Monday, 29th October 2007

WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

Leo Kirch’s DFL Deal
(Latest News first)

* A group of German sports sponsors has formed an association, S20 – The Sponsors’ Voice, aimed at representing their interests in negotiations with rights owners and broadcasters. A spokesman for the group said: ‘Sponsors pay, but have no voice. This has to change’. The group includes Bayerische Hypo- and Veriensbank, Adidas, Allianz, Veltins, Coca-Cola, Daimler, Deutsche Post and Postbank, Deutsche Telekom, RWE and Siemens. Its top priority will to be ensure that sponsors’ voices are heard in the distribution of television rights for the German Bundesliga, after the German football league, signed a 6-year, €3-billion ($4.26-billion) deal with Leo Kirch, the re-born German media mogul, for the distribution of the rights from 2009. The sponsors are concerned that any new domestic television rights deal might favour pay-television, at the expense of free-to-air television. Source: Sportcal, 26th Oct 2007

* Leo Kirch is reported to be in talks with Germany’s second-biggest bank, about obtaining a bank guarantee to support his six-year, €3-billion ($4.26-billion) deal with the German football league, to distribute rights for the top-tier Bundesliga. The guarantee is required by the DFL, and the talks come despite the spectacular collapse in 2002 of Kirch’s media empire, with debts of about €6.5 million. The rights are to be distributed via Sirius, a joint venture 51% owned by KF15, Kirch’s financial holding group, with the DFL owning the remainder. The six-year deal is due to begin in 2009. German press reports suggest that Kirch stands to profit handsomely from the DFL arrangement, with KF15 receiving 90% of the first €100 million over and above the €500 million a season that Kirch has agreed to pay for the rights. Kirch then stands to earn 51% of any further profits each season. Source: Sportcal, 26th Oct 2007

* Heinrich Schmidhuber, the DFB’s treasurer, said he was shocked at the DFL's six-year, €3-billion ($4.27-billion) deal with Kirch for the production and distribution rights to German soccer's top-tier Bundesliga from 2009-10 onwards. He told the Passauer Neuen Presse, a German regional newspaper, that he was ‘surprised that you could do this deal with Kirch again,’ adding that the league had ‘not had the best experiences with Kirch in the past.’ He also claimed that ‘money had played a special role’ in the deal. Schmidhuber also vented his oppostion to possible plans to delay free-to-air Bundesliga highlights until late on Saturday evenings to give more exclusivity to pay-television, saying: ‘That would be a great disadvantage for our schoolchildren and the youth.' Source: Sportcal, 24th Oct 2007

* The Sportsman Media Group, the agency responsible for selling the rights to the German Bundesliga, has said that it would like to rekindle a working relationship even though the league has announced it is to form its own unit to distribute the rights worldwide. At the time of the German Football League’s confirmation of a tie-up with media entrepreneur Leo Kirch to market and produce the Bundesliga rights for six years from 2009-10, it said that would create its own agency abroad in 2008 to handle the international rights for the next two contract periods. The Sportsman Media Group appears to be losing the rights to its flagship property unless it retains some involvement in the planned agency. Sirius, a production and distribution group set up by Kirch and the DFL, is to market the Bundesliga to broadcasters in Germany from the spring of 2008. Source: Sportcal, 17th Oct 2007

* The DFL said that it could not comment on the distribution of international rights from 2009-10 onwards, over and above the statement made at the time of the Kirch deal. As a result of the partnership with the Sportsman Media Group, the Bundesliga has grown its international viewership across television, internet and mobile platforms. During the 2006-07 season, the first year of the Sportsman contract, extensive Bundesliga coverage, consisting of live or delayed matches and highlights, was available in 144 countries. The share of deals that included live coverage was around 94 per cent. For the 2007-08 season, the Sportsman has increased the number of territories with Bundesliga coverage (not including short highlights or news access deals) to around 167, with the amount of live coverage also on the increase. Source: Sportcal, 17th Oct 2007


