Thursday, 20th September 2007

SPORTS SHORTS

* Hong Kong’s IPTV pioneer PCCW has received a takeover offer from Nelson Wong Kam Fu, whose HK$68 billion (US$8.7 billion) cash offer for the whole company is roughly double PCCW’s market capitalisation. Wong has been responsible for a number of electronic inventions such as a quick pager. PCCW is currently controlled by Richard Li, the son of Li Ka-Shing, with China Netcome Group a 20% shareholder. Wong is claiming he has Beijing’s backing for the takeover. However, PCCW has dismissed a takeover bid in a statement issued late Tuesday evening that the company had “not received any credible proposal from Mr. Wong or his advisers.” Source: Rapid TV News, Telecom Asia, 19th Sep 2007

* The Asian Games will feature five new sports from 2010, with cricket, dance sports, dragon boat racing, roller sports and weiqi (a form of chess) featuring for the first time. Cricket was confirmed earlier this year, while the other new sports to be included at the games in Guangzhou, China, were unveiled yesterday. The proposal to include cricket in the Asian Games was approved at the Olympic Council of Asia’s general assembly in Kuwait earlier this year. The games will include more than 14,000 athletes from 45 countries. The games are set to feature 42 sports, compared with the 39 at the last Asiad in Doha in December last year. Source: Sportcal, 19th Sep 2007

* IMG has appointed the controversial Chris Albrecht, former chairman and chief executive of HBO, to head its global media business. The former HBO chief was forced to resign in May after being arrested and charged with assaulting his girlfriend after a boxing match. Albrecht has also been named a special limited partner in IMG’s owner Forstmann Little, the private equity firm founded by Ted Forstmann, IMG’s chairman and chief executive officer. Albrecht is to work with Forstmann to raise a $250-million fund for investments in media and entertainment content. The arrival of Albrecht highlights IMG’s intention to raise its profile as a supplier of original entertainment programming in Hollywood. Forstmann Little purchased IMG in 2004. Source: Sportcal, Indian Television, 19th Sep 2007

* The future of the Grand Prix Masters, the motor racing series for ex-Formula 1 drivers, is in serious doubt after a supplier began legal action against the cash-strapped organisers. Delta Motor Sport, which provided chassis for the series, is to present a winding-up petition at the High Court in London in November. GPM was due to stage three events in 2007, but the first race in Romania in April was cancelled and the other two – in South African and Qatar - are now highly unlikely to take place. GPM staged its first race at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa in 2005, an event won by former F1 champion Nigel Mansell. Mansell also won the second race, held at Losail in Qatar in April 2006, but there has been only one other event, at Silverstone in the UK in August last year, and plans for an annual series of up to 10 races have fallen through. Source: Sportcal, 19th Sep 2007


MORE NEWS

Asia/General: Sawhney Succeeds Davis as ESPN Star Sports Managing Director

Manu Sawhney has been promoted to managing director of ESPN Star Sports, the pan-Asian sports broadcaster owned by Walt Disney and News Corporation, succeeding Jamie Davis who has resigned from the company. Sawhney, who joined ESPN Star Sports in 1996 and played a leading role in the broadcaster’s growth in India, steps up from his present role as executive vice president of programming and marketing.

Davis, who leaves after just two years at the broadcaster, will, however, continue to act as a consultant, working closely with Sawhney to ensure a smooth transition. Sawhney's background was with ESPN, whereas both Davis and his predecessor were ex-News Corporation. One source told Sportcal.com that 'it was ESPN's turn to nominate the boss.' The appointment could mean a greater focus on the Indian market. Davis' experience had been mainly in the Hong Kong and Chinese markets.

Russell Wolff, managing director, ESPN International, and Paul Aiello, chief executive of Star, said of Sawhney: ‘He has played an instrumental role in the growth of the company by leading the negotiations of a number of major sports acquisitions and key Indian affiliate renewals during his time in India, tremendously expanding the programming choices enjoyed by our fans. ‘The board is confident that under Manu’s leadership and with the company’s strong management team, ESPN Star Sports will continue to grow.’ Source: Sportcal, 19th Sep 2007

Meanwhile, Murray Barnett, senior director of sales at ESPN International, the London-based international sales arm of the US cable sports giant owned by Walt Disney, has been promoted to vice president, TV sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and head of international syndication sales. Barnett, who joined ESPN International in 2001, has been instrumental in setting up and overseeing the growth of the agency’s syndication businesses.

Barnett’s promotion is the latest development in a process that began with the announcement last week of the promotion of Lynne Frank to senior vice president from her former role as managing director for Europe. Barnett will report directly to Frank, who led ESPN’s recent acquisition of NASN, the European channel dedicated to US sports, and cricinfo.com, the leading cricket website. Barnett’s former position of director of sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa has been filled by Heather White, the experienced UK-based sports agency television sales executive. Source: Sportcal, Indian Television, 19th Sep 2007

Asia/General: Pay-TV Ads Get CASBAA Website

CASBAA is attempting to give pay-TV advertising a boost in the region, with the launch of a new website aimed at supporting the growth of the sector. The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Assocation of Asia (CASBAA) will offer industry research, TV network data and client case studies via the site, www.thepowerofpaytv.com. It will detail the merits of using pay-TV as part of a fully integrated marketing solution.

