Tuesday, 25th September 2007

SPORTS SHORTS

* Telekom Malaysia has signed up as a major sponsor of soccer’s Malaysian Super League for a further three years. Telekom Malaysia announced the deal yesterday and confirmed it would be withdrawing its team, Telekom Malaysia FC, from the competition. Telekom Malaysia replaced Dunhill as the league’s main sponsor in 2005 following the introduction of a ban on tobacco companies sponsoring sports event. The initial deal was worth M$8.5 million ($2.5 million) a year. Source: Sportcal, 24th Sep 2007

* More details have been released of Bharti Airtel’s proposed Indian DTH platform, including a Rs 1.5 billion (US$38 billion) initial infrastructure investment. Tandberg Television will be the major beneficiary of the investment, with Bharti already having said that it would use a range of Tandberg TV solutions, including MPEG-4 AVC standard definition encoders and the iSIS 8000 IP head-end. Bharti Telemedia, the subsidiary of telco Bharti Airtel which will operate the platform, will use transponders on Insat’s 4CR bird, launched earlier in September. Commercial launch of the sevice is scheduled for prior to the second quarter of next year. Source: Rapid TV News, 25th Sep 2007

* The Indian Cricket League, an unofficial venture which is due to commence operations with a Twenty20 competition this year, have delayed its launch until mid-November. The Twenty20 tournament was scheduled to take place in October, but has been moved to enable more international players to take part, according to ICL executive board chairman Kapil Dev. He added that November 17 was the target date for the start of the event. The ICL has been overshadowed by the launch of the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition backed by the Board of Control for Cricket India, which is due to be held for the first time in April of next year. Source: Sportcal, 24th Sep 2007

* Duisburg in Germany, the city that hosted the World Games in 2005, will bid to host them again in 2013 after the city council agreed to a plan to send a letter of intent to the International World Games Association. Letters of intent, including a host city questionnaire, must be must be received by the association by the end of this month. The next World Games are due to be held in Taiwan in 2009. Source: Sportcal, 21st Sep 2007

* France Telecom has launched Orange Sports TV, an IPTV service that will feature sports news broadcast on television via the internet and direct to Orange mobile 3G subscribers. Orange already has existing rights agreements for events such as the French Open and the Tour de France. However, it is reported Orange will not compete for IPTV rights for French first and second division soccer matches, available in November. Orange is the French first division title sponsor, and will only re-bid for the mobile rights to League One and Two games, valued at €29m. Orange is the major brand of France Telecom, and has two thirds of France Telecom's 163 million customers in five continents. Source: Sport Business, 24th Sep 2007

* The International Olympic Committee has downed the prospect of skateboarding being included in the 2012 Olympic Games, saying that its addition at this stage would be ‘premature.’ The IOC has however opened the door for BMX Freestyle to be included for the first time at the London games. BMX Racing is making its Olympic debut in Beijing next year. However, following a review of the feasibility study conducted by the UCI, the IOC informed the federation that ‘the way it is presented at present looks premature’ for the discipline to gain Olympic recognition. Source: Sportcal, 24th Sep 2007

* A total of 111 broadcasters from 230 countries will carry NFL American football programming during the 2007 season, amounting to nearly 200,000 hours of programming (excluding the NFL’s own NFL Network), the league has said. Broadcasters include China’s CCTV, the state broadcaster, which will broadcast regular-season and playoff games, including the Super Bowl. The NFL Network will be broadcast by 30 partners to more than 5 million subscribers worldwide. Meanwhile, ESPN and Fox have renewed their international partnerships with the NFL until the end of the 2009 season, offering global distribution across Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. Source: Sportcal, 24th Sep 2007

* Floyd Landis lost his appeal against a two-year ban for doping during the 2006 Tour de France and will also forfeit his tour title. The ban was upheld by the American Arbitration Association, which voted by two to one to uphold the sanction imposed by the US Anti-Doping Agency. Landis now has a month to decide whether to take his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. Landis tested positive for high levels of testosterone after the 17th stage of the 2006 Tour de France. The cyclist’s legal team has questioned the practices of the Paris laboratory which tested his sample. Landis called the appeal panel ruling ‘a blow to athletes and cyclists everywhere. Source: Sportcal, 21st Sep 2007


MORE NEWS

China/Rights: Row over Online Olympic Rights Rumbles on

A dispute among Chinese websites over the rights acquired by Sohu.com as an official sponsor of the games organising committee is rumbling on, with other websites, including Sohu’s arch-rival Sina.com, continuing to carry Olympic imagery, despite Sohu’s claim of exclusivity. Sina is planning comprehensive coverage of the games, using a 450-strong team to cover them in Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish and Arabic.