SPORTS SHORTS

* Ten Sports acquired the rights for all international cricket matches played in South Africa and Zimbabwe for markets in Asia, including India and Pakistan, and the Middle East. Ten already holds the rights for all international cricket played in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Chris McDonald, CEO, Taj Television, said, “By acquiring the rights for South Africa and Zimbabwe, Ten Sports has significantly added to its broadcast of the world’s best live cricket action. Our line-up of international cricket now extends through the end of the decade.” Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 25th Oct 2007

* Qatar launched its campaign to bring the 2016 Olympics to Doha, aiming to host the games in an Arab country for the first time with a key message that an Olympics in Qatar would promote understanding between the Middle East and the rest of the world. Qatar, with a population of 300,000, faces competition from Baku, Chicago, Madrid, Prague, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid. Bid chairman Hassan Ali Bin Ali said that the competition will be tough but Doha was ‘more suited’ to stage the games ‘because it embodies the dreams of millions of young people in the Middle East.’ The first key date for the bid cities is January 14, the deadline for the submission of bid questionnaires to the International Olympic Committee. The cities will then be trimmed down to a shortlist in June next year. Source: Sportcal, 26th Oct 2007

* Mahesh Samat has been appointed as the managing director of The Walt Disney Company (India), coordinating all of its efforts in the key Asian market. Based in Mumbai and reporting to Andy Bird, the president of Walt Disney International, Samat will be responsible for driving the company’s Indian strategy, coordinating all Disney business efforts in the market, including overseeing Disney global franchises, expanding existing businesses and seeking out new business opportunities. He will manage all of the existing Disney businesses in India, except the ESPN/Star Sports joint venture, with all local business segments reporting into him. Source: Worldscreen, 25th Oct 2007

* Uday Shankar and Jadgish Kumar have been upped to the roles of CEO and COO of STAR India, respectively, effective immediately. Reporting to STAR’s CEO, Paul Aiello, Shankar will assume the position of CEO of STAR India, responsible for the company’s overall business in the region. Shankar joined STAR India as COO in May, following a stint as CEO of STAR joint venture MCCS. Kumar, who is currently based in Hong Kong, will join STAR India as COO. Kumar will report to Shankar and work closely with him in optimizing operational efficiencies and driving the company’s growth agenda. Source: Worldscreen, 25th Oct 2007

* IMG has reached a global distribution agreement for broadcasts of the Stanford 20/20 tournament, the growing Caribbean cricket competition. Coverage of the single-elimination knockout competition featuring teams from several Caribbean territories will be produced by Century TV. Stanford Financial Group already works with IMG on other signature sports events the company sponsors including the Memphis PGA TOUR stop, the Stanford St. Jude Championship, and the Sony Ericsson Grand Slam tennis tournament. In addition, Stanford Financial Group works with IMG to manage its PGA TOUR player ambassador agreements with Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas. Source: Sport Business, 26th Oct 2007

* The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has signed three-year extension of its strategic partnership deal with Spike TV, a division of MTV Networks. The deal maintains Spike TV as the basic cable home to the UFC through 2011 and includes three seasons of the ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ reality TV show, 12 live fight cards and 30 one-hour episodes of ‘UFC Unleashed’. According to Spike TV, seven live UFC fights on Spike TV in 2007 averaged more young men in the 18-34 demographic (869,000) on cable than the more established American sports of basketball, baseball, football, hockey and NASCAR. Source: Sport Business, Worldscreen, 26th Oct 2007

* SNRT, the Moroccan free-to-air broadcasting group, has won the rights to the Morocco's top soccer league and the international team’s home matches in a three-year, $28.4 million deal. Live coverage will be spread across three SNRT channels, with the bulk of the games on sports channel Arriadya and one per week on 2M and Al Oula. Arriadya will also offer full coverage of all league games on delay. SNRT is to pay the FRMF, the Moroccan Football Federation, around $8.8 million in the first year of the contract, $9.5 million in the second year and $10.1 million in the final year, according to Moroccan news portal Yabiladi. Source: Sportcal, 24th Oct 2007

