Monday, 28th Jan 2008

WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

AXN Begins Casting for Amazing Race Asia 3

AXN is gearing up for a third season of the original reality competition series The Amazing Race Asia, the pan-regional version of the hit Emmy-winning CBS show. The Amazing Race Asia 3 will once again send teams of two through the world’s most exciting locales and experiences. A host of exciting pit-stop prizes and the grand prize of $100,000 awaits the first couple that crosses the finishing line. The Amazing Race Asia 2 is currently airing on the Sony-owned action/adventure network. No broadcast date has been announced for the third edition. Worldscreen, 25th Jan 2008


INFO BOX

Mobile TV subscribers 462m by 2012

As mobile TV services expand over the next five years, ABI Research sees the total number of subscribers growing to 462 million, driven in large part by the expansion of 3G networks, and flat-rate plans for mobile video. The build-out of mobile video delivery networks and an increase in the amount of available content will also contribute to the market’s growth. "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," says research director Mike Wolf. "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 sees the Asia-Pacific region as the overall leader in the adoption of mobile video services. The number of subscribers to mobile video services in Asia-Pacific will 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 while China and India will both 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," notes 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." ATV, 28th Jan 2008


SPORTS SHORTS

* Zee-backed Dish TV DTH platform is now in 2.7 million Indian homes, adding 297,000 new subscribers in the last quarter of 2007. Growth rose from 278,000 net adds in the previous quarter. Operating revenues rose a solid 48% over the previous quarter, from Rs755 million to Rs1,125 million. But losses rose too. Net loss for the quarter was Rs1,160 million, compared with the previous quarter’s Rs919 million. Dish TV now counts a new competitor, Sun Direct, in India’s southern states, as well as TataSky, against whom the platform competes across the country. Rapid TV News, 25th Jan 2008

* Pakistan has authorised 12 additional TV channels, taking the nation’s total to 48. However, add in those DTH channels for which “landing rights” have been issued and the total rises to about 80 (plus 106 FM radio stations). One of the new channels is Star Asia which had already been operating in Pakistan pending the issue of a licence. Aaj, Punjab and Star Asia, KTN and Kashish, which have been operating for some time, were formally awarded licences to operate on a regular basis. Local reports say that the Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Senator Nisar Memon, said that Pakistan is entering a new political phase for the media, and that the government was opening up media in the spirit of democracy. Rapid TV News, 25th Jan 2008

* The Asian Handball Federation has filed a petition at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne in a deepening row over a decision by the International Handball Federation to order a replay of a controversial Asian Olympic handball qualifying tournament. The AHF, which has threatened to expel teams participating in the replay – only Japan and South Korea have said they will take part so far – is to hold an emergency meeting in Kuwait on Sunday to discuss the dispute. The replay is scheduled for January 29 and 30. The qualifiers involved Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates in the men’s competition, and Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan and Qatar in the women’s event. Sportcal, 25th Jan 2008

* The Los Angeles Galaxy will head to the Far East on a pre-season tour in March. The schedule is yet to be finalized but the Major League Soccer team will visit a number of countries to play friendly games, with Korea expected to be included on the schedule. The tour will allow Galaxy to tap into David Beckham's popularity in Asia. Manchester United and Real Madrid, were frequent visitors to the region in his time with them. In November, MLS commissioner Don Garber said the Galaxy had sold 700 times as many jerseys this season as last, with the increase almost exclusively down to Beckham's famous No.23 shirt. Many of those jerseys were sold in Asia, where MLS games are now shown live. Football Insider, 25th Jan 2008

* Meanwhile, Tokyo-based tech company MLJ has acquired the exclusive rights to use and distribute Major League Soccer content via mobile phones and the Internet. The agreement will result in the first-ever MLS mobile content site being launched in Japan - MLS's first such venture in Asia. The MLS mobile site will feature results, event information, player biographies and highlight videos, with MLJ able to tap into an "extensive" existing base of subscribers in Japan. MLS and MLJ will both work on the promotion of the site, which launched on the NTT Docomo network on Monday. The site launched on KDDI last week, and the Softbank phone carrier will take the site from February 1. Football Insider, 25th Jan 2008

