQ, 8th Aug 2007

* Average hard drive capacity on U.S. computers is demonstrating steady and noticeable gains since the beginning of 2007. The percentage of computers with at least 70 GB of hard drive space has increased from 33% of computers in January 2007 to 39 percent in April 2007. Meanwhile, the percentage of computers with less than 50 GB declined from 59% to 53% during the same period.

* The typical computer contained 880 mp3 files, which accounted for an average of 3 GB of hard drive space. The average computer also contained 197 Microsoft Word (.doc) documents, 100 PDF (.pdf) files, 77 Microsoft Excel (.xls) files, and 36 Windows Media (.wmv) files. The average Windows Media file size is 12.5 MB.

* The heavy mp3 segment was significantly more likely to visit categories dealing in entertainment (gaming, gambling, humor, music) and communication/ networking (community – teens, instant messengers, discussion/chat). Specifically, nearly 40% of heavy mp3 users visited the gaming information category, more than twice as likely as the average Internet user. They also exhibited particularly heavy relative visitation to the online gambling, community – teens, and entertainment – humor categories.


SPORTS SHORTS

* A badminton seminar for players and coaches will be held on the eve of the World Championships to create awareness - especially on doping matters. Through the seminar, the Badminton World Federation hoped that players, coaches, officials and administrators would get updates in the world of sports medicine related to the game. The BWF medical commission chairman Dr Gurucharan Singh will also present a paper on the Sports Supplements and Doping. Commission member, Dr Ashwin Patel, will speak on "Doping: Therapeutic Use Exemption and players whereabouts’ and consequences." The seminar is organised by the BWF with the cooperation of the Sports Medicine Society of the Malaysian Medical Association. Source: The Star MY, 7th Aug 2007

* Star TV-backed Indian DTH platform, TataSky, will invest Rs2 billion (US$50 million) over the next five years to reach 8mil subscribers. Over 1mil subscribers are signed up to the platform after a year of operation. TataSky, owned by News Corp’s Star TV and the Tata Group, launched in August 2006. A mooted deal to sell some of the platform to Singapore’s Temasek Holding seems to have fallen through. Despite heavy investment, TataSky may struggle to reach 8mil – penetration of around 40-50% of the DTH market. Kotak Institutional Equities estimates the DTH subscriber base will increase to 15 million by 2012, with other forecasts pegged at around 16-20 million. Source: Rapid TV News, 8th Aug 2007

* AT&T and China Netcom have agreed to provide telecommunications services for NBC, the US television network, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. China Netcom will work with AT&T to provide a dedicated network through which NBC can broadcast digital television coverage. AT&T and China Netcom are also collaborating to set up a circuit for NBC to facilitate live coverage of today’s one-year countdown celebrations in Beijing’s Tianenmen Square. Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007

* South Korea is claiming they lead the world in IPTV-based standards. Korea’s state-backed Radio Research Laboratory says that an ITU meeting accepted 46 IPTV-related proposals. As a result, the number of the country's overall IPTV-related standards now totals 199, including ones approved at four earlier ITU meetings. South Korea evidently proposed 52 “standards” of which 46 were accepted. Kang Sung-Chui, a director at the research lab is quoted locally as saying this means South Korea now has about a quarter of the 700 or so IPTV-based standards, which – he says – “will benefit our companies when IPTV becomes widespread”. South Korean companies like Samsung, LG, KT and Hanaro co-operated with the Radio Research Lab. Source: Rapid TV News, 8th Aug 2007

* IP solutions company UTStarcom is claiming that over 60% of China’s IPTV subscribers are watching over networks operating with its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution. UTStarcom sells the technology to both China Telecom and China Netcom, which currently use it in 19 deployments between them with over 310,500 live subscribers. Those deployments have a total system capacity of nearly 625,000 subscribers. Consultancy IDC forecasts that IPTV subscriptions in China will reach 10.5 million by 2010 and 14.9 million by 2011. Source: Rapid TV News, 8th Aug 2007

* Brazil and Mexico will meet in a football friendly in New England, USA next month. The match will take place at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on September 12. Mexico beat Brazil in the group stage of the recent Copa America in Venezuela but the South Americans recovered to qualify for the quarter finals and win the tournament. In addition to the Brazil fixture, Mexico have arranged a friendly against China at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 17. Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007