* The International Tennis Federation has launched a beach tennis tour, which will be introduced to the calendar next year. The move follows a year of research into participation and interest in the offshoot sport, which merges facets of tennis with volleyball and is contested between doubles teams. While it admits that only a small number of countries, notably the USA, are currently active in beach tennis, the ITF believes there is considerable potential. The 2008 calendar will consist of tournaments organised or sanctioned by national associations and offer international ranking points. The ITF Beach Tennis Tour becomes the sixth circuit to be sanctioned by the international federation, joining the ITF Junior Circuit, ITF Men's Circuit, ITF Women's Circuit, ITF Seniors Circuit and NEC Wheelchair Tennis Tour. Source: Sportcal, 25th Oct 2007

* French authorities are set to allow the French football league, Ligue de Football Professionnel, to sell its TV rights over a four-year period in order to help it solicit more competition from the market. The LFP has since then lobbied the French competition authority and the government to allow it to sell its rights for four-year contracts, so as to entice potential new players to enter the market, in the knowledge that they would have time to develop an offering. Although the country’s competition authorities initially rejected the league’s proposal, it is understood that the law will be amended after being agreed by ministers and will then be published in the Official Journal. The league is expected to launch a rights tender at the end of November. Source: Sport Business, 24th Oct 2007

* Manchester United joint chairman Joel Glazer ruled out a breakaway from the Premier League over the way clubs negotiate their TV rights. Glazer said: "I think the collective TV rights model is working very well. It's a major reason why the Premier League is the most popular league in the world. All games are competitive and it, of course, attracts the world's top players.” Some in the game had speculated that the club might try and split from the collective deal. But Glazer said that had never been the case. "We're very supportive of the current model. It's something we've said from the outset." Source: Sport Business, 26th Oct 2007

* The NFL American football game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants in London, England on Sunday is to be televised in 215 countries. The National Football League said yesterday that 39 broadcast partners will carry coverage of the first regular season game to be held outside North America. In the USA, the game will be televised on a regional basis by national network Fox, while in the UK, pay-television operator BSkyB will provide live coverage, with public-service broadcaster the BBC to offer delayed highlights. The game at Wembley Stadium will be watched by an 86,000 sell-out crowd. Source: Sportcal, 25th Oct 2007

* Fans will have access to every match from current and forthcoming tournaments on the men’s Professional Squash Association Tour via the PSA’s specialist internet channel, PSALIVE.TV, offering live coverage of the Saudi International, which started this week, and November’s Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open and Endurance World Open Bermuda 2007. Full tournament packages are available for £25 ($51), while packages covering the quarter-finals onwards cost £10. Individual matches can also be watched online. Meanwhile, the World Squash Federation has announced that there will be free live streaming of the Women’s World Open Squash Championship at www.worldsquash.org from the quarter-finals on Thursday through to the final on Sunday. The event takes place in Madrid and matches can be watched via the internet for a month after its conclusion. Source: Sportcal, 24th Oct 2007

* Technology finance outfit Smartfundit.com and Wi-Fi TV Inc. have launched an initiative to see Wi-Fi television become more widespread – and ‘on air’ for $1000 a month. California-based Wi-Fi TV is already “broadcasting” hundreds of web-channels from its site, but has developed Social Internet TV which it describes as “a new generation TV delivery platform” that can take programming around the world and at the same time permit on-screen chat, news and add in “free” online phone calls (see www.wi-fitv.com for more). Smartfundit is an on-line financing facility for technology companies, and claims to have helped fund $680m of IT-based purchases over the past two years. The business was launched in January 2006 and has offices in Surrey (UK) and San Francisco. The company says that technology financing for Wi-Fi television projects is now available. Source: Rapid TV News, 25th Oct 2007

* A technical study confirms that WiMax signals can cause “severe interference” to satellite reception. WiMax, the so-called 4G wireless system, has already suffered criticism from some countries for causing interference on satellite reception. Satellite operations in Australia, Bolivia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Pakistan and sub-Saharan Africa have been negatively affected. The problem occurs where telcos implement 3G or 4G Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) systems in or close to C-Band satellite transmissions. Source: Rapid TV News, 25th Oct 2007

* Microsoft has paid a staggering $240m for a fractional stake in networking site Facebook. Facebook’s value, on the strength of the Microsoft purchase, is a colossal $15bn. Microsoft’s miniscule 1.6% stake cements its relationship with the social networking site, and – one assumes – closes out bids from the industry’s other big hitters (notably Google, AOL, YouTube and DoubleClick, all of which have been reportedly sniffing around Facebook). Microsoft, which already had a “partnership” deal with Facebook as its ad-platform in the US, now extends that relationship world wide. Source: Rapid TV News, 25th Oct 2007