Sohu likens Sina’s plans to those of ‘a small band of guerrillas,’ according to the China Daily, and claims that it will have easy access to Olympic coverage when interviewing officials and athletes. However, the International Olympic Committee today rejected a claim by Sohu.com that it would get preferential access to report on the games for its own commercial use.

The IOC told Sportcal.com: ‘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. Source: Sportcal, 21st Sep 2007

India/Broadcaster: Pay-TV Industry Set to Turn Over $10bn by 2010

The pay-television market in India could net annual turnover of $10 billion by 2010 thanks to increased penetration and the deployment of digital cable delivery systems. The market, which is set to generate a turnover of $4.2 billion during the current financial period, will benefit from an increase in pay-television cable and satellite household reach from 61 per cent at present to 84 per cent by 2011, according to a survey performed by Media Partners Asia, the Hong Kong-based media research and consultancy group.

The report also predicted that over 90 per cent of Indian homes will have pay-television by 2015, over a third of which will have digital set-top boxes. It is also forecast that there will be around 107 million cable homes in India within three years, and that the number of digital cable subscribers will grow from around 1.35 million in December this year to 12.2 million by 2010 and 22.6 million by 2015.

Media Partners Asia’s report also found that an estimated 1.2 million new subscribers signed up for digital pay-television during the first quarter of 2007, boosted by the increased digitalization of the cable delivery system. Source: Sportcal, 21st Sep 2007

India/Broadcaster: New Deals for Neo Sports Channel

Neo Sports, the Indian pay-television channel featuring international cricket, has today expanded its presence in southern India via a distribution deal with leading cable network Asianet. The deal covers the state of south-western state of Kerala and means that Neo Sports can now be accessed in 50 per cent of cable and satellite homes in India. The channel recently agreed deals with Tata Sky, India’s leading direct-to-home platform, and Amogh Broadband Services, the multi-system operator which is the leading cable network in the southern state of Karnataka.

Forthcoming attractions on Neo Sports include India’s home one-day international series against Australia, which begins later this month, and Pakistan’s tour of India. Neo Sports is owned by Nimbus Sport, the sports marketing company which holds the rights to India’s home matches until March 2010. Sister channel Neo Sports Plus features other sports including soccer, motor racing and badminton. Source: Sportcal, 21st Sep 2007

Neo Sports, the Indian pay-television channel which televises the Indian cricket team’s home internationals, has significantly increased its reach by signing a deal with InCable, the country’s largest cable network. Under the terms of the agreement, InCable subscribers will be able to watch Neo Sports and Neo Sports Plus, the sister channel which showcases sports other than cricket. Deals have already been agreed with Tata Sky, India’s leading direct-to-home platform, Amogh Broadband Services, the leading cable network in the state of Karnataka, and Asianet, another cable network with a major presence in the south of the country.

Meanwhile, a long-term agreement has been reached with StarHub, the leading pay-television provider in Singapore, to enable Neo Sports to be watched in the island nation. Neo Sports is owned by Nimbus Sport, the sports marketing company which holds the rights to India’s home matches until March 2010, and will feature next month’s one-day international series against Australia and Pakistan’s tour of India in November and December. Source: Sportcal, 24th Sep 2007

Singapore/Broadcaster: StarHub to Launch New Sports Channels

StarHub Digital Cable will roll out two new sports channels in Singapore, with the 24-hour cricket channel Neo Sports due to launch September 26, and the Golf Channel on October 16. Neo Sports will feature all home matches by the Indian and Bangladesh cricket teams, as well as Indian domestic tournaments. The channel will also showcase various cricket-related programming including interviews with top cricketers and analyses.

The programming on Neo Sports will complement StarHub’s current cricket offering, Cricket Channel, which offers international “live” cricket matches by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and home matches by the Australia and England cricket teams. Neo Sports will be bundled with the Cricket Channel, to form the new Cricket Group with a monthly subscription of S$30. From now till end March 2008, customers can enjoy the Cricket Group at a discounted price of S$25 monthly.