* The Olympic Games will be aired live online in USA for the first time when television network NBC launches its broadband stream at the games in Beijing. Over 17 days of competition, NBC will air 3,600 hours of coverage on its platforms, over 1,000 hours more than the combined hours of online coverage in USA for previous Olympic Games. NBC, USA, MSNBC and CNBC will all screen the games, with NBC Universal's Telemundo providing coverage in Spanish. In addition, the NBCOlympics.com site will feature approximately 3,000 hours of highlights. Source: Sportcal, Worldscreen, Michael Hiestand comments on USA Today, 8th Aug 2007

* The Professional Squash Association, the sport's world governing body, has announced a 29% increase in tour prize money comparing the first half of 2007 with 2006. Total prize money for PSA tournaments in the first half of 2007 reached nearly $1.4 million, a record figure. The PSA is in line for total prize money of $3 million in 2007, more than double the 2003 figure. Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007

* The National Hockey League, expects Versus will take up its option to show live games in the USA through to the end of the 2010-11 season, despite reports of rival ESPN returning to the sport. Versus began coverage of the NHL at the start of the 2005-06 season and has the right to withdraw after the 2007-08 campaign and there are claims that ESPN could replace the channel or the national network NBC. However, the league has the option to cancel the deal, currently worth around $72 million per year, if Versus does not hit subscriber benchmarks. NBC does not pay a rights fee but has a revenue-sharing deal to show a selection of games, which it can reportedly opt out of at the end of the 2007-08 season. Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007


MORE NEWS

Malaysia/Broadcaster: Media Prima to Expand TV Ops in Asia-Pacific

Media Prima Bhd, Malaysia’s largest integrated media investment group, will expand its television networks business in the Asia-Pacific region and is slated to announce its plans in the last two quarters of this year, said its chief executive officer of television networks Datuk Farid Ridzuan. Farid said the group’s regional expansion of its strongest business, television broadcasting, after the consolidation of a majority of the nation’s free-to-air segment of TV and other media. Media Prima owns four of the six free-to-air channels with the acquisitions of 8TV, Channel 9 and, most recently, ntv7. RTM 1 and RTM 2 are owned by the government.

“It is natural that we look outward and also to answer the government’s call to look at regional expansion. Ghana was an expansion and very soon we will be making an announcement about our plans, moving forward, which is quite critical to ensure the sustainability of our media business in the mid to long term,” Farid told members of the Malaysian press present at the Global Brand Forum in Singapore here yesterday. “We don’t want to be overly ambitious for starters; we’re looking at neighbouring countries on how we can invest, act as consultants or joint venture with other media companies,” he said.

The group also owns radio stations FlyFm, hotfm; print media group New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd; content creation and movie production company Grand Brilliance Sdn Bhd; Tiga Events Sdn Bhd and outdoor advertising companies Big Tree Outdoor, UPD and The Right Channel. Furthermore, media companies in neighbouring countries have shown interest in partnering with Media Prima. The group wants to expand, by providing its broadcast expertise and technology, either as broadcast consultants, network manager and operators.

“Acquisition is not the priority… unless investors that want to invest in us want to acquire,” he said. The group is not expected, however, to dip into its cash flow coffers in the name of expansion. Farid said the group was looking to attract a mix of foreign and local investments from media fund managers, private investors, financial institutions and banks. Currently, foreign investors have 47% ownership in the Media Prima group.

“Foreigners have more faith in us,” he said. Farid said the group was “shifting gears to get things going faster” with its expansion plan as broadcasters overseas were expanding aggressively in the region. “It’s always been our strategy to expand regionally, but having said that, we had an opportunity in Ghana which has taught us how to manage from afar, how to run a station. “We thought maybe around the region would be better because we can deploy or redeploy manpower,” he said but declined to reveal which countries it was looking into.

On another matter, Farid said 30% of its revenue for the financial ending Dec 31, 2007, would come from various events and festivities, including the nation’s 50th Independence Day, in the next four months. “So far the momentum has been pretty good,” he said. Source: The Edge MY, 7th Aug 2007

Korea/General: Series of International e-Sports Events Due

South Korea is becoming an e-sports mecca this summer by hosting a series of international conventions and competitions of computer and video gaming. A dozen countries including China, Vietnam, France, Japan, India and Singapore are sending government envoys to Seoul this week to learn from its experience and know-how in transforming computer gaming into a lucrative sporting business. This year's second International e-Sports Symposium will be held from Saturday to Tuesday in COEX, southern Seoul.

