DID YOU KNOW…?
Members of MyFootballClub on Wednesday approved the takeover of Ebbsfleet United, with over 95.9% of the 18,112 members voting in favour of going ahead with the deal. The agreement marks the first website community takeover of a football club. Since August 2007, members of MyFootballClub from more than 80 countries have raised over £1 million in order to buy an English professional football club. Ebbsfleet is currently ninth in the Blue Square Premier, three points off a play-off place for entry to the Football League, and the £635,000 deal has purchased a 75% stake in the club. Football Insider, 24th Jan 2008
INFO BOX
Superbowl Ad Spending
Info IQ, 24th Jan 2008
Chatter surrounding Super Bowl XLII is escalating on the cost of a 30-sec commercial spot. TV commercials that will appear during the game are the subject of growing speculation. Advertising during the Super Bowl game has translated into $1.84 billion of network sales during the past 20 years (1988-20 07) from over 200 different advertisers. On Feb. 3, Fox will air the National Football League's Super Bowl XLII. The Bowl has always been a major TV event. Last year, 93.2 million viewers tuned in to the game, which aired on CBS, and marketers paid as much as $2.6 million for a 30-second spot. This year, Fox has gotten some marketers to pay as much as $2.7 million to $3 million per 30 seconds to appear in the game.
The top five Super Bowl advertisers of the past 20 years have spent $659 million on advertising during the game, accounting for 36 percent of total advertising dollars spent in the game. Anheuser Busch and Pepsico, which have appeared in every game during this period, lead the pack, followed by General Motors, Time Warner and Walt Disney. Each year, about 62% of the network TV ad money invested in the game comes from incumbent marketers who ran commercials the previous year. While that’s a very high retention rate, it’s actually lower than the comparable rate for two other showcase TV events. Over the past 10 years, the average dollar retention rate has been 75% for the Academy Awards and 67% for the World Series.
The cost of an advertisement in the Super Bowl has nearly quadrupled in the past 20 years. After reaching $2.5 million in 2006 for a 30-second unit, the price fell back last year to just under $2.4 million. For the 2008 game, Fox is reportedly seeking $2.7 million for each 30-second spot.
What kinds of products are most frequently advertised on the Super Bowl?
The popular perception is that beer, soft drinks and autos are the prime ad categories, given their annual presence in the game. Actually, the perennial leader is promotional advertising from the network itself. In a typical Super Bowl, 15-20% of all commercial time is a plug by the network for its own programming. In 2007, the value of this air time exceeded $46 million.
How Big is the Super Bowl Versus Other Sporting Events?
The Major League Baseball’s World Series and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship are two other high-profile sporting events that attract significant interest from TV advertisers. The World Series is four to seven games. March Madness peaks with the semi-finals and championship on its final weekend, a total of three games. The Super Bowl, of course, is a single telecast. In recent years, the Super Bowl and World Series have been running neck-and-neck in total ad spending. In 2007, for the first time, the collegians surpassed the pros as the final weekend of the Men’s tournament generated $168.4 million in network TV ad spending.
SPORTS SHORTS
* Korea-based Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) will broadcast the 2008 Evergrande Real Estate World Table Tennis Championships in Guangzhou, China, the International Table Tennis Federation's marketing partner TMS has announced. "We are pleased to have agreed terms with MBC Korea for coverage of the Championships to Korean table tennis fans," said TMS managing director Anders Thunstrom. "At the last World Table Tennis Championships, there was no Korean TV-rights holder. So we welcome MBC back, as they covered the 2005 and 2006 World Championships." Sports Media, 24th Jan 2008
* New media coverage will attract the "young generation" to the Beijing Olympic Games this summer, according to CCTV's vice-president Sun Yusheng. China’s state broadcaster CCTV picked up the official Internet and mobile phone rights to the Games late last year. Sun and several of his colleagues spoke about coverage of the event. "The fact that CCTV obtained new media broadcasting right of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games attests the importance that CCTV attaches to the development of Olympic communication and new media. New media, which is bound to play a significant role in the Beijing 2008, will attract the young generation of audience." Sports Media, 24th Jan 2008
* The National Basketball Association will stage its first event in India with Basketball without Borders, the league’s global basketball development and community outreach programme. A series of activities will be held in New Delhi from July 3–6, the NBA, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) announced. The Basketball without Borders camp will use basketball to influence positive social change and feature dozens of current and former NBA players and team personnel working as camp coaches. Top young basketball players (ages 19 and under) from across Asia will come together in New Delhi to take part in basketball instruction and competition. They will also participate in motivational and life-skills seminars that promote education, leadership, character development and healthy living. Sport Business, Sportcal, 14th Jan 2008