* Australia will not host a round of the World Rally Championship until 2009 at the earliest. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) confirmed an Australia round would not now host the 2008 event planned for Queensland in September. CAMS asked the FIA, the world governing body of motor sport, to postpone the planned 2008 round until 2009 following a request from i-METT Queensland Group Pty Ltd. A delay in government approval for construction was cited as the reason for the postponement. Source: Sport Business, 25th Oct 2007

* Chelsea Football Club has appointed Pitch PR to oversee a trade and consumer PR campaign. Pitch has been engaged with the aim of promoting key areas of Chelsea FC’s non-football business. It will be handling announcements of the club’s image rights deals, raising the profile of the events and hospitality divisions of Chelsea, as well as running consumer campaigns for the Stamford Bridge stadium tours and ‘True Blue’ membership scheme. The agency will also oversee the launch next month of ‘Chelsea +’, Chelsea’s new broadband internet offering. Source: Sport Business, Sports e-Media, 25th Oct 2007

* IMG today dismissed a report that it could axe up to 130 jobs at TWI, its television production and distribution division, following the shock news earlier this month of a decision to scrap its Trans World Sport magazine programme. IMG described the redundancies report as 'very wide off the mark.' IMG plans to axe Trans World Sport, its iconic, 20-year-old weekly sports magazine programme, and Futbol Mundial, its 15-year-old soccer magazine programme, from the end of this year, with the possible loss of up to 40 jobs. Some observers claim the changes are part of a strategy aimed at increasing profitability ahead of a sale of the agency by Ted Forstmann who acquired IMG in 2004 for $750 million. Source: Sportcal, 25th Oct 2007


MORE NEWS

Singapore/New Media: Broadband Service WOWtv Launches

WOWtv, a broadband entertainment service offering more than 50 streaming channels of programming across all genres, including movie blockbusters, Asian dramas and sports, has debuted in Singapore. WOWtv’s broadband channels can be accessed via four different platforms: web, set-top box, portable media player and 3G. The channels of programming include movie blockbusters, Asian dramas and variety shows, travel, lifestyle, fashion, edutainment, sports and more. WOWtv has established content agreements with distributors such as Sony Pictures Television International, Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and Videofashion Network.

It will also unveil Singapore’s first-ever Web Jockey, who will introduce viewers to the latest movies and series shown on WOWtv. Aside from programming, online games and e-commerce services are also available. All subscribers to WOWtv have instant access to more than 25 channels of entertainment across genres on the Free tier. Premium programming is also available to subscribers in 2 different membership tiers: the Basic tier, which allows members to access an additional 16 channels at S$40 a year and Value tier, which consists of a host of a la carte channels and current premium pay-per-view movies.

To date, WOWtv has more than 20,000 registered subscribers, achieved over an eight-week soft-launch period. WOWtv’s bouquet of entertainment services is set to launch in more Asia-Pacific markets by year’s end. Source: Worldscreen, 26th Oct 2007

Hong Kong/New Media: More mobile HD

Hong Kong mobile operator Smartone-Vodafone has launched its “high-definition” 3G mobile TV service with a dig at other operators’ “rehashed free terrestrial TV programmes”. QVGA streaming will allow a form of “high-def” viewing and follows launch of the technology by rival mobile operator PCCW earlier in the year. Smartone’s new FoneTV service on its HSPA network also includes the “i-Console” split-screen viewing tool which allows simultaneous TV viewing and channel selection as well as interactive features such as online transactions and voting. “With the iConsole, customers can buy related music content such as connecting tone and full track at the click of a button while watching MV,” said Smartone.