The international conference on computer and video gaming competitions is co-organized by the government-funded Korea Game Industry Agency (KOGIA) and the Korea e-Sports Association (KESPA). Along with the government officials, major media outlets such as Star TV of Hong Kong and representatives from South Korean professional e-sports clubs will participate in the event, the organizers said.

``We are going to make an online forum this time so the people in the e-sports industry can talk to each other anytime of the year,'' an official at the e-sports association said. The so-called e-sports have become a new cultural icon especially in South Korea where there are two 24-hour cable TV channels dedicated to broadcasting video and computer game competitions of professional players.

There are a dozen professional clubs owned by major conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom. Even the Air Force operates a ``Star Craft'' computer game team consisting of conscripted professional players for promotional purpose. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been in charge of the nation's e-sports policies, and many local governments have jumped into the business, too.

This week, Seoul city invites hundreds of top computer gamers to the Seoul International e-Sports Festival. It is slated for Aug. 9-12 at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul. Highlights of the e-sports festival will be aired via local and foreign media, as well as sports cable channel Xports and Internet broadcasting on Gom TV, Naver and Freechal. The total prize for the winners is 150 million won. In fall, the e-sports industry will once again gather in the southern city of Daegu at the ``e-fun 2007'' convention.

The Daegu city government plans to foster the event as a more business-oriented expo. Oct. 25 will see the launch of the first World Game Culture Conference where experts from 10 nations will discuss ways to utilize games in other industries, the organizer said. Busan city hosted the finals of the ``StarCraft'' pro-league last week, where some 70,000 spectators filled the vast Gwangan-ri beach to watch the best-of-seven series on a giant screen. Source: The Korea Times, 7th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/General: IRB Claims Record TV Figures for Sevens Series

The IRB Sevens Series ‘smashed previous attendance and broadcast records’ during the 2006-07 season, according to the International Rugby Board. The IRB, which is pressing for rugby sevens to be added to the Olympic programme, claimed that the figures ‘confirm the series’ continued global appeal and growth.’ It said that the eight tournaments in the series were televised by 30 international broadcasters in 11 different languages and reached 213 million homes, an increase of 24 million on the figure for the 2005-06 season.

The series was seen in 137 countries, an increase of one on last season, with live coverage increasing dramatically to 911 hours of action, a 72% increase. The overall cumulative attendance exceeded 250,000, with sell-out crowds for the opening three tournaments in Dubai (64,000), South Africa (25,000) and New Zealand (70,000) and a further sell-out for the Hong Kong event (40,000). Three new venues staged tournaments during the season, attracting crowds of 29,000 (San Diego), 25,000 (Adelaide) and 30,000 (Edinburgh).

The IRB added that rugby sevens is to be included on the programme of the Pan-American Games in 2011 and that ‘re-inclusion in the All-African Games is now a step closer after the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa endorsed its inclusion.’ The IRB credited its worldwide production and distribution partner ProActive Television with playing ‘a significant role in driving these figures.’ Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/General: Premier League Launches “Creating Chances” Programme

English football’s Premier League launched Creating Chances, a new programme intended to support the work the top-flight clubs do in the community and for good causes and charities. In new research, Deloitte demonstrates the Premier League and its twenty clubs will invest an estimated £122 million next season in community projects, charities and other good causes, representing an increase of over 50 per cent since Deloitte’s last assessment in 2003.*

The core element of Creating Chances is a new initiative called ‘Places for Players’, which will involve 200 Premier League players supporting a number of charities and good causes in September, raising awareness of and funds for the work that these organisations do. Over 400 good causes will benefit either by players getting involved in their work or from a £2,000 cash donation direct from the Premier League. There will also be a Premier League All Stars, a 7-a-side knockout competition to be played during the Creating Chances week of action in September.

Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the Premier League, said: "Community engagement is now woven into the fabric of football and the size and scope of that commitment today really is something of which the Premier League, our clubs and the players can be extremely proud. Creating Chances is a means of showcasing all of the work that takes place right across the League on a daily basis and will help to further strengthen the relationship we have with countless charities, good causes and our fans.”

James Purnell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, also attended the launch and said: “Football clubs have a unique position in their communities. They are now helping to raise standards of education, working with police to cut crime and anti-social behaviour and also re-investing millions of pounds into football facilities for the public. I am pleased that Government can play a part in Creating Chances, and help highlight this important side to the Premier League’s business.” Source: Sport Business, 8th Aug 2007