* Samsonite has been unveiled as a major sponsor of motor racing’s new GP2 Asia Series. The deal comes into effect for this weekend’s first round in Dubai and the company will use the partnership to promote its high-end Samsonite Black Label collection. Samsonite’s logo will appear on the 26 cars, representing 13 teams, at all five rounds. The series also visits Indonesia, Malaysia and Bahrain concludes back in Dubai on the second weekend in April. The GP2 Asia Series is an offshoot of GP2, the support series to Formula 1, and the Malaysia and Bahrain races will be held on the same weekends as grand prix events. Sportcal, 14th Jan 2008
* The organizing committee of the Bali Asian Beach Games has added three more sports -- wrestling, kabbadi and pencak silat -- to the event, which will be held on the island from Oct. 18-26. Organizing committee deputy director-general for operations, Djoko Pramono, said Tuesday the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) had requested the addition of wrestling and kabbadi (a sport originally from the Indian subcontinent, consisting of seven players on each team) at the first-ever Asian Beach Games. TheJakartaPost.com, 25th Jan 2008
* The introduction of a new field hockey series between teams representing Asia and Europe has been unanimously endorsed by the Asian Hockey Federation. The six-match ‘Hockey Classics’ series will oppose the ‘Asian All Stars’ and the ‘European All Stars,’ with three games to be played on each continent next year. The decision was made at the AHF council meeting in Oman this week. The AHF also launched the bidding process for the 2009 Asia Cup and 2009 Asian Champions Trophy, adding that the hosts will be announced in the middle of this year. The top four teams from the 2009 Asia Cup will qualify for the Asian Champions Trophy, from which the Asian All Stars will be selected. Sportcal, 24th Jan 2008
* Golf’s Ladies European Tour is to have its first event in Korea in November. The Korean Ladies Masters is to be co-sanctioned by the LET and the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association for the next three years. The event will be promoted by international sports marketing company Parallel Media Group, Korean sports marketing firm Sportizen and Joongang Broadcasting Corporation, which will provide television coverage on its JGolf channel. The inaugural tournament will take place from November 13 to 15, at a venue to be confirmed, and include an equal number of LET and KLPGA players. The addition of the Korean Ladies Masters takes the number of events on the 2008 LET schedule to 29. Sportcal, 24th Jan 2008
* Sportfive has launched the official Internet TV service for the 2008 MTN African Cup of Nations in Ghana at www.Ghana2008.tv offering video streams of all 32 matches in the tournament, live or on-demand. Each match is provided with commentary in English and French. Viewers can tune in to individual matches for US$5.99, while a package including all games in the pool stage is available for $29.99 and a package featuring all the highlights is on offer for $1.99. All matches in the final stage may be purchased later for $14.99. The service is available worldwide, except in Africa and the Middle East. On the first day of competition, more than 10,000 people signed up for the service. Sports Media, 24th Jan 2008
* Turner Sports has announced the relaunch of PGA.com , the official site of The PGA of America. PGA.com, which in 2007 earned an Emmy nomination from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for its PGA.com Pipeline coverage, has been redesigned to include the PGA Pro Finder search function, a comprehensive instructional library, complete golf tournament coverage and exclusive video content. PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka said: "PGA.com is a 24/7 resource to the achievements of more than 28,000 men and women PGA Professionals, who work to grow the game and the business of golf." Sports Media, 24th Jan 2008
* CONMEBOL has publicly backed the Bolivian Football Federation in its battle against FIFA's crackdown against games played at high altitude. CONMEBOL has given the go-ahead for Bolivia to play its home games for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at La Paz's Hernando Siles stadium. CONMEBOL has decided to allow matches to be staged at more than 2,750 metres above sea level, something that FIFA has taken exception to since the end of last year. FIFA had set periods of adaptation for matches played at altitude and the ruling led to protests from a number of South American countries including Bolivia, with La Paz located more than 3,600m above sea level. Football Insider, 24th Jan 2008
* FC Moscow will not be allowed to play a Russian Premier Liga match in London after the head of the Russian Football Union (RFU) branded the idea senseless. Backed by marketing company IMG, the club had hoped to contest its 'home' league fixture against champion Zenit St Petersburg in London. It would have been the first time in the history of Russian football that a league game has been played outside of Russian territory. But RFU chief Vitaly Mutko confirmed the proposal had been rejected at a meeting of the governing body on Tuesday. Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea and its Russian owner Roman Abramovich, had been mooted as a possible venue for the game. Football Insider, 24th Jan 2008
MORE NEWS
Asia/General: Time to Buy Media Stocks?
Consultancy Media Partners Asia (MPA) has identified a number of stocks which represent good value since the markets in Asia, as elsewhere, took a hammering earlier this week. MPA said: “The correction has been fairly indiscriminate and the worst hit have been media and communications companies in Indonesia, India, Greater China, Japan and Asian ADRs trading in the US. Earnings growth for most of the companies we cover remains robust enough, which suggests buying opportunities certainly amongst major media plays in key markets.”