Fone TV will offer 12 channels including news and finance, music, cartoons and live traffic cams. Programming will be in the form of “snack size” shows “ideal for those moments in the day when you have some down time or traveling to and from work.” Each channel is available for a flat monthly fee, or HK$88 a month for all 12. Channels include Animax, BBC World, Bloomberg TV, Chinese News, CNBC and CNN International, as well as Cartoon Network cartoons and a movie news channel. Other operators offering 3G mobile TV services in Hong Kong include PCCW, Hutchison and CSL New World. Hong Kong’s government is examining provision of true mobile TV services but has made no decision on the issue. PCCW is also conducting a trial of Qualcomm’s MediaFLO system. Source: Rapid TV News, 25th Oct 2007

Singapore/General: Formula One Green Lights Night Race

Formula One officials confirmed that the streets of Singapore will host the series’ first ever night race in 2008. The World Motor Sport Council, which met in Paris, approved the race as well as an extended 18-race 2008 calendar. Marina Bay Singapore will serve as a backdrop for the historic race, which will take place on September 28. It was also confirmed that the Canada Grand Prix will be part of the 2008 calendar and a daytime street race would be held in Valencia. Spyker’s request to change its team name to Force India has been accepted and it was announced that there will also be a total freeze on engine development for a period of 10 years from 2008.

CALENDAR - 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship

16/3 Australia 11/5 Turkey 6/7 Great Britain 7/9 Belgium 19/10 China
23/3 Malaysia 25/5 Monaco 20/7 Germany 14/9 Italy 02/11 Brazil
6/4 Bahrain 8/6 Canada 3/8 Hungary 28/9 Singapore
27/4 Spain 22/6 France 24/8 Europe 12/10 Japan
Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 25th Oct 2007

Asia/Rights: EHF Marketing GmbH Take First Steps to Break Into Asian Market

EHF Marketing GmbH, the marketing arm of the European Handball Federation (EHF), has taken first steps to place elite European handball, and in particular the EHF Champions League, on the strong Asian market. EHF Marketing has met a 3-year agreement with a longstanding EHF Champions League partner, Global MMK, to strategically plan and realise the marketing of the EHF Champions League TV Rights in Asia. Global MMK will initially focus on the Chinese market, to utilise and then build-on the synergies that the forthcoming Olympic Games will bring with them.

Global MMK has much experience within the Asian market and with its expertise in building and implementing marketing strategies to open up this important market for handball, EHF Marketing Director, Peter Vargo, is confident that the EHF Champions League will soon be on offer to Asian sport fans. Global MMK will work directly with its division in Peking, initially working to establish handball on the Chinese market and then moving on to such countries as Korea and Japan.

Marc Rapparlie, Managing Director of Global MMK confirmed, “The potential for “new” sports in China is huge….our office in Peking is “on site” to identify strategically important partners who are already operating in this area. The pre-Olympic period is crucial to establish a marketing concept which will capture the interest of the sport fanatics in China.” Source: Sports e-Media, Sportcal, 25th Oct 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: EBU Wants Clear Calendar Before Renewing UCI Deal

The European Broadcasting Union today warned that it wanted a ‘harmonised calendar’ in professional cycling before agreeing to extend its television rights deal with the UCI, cycling’s world governing body. Jean Reveillon, the EBU’s director-general said that members of the EBU, the umbrella body of mainly public-service broadcasters, are ‘a little annoyed’ by a rift between the UCI and the organisers of the sport’s so-called ‘grand tours’ – the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana – and want a ‘reunification of the family.’ Reveillon was speaking in the wake of the EBU issuing a release calling for the calendar of international cycling events to ‘quickly be harmonised in consultations between the parties, in particular the UCI and the ‘major tours’.’

The release coincides with negotiations between the two bodies over a recently-launched tender for the television rights for the UCI’s top events. The EBU, which holds the rights under the present contract, is understood to be vying with several international sports agencies, including IMG, for a new deal. Although the ‘grand tours’ do not form part of the contract, the suggestion that the EBU might withdraw from the bidding if the calendar is not ‘harmonised’ in the way demanded by the EBU, is likely to be regarded as serious blow by the UCI.