* State Street will be an official partner of MLB's Ricoh Japan Opening Series 2008. The world champion Boston Red Sox team will open the regular season against the Oakland A's on March 25 in Tokyo. State Street will sponsor the two-game series as well as two other exhibition games against Japanese teams. Ronald Logue, State Street's chairman and CEO, said: "Given our partnership with the Red Sox right here at Fenway Park, it was a logical next step for State Street to sponsor the Red Sox opener in Japan." Sports Media, 25th Jan 2008

* Japan stepped up its bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games with the launch of its new website. The site is available in three languages and designed to act as a window to the international community, broadcasting the latest Tokyo 2016 bidding news as well as interviews with internationally renowned Olympians and Paralympians. The website - www.tokyo2016.or.jp - is available in French, English and Japanese languages. Sportsbusiness.com, 25th Jan 2008

* Sandra Carter Global (SCG) and Sandra Carter International (SCI) will merge with Lightworks Program Distribution (LPD), with SCG’s founder and principal, Sandra Carter, to join Lightworks as executive VP of business development. John Cuddihy, LPD’s president and managing director, will head up the combined operations. In her new role at LPD, Carter will work with Cuddihy to continue to bring a variety of new programming into the marketplace. Worldscreen, 25th Jan 2008

* France's three mobile network operators; Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom, have told president Nicolas Sarkozy that they would back his concept of eliminating advertising on public TV by levying a tax on mobile TV operators (and ISPs) in return for a guarantee there will be no more 3G operators. This would leave Iliad's Free subsidiary and other potential mobile entrants out in the cold. The Attali Commission's long-awaited report on economic liberalisation in France argues in favour of the emergence of a fourth UMTS network operator to stimulate competition and lower end-user prices. It also supports aggressive efforts to accelerate high speed network rollouts. ATV, 28th Jan 2008

* Google is interested to set up operations in Malaysia, citing the country's technology infrastructure and strategic location, newspapers reported on Sunday. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Google has started discussions with Malaysia's Multimedia Development Corp on establishing a base in the country. "They want to make their presence felt in Malaysia. It will be a big boost for our ICT industry," he told reporters after meeting Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Abdullah said Malaysia ranked as the top users of Google in Southeast Asia, which was another reason why it would make sense to use the country as a base for its operations. In Asia, Google has offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Reuters, 27th Jan 2008


MORE NEWS

Global/General: Adspend to Hit $479 Billion in 2008

A new study from WPP’s GroupM says that global advertising spending in measured media will increase 6.8 percent to $479 billion in 2008, up from an estimated 6-percent gain in 2007. The study, This Year, Next Year, found that television and the Internet will represent the vast majority of additional new investment in 2008. The rate of growth in the U.S. continues to lag behind the rest of the world, with a 2.8-percent increase last year and only a 3.7-percent projected gain in 2008. Global adspend in North America will hit nearly $181 billion in 2008, while revenues will reach $168.6 billion in the U.S. this year.

“We expect half of 2008’s new ad dollars to find their way onto TV, which dominates advertising in emerging markets and is the lead medium in U.S. elections and Olympics coverage,” said Adam Smith, the director of GroupM Futures who oversees all This Year, Next Year reports. “We predict Internet will soak up 28 percent of new investment and lead advertising growth in the developed world, particularly Western Europe. The Internet is far less important to growth in emerging markets, where TV advertising does the most of build brands and a consumer economy.”

Western Europe is the second-largest media bloc, representing about 27 percent of total media investment, but GroupM predicts that its contribution to 2008 global ad growth will only be 16 percent, well below the expected economic growth. Adspend in Western Europe will decrease to 4.3 percent, with revenues of $127.2 billion. Meanwhile, spending in China will rise 25 percent, a slight decline from the previous year’s 29-percent growth. In the Asia-Pacific, total ad revenue will reach $114.8 billion in 2008, a 10-percent gain over the previous year.

According to GroupM, China still contributes 21 percent of new-media dollars in the company’s 2008 forecast and is ahead of the U.S. with 20 percent, as well as Russia and Brazil with 6 percent each. “Encircling economic gloom has not affected GroupM’s view of marketing investment in 2008, which is supported by events including the American elections, the Beijing Olympics, and the European soccer championship,” said Smith. “Expectations of media growth in North America, Western Europe and Japan, which combined represent nearly three-quarters of the global media economy, are in any case conservative.” Worldscreen, 25th Jan 2008