The company highlights in particular India’s Dish TV, whose share price has fallen a whopping 42% since the start of the year. Other stocks representing good value are Japan’s Jupiter Telecommunications (J:Com) which has lost over nine per cent and is trading at “an undemanding” 6.4x FY 08 EBITDA, and the News Corp-backed Sky TV New Zealand, which is trading at 8x. But MPA warns that some of the big media companies in the region, such as Malaysia’s Astro and Hong Kong’s TVB, have been relatively unscathed by the nosediving markets, so may only be buying opportunities if the fall continues. Rapid TV News, 24th Jan 2008
Asia/New Media: 10 'To Do's' for Mobile TV
A new report from Casbaa has identified 10 key factors for mobile TV in Asia. Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Assocation of Asia (Casbaa’s) report, Mobile TV in Asia, condenses the challenges into a checklist of 10 “to do’s” for budding mobile TV operators to address. “For anyone interested in investing more in this space – the critical question is knowing when to act, and what the right engagement model should be,” says the report. “To address that issue we have organised the insights from our research into a simple checklist, designed to explore what the DNA of commercial success in the Mobile TV space might look like.”
1. The Network
2. Ease of Use
3. The Ecosystem
4. Devices
5. Coverage
6. Revenue
7. Regulation
8. Content
9. Advertising
10. Lifestyle
Among the less-obvious pointers, the Ecosystem is key, says the report. “Having a healthy Mobile TV ecosystem means that the integration between content providers, network operators and device manufacturers is sufficiently robust that it results in both a viable commercial model and a seamless service experience for audiences.” And lifestyle too will be a factor, with some cities (eg Hong Kong) likely to have more problems (high density, tall buildings causing interference issues) whereas others (flat Beijing) are likely to have fewer issues.
Author Mike Walsh throws in one caveat – that the internet should be “a powerful reminder of the power of the internet as a work around to the best laid plans of media companies…It is perhaps ironic that when it comes to mobile TV, so many of us already assume that the most interactive device ever invented – the mobile – will in the hands of the new generation become a passive broadcast device.” Rapid TV News, Worldscreen, 24th Jan 2008
India/General: BCCI the Big Winner as Business and Bollywood Win IPL Teams
A mix of industrial groups and film stars have today been awarded rights to own teams in the Indian Premier League, the country’s new Twenty20 competition, following a bidding process which will earn the national governing body more than $700 million. The most expensive franchise was that in the southern city of Mumbai, which was won by India’s richest person Mukesh Ambani, the head of Reliance Industries, with a bid of $111.9 million.
Ambani pipped Vijay Mallya, the chairman of United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines, who did however secure the Bangalore team for $111.6 million. Mallya is also making waves in Formula 1 motor racing having joined forces with Dutch businessman Michiel de Mol to acquire the Spyker team, which will compete as Force India in 2008. The IPL is proving to be a lucrative project for the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which has generated $723.6 million from the 10-year licences to run teams. This is in addition to the $1.026 billion to be raised from the sale of the television rights to a group including broadcaster Sony Entertainment Television and sports agency World Sport Group.
The BCCI was said to have set a base price of $50 million for each franchise, but all of the winning bids were well above this figure. The owners are obliged to pay 10 per cent of the overall price they agreed every year. Lalit Modi, the vice-president of the BCCI and chairman of the IPL, said: ‘We can say that all the hard work fructified and the IPL is here to say.’ The high-profile owners will include Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, who teamed up with actress Juhi Chawla and industrialist Jay Mehta to win the bid for the Kolkata team for $75.09 million. Another celebrated actress, Preita Zinta, and her boyfriend Ness Wadia are paying $76 million for the Mohali franchise.
Other successful bidders included the Deccan Chronicle newspaper, India Cements, GMR Holdings and UK-based company Emerging Media. However, the bids from Indian financial group ICICI, business conglomerate Sahara and Futures Group were disqualified. The first edition of the IPL will comprise 59 matches over 44 days, beginning on April 18, and feature a host of overseas stars, as well as the best Indian talent. The prize fund will total $3 million and the franchises receive a share of the television and sponsorship revenue over a 10-year period.
Twenty20 cricket has been slow to develop in India, the country which accounts for 70 per cent of the sport’s global revenue, but the process has been accelerated by the launch of the unofficial Indian Cricket League, which held its first Twenty20 competition in November and December, and the national team’s victory in last year’s inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa.
