INFO BOX
Study shows demand for interactive TV
Ensequence, the interactive television company, has released the results of a survey that shows consumers are ready to change the way they interact with their televisions in 2008. According to the survey, 72 per cent of UK viewers indicated they are currently using their remote controls for simple tasks such as finding favourite programmes using the on-screen TV guide, scheduling or selecting DVR recordings and for viewing content on-demand. Now consumers are ready to take their television viewing experience a leap further and they want more from their cable and satellite providers in 2008.
Viewers want advanced interactive television functionality across every genre of programming and advertising: 72 per cent of those who watch reality TV shows want to interact with those shows. Sixty-five per cent of those who watch sporting events on TV want to interact with those events. Sixty-six per cent of viewers want to interact with commercial advertising. Fifty per cent of those who watch drama TV shows indicated that they would be interested in interacting with those shows. ATV News, 24th Jan 2008
SPORTS SHORTS
* Neo Sports Plus will offer live coverage of the US PGA Tour through to the end of next year after agreeing a deal with the golf body. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but according to www.indiantelevision.com , the deal will be activated on Thursday when the Buick Invitational gets underway in San Diego, California. Neo Sports Plus will additionally air two PGA-produced programmes every week - The PGA Tour Highlights and Inside PGA. This year the PGA Tour season will be split into two parts, with the FedEx Cup regular season followed by the PGA Tour Playoffs. Sports Media, Sport Business, Sportcal, 23rd Jan 2008
* Microsoft is increasingly going for the strategy of launching IPTV services independently of operators. This week, the company announced a deal in South Korea with Daum, for the roll out of an IPTV platform there. Daum is a portal operator, rather than a telco, and will provide content for the service and local knowledge. Also involved is set-top box maker Celrun, providing customer hardware. Microsoft will be responsible for providing its technology and marketing expertise. The Korean venture could also launch swiftly, with the second quarter of this year mooted as a possibility. The service will provide linear channels, just made legal in South Korea, as well as video-on-demand. Rapid TV News, ATV News, EE Times Asia, 23rd Jan 2008
* India’s telecoms regulator has set out guidelines for the upcoming mobile TV introduction. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India sent its recommendations for mobile TV to India’s Information & Broadcasting Ministry following a consultation period which started last September. Existing telcos need to pay nothing as regards licences for 2.5G or 3G services, say the suggestions, but ‘broadcasting’ needs a separate licence. The choice of broadcast system (DVB-H, Qualcomm or some other) can be left to the service provider, says TRAI. However, if a handset is provided by the operator, then subscribers must be able to switch to another licensed provider using the same technology. Rapid TV News, 23rd Jan 2008
* The Japanese subsidiary of Walt Disney announces its plan to launch mobile service Disney Mobile in collaboration with Softbank Mobile Corp in the beginning of March 2008. Sharp will manufacture Disney's first Japanese handsets, whose outer package will be covered with silhouette patterns of Mickey Mouse. The company will run the business as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Thus, Disney will become Japan's first MVNO, or a company that buys capacity from another firm to provide cellphone services. Indiantelevision.com, 23rd Jan 2008
* Sony's game unit in Japan will delay rolling out internet phone service in Japan for its latest handheld game machine because microphones developed for it didn't meet specifications, the company said. Sony Computer Entertainment Japan had planned to begin offering Skype features on its newest PlayStation Portable model in Japan Thursday and then rolling out the service worldwide. Sony's computer entertainment unit has been looking to boost offerings beyond games for the player, which faces stiff competition from Nintendo's double-screened DS console. In November, the company launched a TV tuner for the PSP in Japan, as well as a slimmer version of the portable console. Telecomasia.net, 24th Jan 2008
* Genichi Hashimoto, the president of NHK, has announced his intention to step down from his post a few days ahead of the end of his three-year term, taking responsibility for an insider trading scam involving some of the pubcaster’s employees. According to wire reports, two reporters and one director have been investigated for suspected insider trading—they used information about a restaurant chain, gathered for an exclusive news report, to buy shares in the company before the segment went to air. Worldscreen, 22nd Jan 2008
* Orange, the telecoms firm, has bid for all 12 rights packages on offer for French soccer’s top-tier Ligue 1 from 2008-09. Orange currently holds the mobile rights to the French top flight in a deal worth €29 million- ($42.3-million-) a-year, but has expanded its bidding strategy after the LFP, the French professional soccer league, increased the number of packages from four to 12 for the next four seasons in an attempt to drive competition. Pay-television operator, Canal Plus, is said to made offers for 10 of the 12 packages. The other seven companies to bid were TF1 and M6, France Télévisions, Eurosport, Direct 8, SFR and DailyMotion (video sharing website). Sportcal, ATV News, 23rd Jan 2008