However, one UCI source today told Sportcal.com: ‘I don’t think that this is a threat. I just think that they want the calendar to be more stable so that they can make deals.’ The EBU, in its release, draws a parallel with an accord reached this week between the UCI and its former antagonist the World Anti-Doping Agency over the introduction of anti-doping ‘passports’ for riders. The tender, which covers annual world championships in road, track, mountain bike and cyclo-cross cycling, is for four years, beginning in 2009 and running until 2012, when the UCI’s existing deal with the EBU expires. The tender also covers the annual track and cyclo-cross World Cup series. Source: Sportcal, 26th Oct 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Euroleague Seeks Internet Audience while Respecting Rights Holders

There will be strong demand for Euroleague.TV, the new online broadcast platform featuring live coverage of games from European basketball’s top clubs competition, despite geo-blocking in some countries to protect television rights contracts, the league’s chief executive Jordi Bertomeu has claimed. Euroleague Basketball launched the subscription service this week to coincide with the start of the 2007-08 season and hopes to build on the success of the internet coverage of last season’s Final Four competition which was made available in 37 different countries.

He added that the league had had to be 'careful' not to undermine existing deals with broadcasters, particularly those in the pay-television market, and said that it was achieving this through selective geo-blocking of live games in certain countries. However, it is estimated that on average, 80% of the games will be available, as they take place, to users of the internet platform. Bertomeu believes the timing is right for the launch of the service as it is two years since Euroleague began distributing its commercial rights in-house and it now has the know-how to embrace different platforms.

The league has opted for a subscription service, as opposed to an advertiser-funded model, on the recommendation of Infront, the international sports agency, which is providing the technological platform and handling the payment system. The two parties first worked together during this year’s CBA-Euroleague Challenge in China, a challenge series involving teams from China, Europe and Australia. The experience was described as ‘very positive’ and the agency has been entrusted with the technical responsibilities for the internet service, while the league is ‘more in charge of the promotion.’ Source: Sportcal, Sport Business, 25th Oct 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: 3 Italia plans DTT

3 Italia, the mobile telecommunications operator owned by Chinese group Hutchinson Whampoa, is aiming to become an "integrated TV publisher" on different platforms rather than just a mobile telephone operator. The television project - explained CEO of 3 Italia Vincenzo Novari – has so far absorbed EUR280 million of investment in the transmission network. By 2010 the network will be 50% dedicated to mobile TV broadcasting on DVB-H and 50% dedicated to digital-terrestrial television (DTT) channel transmission. It will have the capacity to broadcast a total of four TV channels, two of which will be high definition.

3 Italia has a total of 770,000 mobile customers that own a tivufonino (a neologism that stands for "mobile TV phone") 40% of which use it to access - at least once per week - to a variety of TV channels and premium video services. H3G Italia, the company that runs the business under the brand "3 Italia", finished the first six months of 2007 with revenues of approximately EUR997 million (down four per cent from previous year) and is still a loss making company. According to some rumors published in the UK press, the main shareholder of Hutchinson Whampoa, Li Ka Shing, has started the process of sale of the Italian mobile operator, a company that could be worth EUR10 billion. Source: Rapid TV News, 25th Oct 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: England's FA Could Double Value of International Rights

A tender issued in August by the Football Association, English soccer’s governing body, for international media rights for England’s home games and the FA Cup top-tier knockout competition, is on target to bring in £80 million ($164 million) over four years, double the value of the present deal. The tender is for a four-year period beginning with the 2008-09 season. The extra money would help to offset the losses faced by the FA if England fail to qualify for next year’s Euro 2008 European Championships in Austria and Switzerland. England lie second in their qualifying group but are relying on other teams’ results to ensure their passage to the competition.

The majority of the rights are distributed by Sportfive, the international sports agency, under the present deal. 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 for the international rights was September 28. Source: Sportcal, 24th Oct 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: French League Urged to Review TV Rights Money Distribution

The LFP, the French professional soccer league, has been urged to review its distribution of television money by Francis Decourrière, the president of the French top-tier club Valenciennes. Decourrière, told france2.fr that the handouts must be adjusted to reward France’s smaller clubs more, even if the LFP is unable to secure a new deal matching the €600 million ($852.2 million) per year it receives at present from Canal Plus, the pay-television broadcaster.

He said, ‘Whatever happens, first of all the television rights must be distributed in an equal manner. In England, which we always take as an example, the first-placed team gets €75 million and the last-placed team gets €45 million. For us, the first-placed team gets €46 million and the last-placed team gets €13 million. The difference is 4 to 1 while in England it is 2 to 1.’

