Wednesday, 3rd October 2007

INFO BOX

Outlook for Mobile TV
Source: Ken Radio, 1st Oct 2007

Mobile TV has transitioned from analogue portable receivers and dubious reception quality to sleek digital mobile handsets offering significantly enhanced picture quality. Mobile TV is undergoing a further evolution from streamed services over cellular networks, both 2.5G and 3G, to separate broadcast networks that will support digital TV specifically designed for mobile devices.

The debate in the industry is whether this transition will be a smooth one and if there is an inherent demand amongst the end users to justify the investments in separate Mobile TV networks. Mobile TV is usually referred to as live simulcast TV on mobile devices that provides the same content as seen on regular satellite, digital or cable TV at home.

But the term also encompasses on-demand video or short clips that a user could download or that could be broadcast to a large number of users. Mobile TV is defined as a live, pre-recorded or custom made version of content that is available on regular TV. Juniper Research splits out mobile TV services and revenue into the following sub-categories: Mobile streamed TV services; and, Mobile broadcast TV services.

Mobile Streamed TV
This is the most common form of mobile TV at present. It uses the existing 2G/2.5G or 3G networks to stream TV content to mobile handsets. There are however two kinds of streamed mobile TV. The first and the most prevalent one is unicast streaming, which is a individual stream to every user.

Mobile Broadcast TV
These technologies include DVB-H (the European-developed of which Nokia is perhaps the most prominent supporter), DVB-SH (developed and endorsed by Alcatel), the Korean DMB standards, DAB-IP (introduced by BT Movio but shortly to be discontinued), Japan’s ISDB-T, Qualcomm’s MediaFLO and China’s STiMi. Technically there are a number of differences between the various standards, such channel capacity, channel bandwidth, modulation technique and FFT size.

Combining the value of revenues from end-users of streaming and broadcast mobile TV services will raise from $1.4 billion in 2007 to $12 billion in 2012. However, due to the slower than expected deployment of mobile broadcast TV services in some key markets, projections show the broadcast TV revenues from end-users will overhaul those from streamed services until 2012.


SPORTS SHORTS

* The MP & Silva agency agreed a three-year deal with Singapore-based sports agency, Nimbus Sport International, for new media rights to the Barclays Premier League, for the 2007-08 to 2009-10 seasons. Under the agreement, MP & Silva acquired exclusive internet and mobile clip rights for Italy; exclusive mobile clip rights for China and Japan; and non-exclusive internet clip rights for Japanese sports broadband channel, Livesports.jp – which will be launched jointly with Sports Marketing Japan in October. “We are delighted to be partnering MP & Silva for the distribution of the mobile and internet clip rights in Italy, China and Japan for the next three seasons,” said Digvijay Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Nimbus Sport. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 2nd Oct 2007

* Setanta Sports is launching a pay-TV sports channel aimed at Australian homes, the first challenger to Fox Sports since the collapse of the Seven Network’s C7 in 2001. The channel will join the Foxtel platform on October 9 under the open access regime, whereby Setanta can join the platform but Foxtel does not have to sell Setanta as part of its service. Foxtel subscribers who want to watch Setanta will have a direct contract with the broadcaster. Foxtel offers nine sports channels as part of its package. The platform is using the Setanta deal to trumpet that the regime – modified in a March 2007 deal with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission – is successful. The modifications provided better access to Foxtel’s EPG and revised access pricing. Source: Rapid TV News, 2nd Oct 2007

* The Tokyo 2016 Olympic Games Bid Committee appointed public relations firm Weber Shandwick to support its bid. Weber Shandwick will help to develop the bid’s global communications strategy and execute various aspects of the bid’s public relations campaign around the globe. Weber Shandwick has worked with many successful Olympic bid campaigns, notably Sydney 2000, Torino 2006, Beijing 2008 and most recently, Sochi 2014. The International Olympic Committee will announce the shortlist of Candidate Cities for the 2016 Olympic Games in June 2008. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 2nd Oct 2007