Indian Premier League Team Owners
City Winning Owner Bid ($m)
Mumbai Mukesh Ambani 111.9
Bangalore Vijay Mallya 111.6
Hyderabad Deccan Chronicle 107.01
Chennai India Cements 91
Delhi GMR Holdings 84
Mohali Preity Zinta 76
Kolkata Shah Rukh Khan 75.09
Jaipur Emerging Media 67
Sportcal, 24th Jan 2008
China/ General: Women's Ice Hockey Team Melts Away
China's women's hockey team is struggling to find adequate players largely because no one is willing to pay them, an ice hockey official has said. "The sport's governing body in the provinces does not pay any attention to the sport, and even the full-time players only have a monthly income of about 1,000 yuan ($138)," Yu Tiande, head of the ice hockey department of the Winter Sports Administrative Center, told Beijing Youth Daily. "So the number of professional players is shrinking terribly in recent years."
From its fourth-place finish at the 1998 Nagano Olympics ona team with 15 part-time players out of the total 23-member squad, the team has hit rock bottom and lags far behind the rest of the world. In China, full-time players serve their contracts with the sport's governing body in their registered provinces so they are provided with a consistent income. Part-time players must cover all costs by themselves without any compensation.
"The current situation of the sport in China is terrible," Yu said. "Twenty-three is the minimum number (of players) required for a national team. We cannot find any more good players to join in. There are only 8 professional and full-time players on the team." Yu said the fourth place at the 1998 Winter Olympics was not the highest ranking the Chinese women have achieved, but it was their last good memory. The national team used to be the best in Asia but was stunned in consecutive losses to Japan and Kazakhstan for a third-place finish at last year's Asian Winter Games in China. It was the team's second straight setback in the Games dating back from the 2003 edition in Aomori, Japan. China Daily, 24th Jan 2008
Global/New Media: Mobile TV Subscribers to Hit 462 Million by 2012
A new study from ABI Research says that the total number of mobile TV subscribers will rise to 462 million by 2012, driven largely by the expansion of 3G networks and flat-rate plans for mobile video. The study, titled Mobile TV Services, provides an overview of the mobile TV and video industry. The build-out of mobile video delivery networks and an increase in the amount of available content will also contribute to the growth of mobile television.
“Mobile operators’ sustained investment in video delivery will continue to be rewarded by subscribers’ growing adoption rates, particularly as they upgrade to new video-capable handsets,” said Mike Wolf, the research director at ABI Research. “Consumers are being increasingly enticed by better experiences through more powerful and larger screens as well as by a widening array of subscription options.”
ABI Research notes that the Asia-Pacific region will lead the way in the growth of mobile television, with the number of subscribers to grow from 24 million in 2007 to more than 260 million by 2012. High levels of penetration will occur in both Japan and South Korea. Meanwhile, both China and India are expected to contribute significantly to the overall total due to very large subscriber
populations, even though the overall penetration of video services will remain much lower than in more technologically advanced countries.
“South Korea and Japan will continue to lead worldwide, while some countries in Western Europe will also continue to see strong growth,” noted Wolf. “North America will also see some strong uptake as more services become available in 2008 with the launch of AT&T’s MediaFLO service, the continued expansion of Verizon Wireless’ MediaFLO subscriber base, and the growth of on-demand mobile video services.” Worldscreen, 24th Jan 2008
Elsewhere/Rights: France Télévisions Bags Africa Cup of Nations Final Rights
France Télévisions, the public-service broadcaster, will screen the final of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations after agreeing a deal with Sportfive, the international sports marketing agency. The final, which takes place in Accra, Ghana, on February 10, will be aired live on the broadcaster’s France 2 channel after a reported fee of between €250,000 ($365,439) and €300,000 was agreed with Sportfive. Coverage will switch to France Télévisions’ France 3 channel should extra time and penalty kicks be required. Eurosport, the pan-European cable and satellite broadcaster with rights to the whole tournament, will also broadcast the final live. The last Africa Cup of Nations final in 2006 was broadcast live in France by TF1, the French commercial broadcaster which owns Eurosport.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, the national broadcaster in Kenya, has finally signed a deal for the Africa Cup of Nations rights after receiving financial help from the government. The state broadcaster had previously complained that it could not meet the $430,000 rights fee being demanded by LC2 Medias FA, the company contracted to sell the rights on behalf of Sportfive. However, a deal was agreed and the broadcaster kicked off its tournament coverage with the clash between Nigeria and the Ivory Coast on Monday.
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the state broadcaster in Zimbabwe, had still not finalised a deal by the middle of this week. ZBC officials remained confident, however, that it could meet the asking fee for rights, reportedly just over $900,000. Robson Mhandu, ZBC’s acting chief executive, said at the weekend that if the broadcaster could not seal a deal with the appropriate agency then it might attempt to reach a deal with Supersport, the South-African based pay-television broadcaster with rights to the tournament. National broadcasters in Zambia, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda have all bemoaned the high cost of rights fees being asked for the tournament. Sportcal, 24th Jan 2008
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