Paul Corrigan, the CASBAA Consultant who coordinated development of the site, said: “It’s time for the pay-TV industry to further demonstrate to marketers how much has changed in the advertising environment. Most markets with a viable pay-TV advertising medium now have reliable measurement making the industry more accountable than ever to clients”. Simon Twiston-Davies, CASBAA’s CEO said: “Advertising spending patterns are inexorably changing to the benefit of multichannel television in all its forms. Perhaps most notably, pay-TV is growing in line with, or even ahead of fast regional economic growth.”

CASBAA claims that audience share for pay-TV is now above 30% in “most” Asian markets, However, the sector’s share of the TV adspend has only topped US$4.5 billion, about 15% of a US$30 billion regional total. Source: Rapid TV News, 19th Sep 2007

Hong Kong/New Media: New Mobile Clips Deals for Premier League

Hong Kong CSL, PCCW and Hutchison Telecommunications, the Hong Kong mobile operators, are the latest to agree non-exclusive deals to show clips of English soccer’s top-tier Barclays Premier League for the next three seasons. The deals were agreed with Nimbus Sport, the ambitious Indian sports marketing company, that was recently awarded the league’s new media distribution rights in 80 countries. The operators will offer near-live video clips, highlights, match reviews and previews of every match during the period ending after the 2009-10 season. The clips will be available via both subscription and pay-per-view services offered by the operators.

Last week Nimbus signed a deal with SBS, the Australian public-service broadcaster, enabling SBS to offer highlights of all of the league’s matches via its dedicated online soccer portal www.theworldgame.com.au. The agency is marketing mobile and internet clip rights for the next three seasons in a variety of countries worldwide, including major Asian territories such as China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, India and Pakistan, Middle Eastern and North African territories, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy in Europe. The wide-reaching deal also includes Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. Source: Sportcal, 19th Sep 2007

China/General: NBA names Tim Chen CEO of NBA China

The NBA has named Tim Chen, CEO of Microsoft Greater China, as CEO of NBA China - a new enterprise being created to encapsulate all of the league’s businesses in Greater China. NBA China will be governed by a Board of Directors that will include NBA owners, representatives of outside investors as well as Stern, NBA Deputy Commissioner and COO Adam Silver and NBA President of Global Marketing Partnerships and International Business Operations Heidi Ueberroth.

Chen comes to the NBA from Microsoft, where he led the software giant’s growth in China since 2003. Chen worked closely with the government to incorporate Microsoft software into the growing network of PCs in administration and education. Under his leadership, Microsoft sales and revenue grew more rapidly in the Greater China region than in any other market in the world, while at the same time significantly increased its investment in R&D and domestic software ventures.

With 300 million people playing basketball, 83 per cent of people ages 15-24 saying they’re NBA fans and 20 per cent of traffic to NBA.com coming from China, basketball is rapidly growing in popularity. The NBA has relationships with 51 TV stations that provide NBA programming to more than 1.2 billion viewers. The league maintains marketing partnerships in China with 20 of the world’s leading brands and makes products available to fans in more than 50,000 locations. The NBA is conducting more than 170 special events in 112 cities in Greater China including the NBA China Games 2007, three pre-season games in Shanghai and Macao in October. Source: Sport Business, 19th Sep 2007

China/General: Top Eight Tennis Players to be Cast as Terracotta Warriors

The ATP has commissioned a sculptor to create Terracotta Warriors of the best eight tennis players in the world to mark the Tennis Masters Cup, the prestigious circuit ending championship held in Shanghai, China. The tournament pits the top eight male tennis players in the world against each other as they battle it out for the end of year title and the biggest cash prizes in tennis ($4,450,000). Players compete for ATP Race points throughout the season in a bid to seal one of the eight coveted Tennis Masters Cup berths.

The life-size warrior statues will be created by French sculptor Laury Dizengremel in China and will be unveiled all together as a group at the event in Shanghai, which begins on November 11. Players in contention to qualify for the tournament met with the artist at the ATP Masters Series event in Montreal, Canada, where they were measured and photographed ahead of their sculpting.

The Terracotta Warriors are symbolic of China’s history and internationally recognised around the world. The Terracotta Army were originally created to be buried with the Emperor of Qin in 210-209 BC and it is believed to have taken some 700,000 workers and craftsmen 38 years to complete. The Army was only rediscovered in 1974 and 8,099 figures have since been unearthed around the Emperor’s tomb. The site in China has become a major tourist attraction with nearly two million people visiting annually.

World No.1 Roger Federer and No.2 Rafael Nadal qualified for the tournament following Wimbledon this year, while rising star Novak Djokovic sealed his place during his recent run to the US Open final. The remaining five places will be determined as the ATP Race comes to a climax following the US Open, with the likes of Andy Roddick, James Blake and Nikolay Davydenko all in the running. Source: Sports e-Media, 19th Sep 2007