* Top bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan, heads a group of eight Sri Lankan cricketers who have signed up to play in the first edition of the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition backed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Spin bowler Muralitharan, the second-leading wicket-taker in test cricket, is to be joined by Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa and Dilhara Fernando. Other stars already committed to the IPL include retired Australian internationals Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming. The league is due to kick off in April of next year and will feature eight franchise teams competing for $3 million in prize money. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Oct 2007

* Broadcasters in Germany and Brazil, the two countries that took part in the 2007 Women’s World Cup final, set new records, despite the unfavourable time differences. According to FIFA, Rede Bandeirantes in Brazil reached a rating of around 15 points, three times above the average of an entire Sunday and way beyond the channel's expectations. Germany's national channel ZDF achieved an audience of 9.05 million viewers representing a market share of 50.5%. In 2003, the final of the fourth FIFA World Cup between Germany - Sweden reached in the German TV a live audience of 11.38 million, however this match was shown during prime evening viewing hours and therefore achieved a lower market share than the broadcast on Sunday 30 September on a Sunday morning (33.8% vs 50.5%). Source: Sport Business, 2nd Oct 2007

* World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) closed significant financing deal with private equity firm InterMedia Partners. The deal follows WCSN’s recently completed distribution deals with ESPN.com, FOXSports.com on MSN, AOL Video and Yahoo! Sports. The channel covers over 200 live events annually including exclusive coverage of many major championships. Said WCSN chairman Claude Ruibal, “We are now well positioned to leverage the unique sports opportunities available to us during the countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.” Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 2nd Oct 2007

* Quattro Media announced a breakthrough for its programme portfolio. As of this winter, it will represent a total of five complete world cups with multiple year contracts. Quattro Media offers a variety of programs for television and new media broadcasters worldwide including the influencial and presitgious Swatch TTR Snowboard World Tour, showcasing 20 of the biggest snowboard freestyle events all over the world, followed by the PKRA Pro Kite Riders World Cup and the WSMC World Strong Man Cup World Tour. New in the Quattro Media portfolio are the new WVBF - World Volleyball & Beach Volleyball Federation with 10 to 15 world cup stops in 2008 and the newly created "Airsports Live", a brand new type of competition of aeronautic sports disciplines in one competition. Source: Sports e-Media, 2nd Oct 2007

* Meanwhile, the rebel volleyball federation, WVBF, announced its four-year deal with Quattro Media for the distribution of the beach volleyball WVBF Pro Series World Tour television rights. The deal, which runs from 2008 to 2011, will also involve Quattro producing a 24-minute highlights programme for each leg of the tour. The recently-launched WVBF is headed by Jean-Pierre Seppey and rivals the FIVB, the sport’s established international governing body. Seppey said that the deal with Quattro, concluded on Saturday, represented an important step forward for the organization. Discussions are under way to add an event in Abu Dhabi to the WVBF series. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Oct 2007

* Correios, the Brazilian postal service, has extended its sponsorship of the Brazilian Futsal Confederation (CBFS), the body which represents the indoor soccer game, until August 2008. The deal is worth R$8 million ($4.4 million), according to the Maquine do Esporte website. Meanwhile, the CBFS has announced the venues for next year’s Fifa Futsal World Cup. Matches will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Jaragua do Sul in the state of Santa Catarina. The semi-finals and final will all be held in Rio. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Oct 2007


MORE NEWS

Asia/General: ATP Defends Merit System in Face of Asian Complaints

The ATP Tour has said it will not increase the number of Asian players in events held on the continent despite threats from the Asian Tennis Federation to launch its own series. The ATF is frustrated that the region, which holds five leading tournaments plus the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, is so poorly represented in terms of players and wants eight guaranteed spots, equivalent to 25% of the field, in Asian events.

However, Brad Drewett, a senior ATP official leapt to the defence of the existing system, telling Reuters: ‘We have rules in place based on merit, and we have no plans to change them. We always give four wild cards. That system has served us very well for a long, long time.’ He said: ‘We can give countries more wild cards for big events but their players will just get beaten very easily. That’s not good in terms of developing players’ ability.’