Decourrière also hit out at France’s bigger clubs for forming a elite body of seven last week. The organisation has been christened ‘Football Avenir Professional’ (Future Professional Football) and Lyon chief Jean-Michel Aulas is its president. Decourrière said the creation of the new body ‘made him very sad and scared.’ He added: ‘Ten days ago, all the clubs were united under the presidency of Gervais Martel, the president of the UCPF (the union of professional clubs), saying that we will go forward completely united. ‘And then, we notice that there have been secret meetings in hotels to join together only the clubs who have big shareholders.’

The Valenciennes president also complained that Canal Plus had only broadcast his team’s matches twice this season, and that Le Mans, another of the smaller clubs in the top division, had only been televised once despite being third in the table. He added: ‘Marseille have been televised 10 times, Paris Saint Germain nine times and Lens six. I didn’t think there was a real difference between Lens and Valenciennes.’ Source: Sportcal, 24th Oct 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Spain Heads List of Countries Without Euro 2008 TV Deal

Spain heads a list of markets that are still to agree a broadcasting deal for soccer’s 2008 European Championships, seven and a half months before the tournament kicks off in Austria and Switzerland. No deal has yet been agreed in Spain despite lengthy negotiations between Sportfive, the international sports agency marketing the Euro 2008 broadcast rights, and broadacsters in the country, the only market in Europe’s five major territories yet to agree a contract. Uefa, European soccer’s governing body, has targeted at least €600 million ($852.4 million) from the sale of European broadcast rights by Sportfive, with around €410 million already generated in France, Germany, Italy and the UK alone.

Italy was the first of the major European markets to sign a deal, after Rai, the Italian public-service broadcaster, agreed an exclusive deal worth an estimated €120 million in July 2006. Deals in France and Germany were subject to lengthy negotiations between Sportfive and broadcasters, particularly in Germany where SportA, the rights acquisition agency of public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF, eventually signed a deal worth around €115 million for 27 of the 31 games, subject to confirmation by Uefa.

Sportfive was originally said to be targeting between €150 million and €160 million from the German market, but a lack of exclusivity on offer to pay-television meant that the expected bidding war did not materialise. A package of four second-choice final group phase fixtures is still available to free-to-air and pay-television broadcasters in Germany.

In the UK, free-to-air broadcasters BBC and ITV announced in June of this year that they had won the rights in a joint deal, after Sportfive was frustrated in its efforts to persuade them to bid separately. As members of the European Broadcasting Union, the BBC and ITV are used to bidding together for rights to major soccer tournaments, and avoiding driving up the price by competing directly against one another. Consequently, a joint deal worth in excess of £50 million was reported to have been signed, around £40 million less than the target set by Uefa.

A lengthy stand-off in France was ended after TF1 and M6, the commercial broadcasters, agreed to pay around €50 million each to share the rights to the tournament. Source: Sportcal, 23rd Oct 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: France Télévisions Wants 'At Least Four Mobile Channels'

France Télévisions, the French public-service broadcaster, has targeted a minimum of four mobile channels when new technology is rolled out in France next year. With the advent of DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) technology in 2008, France Télévisions is hoping to be allocated at least one-fifth of the 20 available channels. Laurent Souloumiac, the director general of France Télévisions Interactive, said that the broadcaster is ‘calling for the acquisition of four channels for France 2, France 3, France 4 and France 5, and we are asking about France Ô (the multicultural channel).’

Speaking at a conference in Paris to discuss audiovisual convergence, Souloumiac said that market research had shown that the consumers want to see the ‘big television channels’ on the new mobile service. France’s Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, the country’s broadcasting watchdog, is set to launch a tender for the 20 mobile channels, although the government could spare France Télévisions this process given its status as a public-service broadcaster.

Concerning the financing of the mobile channels, Souloumiac said that ‘obviously France Télévisions is more orientated towards free coverage, as a public-service broadcaster, but this network will cost money and we need partnerships with the operators.’ Source: Sportcal, Rapid TV News, 24th Oct 2007