The Golf Channel is a 24-hour channel featuring tournaments played around the world including news, instructional and original productions. The channel will air over 60 hours of “live” and delayed coverage of all the golf happenings around the world each week, and these include U.S. PGA Tour, European PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. Golf Channel will be available at no additional cost, to all Sports Group customers using the digital set-top box, HubStation or HD set-top box. The other Sports Group channels are ESPN, Football Channel, Goal TV 1, Goal TV 2, STAR Sports, SuperSports and SuperSports Plus.

Additionally, StarHub has acquired the broadcast rights for the current season of National Football League (NFL), to be aired over Goal TV 1 and Goal TV 2. Goal TV 1 and Goal TV 2 will carry two “live” NFL games each week, and the weekly magazine show NFL Game Day, from September to January 2008. “The new Cricket Group, comprising Neo Sports and Cricket Channel, will provide an enhanced value for our cricket customers as they will enjoy a double dose of their favorite sport,” said Patrick Lim, StarHub’s VP of cable TV services. “We hope that our cricket customers will be thrilled with this news and with StarHub’s extensive cricket content.” Source: Worldscreen, 24th Sep 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: SCP Secures Partners for 2010 South American World Cup Qualifiers

SCP Worldwide, the New York based sports, media and entertainment company has secured pay-per-view, cable, internet TV and closed circuit distribution agreements for the South American World Cup 2010 Qualifying matches. SCP worldwide owns the exclusive multi-platform rights to the qualifiers in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and U.S. Territories.

The exclusive residential pay-per-view rights which will be broadcast through the DISH Networksatellite TV service; GolTV will be the official cable television distributor and the home of the official highlights show; JumpTV will be the exclusive internet distribution and marketing partner of the live pay-per-view games on www.jumptv.com; and Integrated Sports Media will be the exclusive commercial establishment distributor.

"Soccer has seen unprecedented ratings success this summer with some of the international games and tournaments that have been played," said David W. Checketts, chairman of SCP Worldwide. "As evidenced by our multiple distribution agreements with these premiere media partners this is a valuable property with high demand." The tournament plays 20 games across four rounds this October and November and will feature the 10 South American Federations. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 21st Sep 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Audiovisual Sport Calls Meeting to Discuss Rights Row

Audiovisual Sport, the rights-holder the Primera Liga, will hold a board meeting on Thursday to discuss a continuing broadcasting rights feud with Mediapro. The meeting was called after pressure from Catalan broadcaster TV3, which still has a 20% stake in Audiovisual, according to the El Economista newspaper, with Sogecable owning the remainder. Mediapro claims that the deal for the league’s domestic broadcasting rights is void because of a feud over the ownership of Audiovisual, the league’s rights-holder until the end of the 2008-09 season.

Earlier this month, Sogecable filed a €200-million ($281-million) lawsuit against Mediapro, claiming that commercial broadcaster La Sexta, which is partly owned by Mediapro, had aired three matches illegally on the first weekend of the season. Earlier this week, Mediapro said that it had agreed to a proposal by Audiovisual managing director Daniel Margalef to temporarily return to last season’s system in which one match per weekend is available free-to-air (to be aired by Mediapro’s La Sexta channel), one on pay-television (Sogecable’s Canal Plus channel), and the rest on pay-per-view (Sogecable’s Digital Plus platform). Source: Sportcal, 21st Sep 2007

Spanish soccer rights holder Audiovisual Sport was this weekend blocked from entering the Nou Camp stadium to cover the match between Barcelona and Sevilla, leaving rival broadcasters to show it on free-to-air television. The action marks the latest chapter in the ongoing row over the rights to the top-tier La Liga, which are claimed by Audiovisual Sport and media rights agency Mediapro. Barcelona’s decision to exclude Audiovisual Sport were backed by Mediapro, whose free-to-air commercial channel La Sexta did air the match.

More surprisingly, Mediapro was backed by TV3, the free-to-air regional broadcaster in Catalunya. TV3 is said to retain a 20-per-cent share in Audiovisual Sport, although the ownership of the company is disputed. TV3 also screened the game, sharing its signal with La Sexta. TV3’s five-year deal to show Barcelona matches expires at the end of this season. Mediapro claims that the deal for the league’s domestic broadcasting rights is void because of a continuing feud over the ownership of Audiovisual Sport, the rights holder until the end of the 2008-09 season. Source: Sportcal, 24th Sep 2007