South Korea’s Lee Hyung-taik, ranked 39, and Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu, ranked 96, are the only Asian men in the world’s top 100, and Drewett believes it would be counter-productive to accept players lower down the rankings. The ATF is unimpressed by this argument and has announced plans for its own Tennis Asia Cup, the first edition of which will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from November 28 to December 2. This tournament will have a prize fund of $100,000 and involve eight leading players from Asia, including at least one from each of the five sub-regions. The ATF has also introduced its own rankings based on points gathered in ATP tournaments and Asian events. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Oct 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: France Télévisions Delivers Blow to TF1 with Six Nations Renewal

France Télévisions, the French public-service broadcaster, has extended its contract for rugby union’s Six Nations Championship until 2013. The network, whose current deal was due to expire after the 2009 tournament, beat off competition from commercial broadcasters TF1 and M6 to retain the rights. The deal is a boost for France Télévisions, which lost out to TF1 in the bidding for the rights to the 2007 Rugby World Cup, a competition that has attracted large audiences to TF1 in the host country. The value of the renewal has not been reported, although France Télévisions’ current deal is said to be worth €18 million ($25.5 million) a year.

Six Nations Rugby Ltd, the organising committee, was said to be keen to renegotiate the deal during the World Cup in order to get the best possible price. Daniel Bilalian, the head of sports at France Télévisions, said that the broadcaster had battled to keep the rights because ‘rugby is part of our heritage, like the [cycling] Tour de France.’ He added that he was committed to see the tournament, which has always been on public-service television in France, remain on the network's France 2 channel and stay free-to-air. Bilalian claimed that a deal with TF1 would have resulted in some of the matches being shown on Eurosport, the cable and satellite channel, as has been the case during the World Cup.

He believes that TF1 'under-estimated' France Télévisions in the bidding process for the Six Nations. France Télévisions has won the rights across all media platforms and has the option to sublicense the new media rights. In 2007, France Télévisions made all 15 games from the competition available on its website on a live and on-demand basis. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Oct 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: ESPN360.com to Offer Exclusive Olympic, Lifestyle Sports Coverage

ESPN has reached an agreement with World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) to bring exclusive, live Olympic and lifestyle sports event coverage to ESPN360.com, its recently relaunched live sports broadband network. Under the deal, WCSN will be a featured channel on ESPN360.com, providing exclusive live and on-demand coverage of swimming, gymnastics and track and field as U.S. and international athletes prepare for the Beijing Olympic Games. Additionally, ESPN.com will feature highlights and the two sites will collaborate to share sports news and information content across WCSN.com and ESPN.com's Olympic Sports section.

ESPN360.com delivers more than 2,000 live, global sports events a year. The service is available at no additional charge to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection from an affiliated service provider. The portal gives consumers control over up to 10 simultaneous live events, with fans able to view the event of their choice in a main viewing window, while other events continue to play in smaller, live-action thumbnails. Source: Worldscreen, 2nd Oct 2007

Elsewhere/General: New Ernst & Young Report says Content is Not Yet King

Price and convenience still sell bundled telecommunications services, rather than content, according to a new report from professional services firm Ernst & Young. Bundle Jungle Europe: Navigating the Multi-Play Market, surveyed more than 12,000 consumers across eight Western European countries choosing from a wide range of bundled telecommunications packages (in which a single company provides two or more of broadband, fixed-line voice, television, and mobile phone services). And while fewer than five per cent of respondents cited premium content as a reason for taking up a bundle, up to 57 per cent of respondents by country cited cost.

“Content is currently low down on the list of reasons for consumers to take up or switch between ‘multi-play’ telecommunications packages,” explains Mark Gregory, Head of Ernst & Young’s UK Telecommunications Practice. “But content does create stickiness. If consumers have the content they want, it tends to act as the glue that keeps them with their current provider. As competition among companies offering bundled services continues to intensify, prices are dropping across the continent. As broadband and fixed-line voice services become commoditised and cheaper, content may become increasingly important. “The companies that succeed will be those that can segment their markets finely – tailoring services and content to the exact needs of their customers,” adds Gregory.

Bundle Jungle Europe: Navigating the Multi-Play Market, combined an online survey of more than 12,000 consumers in the UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Italy and interviews with senior executives from 30 telecommunications companies across Western Europe. Source: Sport Business, 2nd Oct 2007