* Bids from broadcasters for the TV rights to Dutch soccer’s top-tier Eredivisie from next season are reported to be ‘much lower than expected.' Dutch public service broadcaster, NOS, has bid €10 million ($14.6 million) per season for the highlights rights, according a broadcast industry website. Highlights rights are currently held by commercial network, RTL, which is said to pay around €30 million a season for the primary and secondary highlights rights. The present deal with Tele2, which expires at the end of the season, is worth around €30.5 million per season, but the league is reportedly targeting more than double that figure. Eredivisie rights are available for three to five years from next season as the league aims to offer bidders flexibility and maximise revenue. Sportcal, 23rd Jan 2008
* The LNH, French handball's top-tier men’s league, is seeking to follow the example of the LFP, the French professional soccer league, by splitting its broadcast rights into smaller packages as it prepares to launch a tender for the next four seasons at the end of February. The domestic broadcast rights for the French handball league are worth in the region of €600,000 ($868,530) a year. The LNH’s decision to split rights into smaller packages mimics that of LIgue 1, the top-tier French soccer league, which has tripled the number of lots from four to 12 for its next contract in an attempt to maximise competition. Sportcal, 22nd Jan 2008
* Sportfive is producing the ongoing 2008 MTN African Cup of Nations in high definition. In October 2007, Sportfive announced that a contract for the executive production of the competition had been sealed. Sportfive is managing coverage of 32 matches over the four competition sites and has already planned a huge human and technical production set-up, rivalling that of any of the world's top international sports events. In Accra a total of 18 cameras covered the opening match as Ghana defeated Guinea 2-1 on Sunday, and the same number will be in place for the final on February 10. Sports Media, 22nd Jan 2008
* Tennis is the third most popular sport with gamblers after horse racing and football according to Betfair, the internet betting exchange. At a seminar on Integrity in Sport, David O'Reilly, Betfair's general counsel, said betting on tennis was particularly popular in central and eastern Europe, a region in which there has traditionally been no culture of sports gambling. "The key factors are technology and television," O'Reilly said. "It's truly global. Tennis betting is the third most important after horse racing and soccer". Sport Business, 22nd Jan 2008
* Football clubs are to be compensated for letting their players appear in the final stages of the UEFA European Championships and FIFA World Cup, following the formation of the European Clubs Association (ECA) on Monday. The payments are to begin at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland this summer and will see tournament organiser UEFA pay clubs €4,000 per day a player is involved in the latter stages. The cash will be shared among any clubs a player has been with in the two years prior to the tournament. Therefore, should a player move in that time it means their former club would still be compensated for his participation in a qualifying campaign. Football Insider, Sportcal, 22nd Jan 2008
* English Premier League clubs have spent a record amount of January transfer deals this year. With nine days remaining before the transfer window closes, English clubs have already spent around £93 million on new signings, eclipsing the £63 million spent last year. John Williams director of the Centre for the Sociology of Sport at the University of Leicester, told Reuters that the record levels of spending was generated by continually rising TV revenues. "Consistently since 1992, pundits have speculated that the next TV deal must be lower," Williams said. "And every year since 1992 the television deal has actually been higher." Sport Business, 22nd Jan 2008
MORE NEWS
India/Broadcaster: NBC-U Takes a Slice of NDTV
New Delhi TV (NDTV) is selling 26% of itself to NBC-Universal, ending weeks of speculation on a forthcoming deal. NDTV, which amongst other interests has a news channel on air in India and internationally, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NBC-Universal. NBC-U is putting US$150m into NDTV Networks..
The deal, says NDTV, will enable NDTV to source entertainment and lifestyle content from NBC Universal's portfolio of news and entertainment networks. "This will be a significant investment in an important emerging market and further illustrates our commitment to expand internationally, particularly in high-growth areas," NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said in a statement. Moreover, NBC can increase its stake to up to 50% within the next two years. "The Indian TV market is growing at 16 percent annually, which provides huge opportunities now and into the future," said Zucker.
Like many of the Indian broadcasters who are bringing international companies into their ownership structures, NDTV has expansion plans. The first of its planned new channels launched on January 21. General entertainment service NDTV Imagine, which expects to break even in 2009, will be joined later by NDTV Lifestyle. The company also has plans for other channels, including a kids service, and regional services. Rapid TV News, Worldscreen, ATV News, 22nd Jan 2008
Thailand/Broadcaster: Pay-TV on Verge of Growth
Thailand’s pay-TV sector is in “transition” and could soon see consolidation in the cable sector and a move towards digital networks, according to a new report. From trade body the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa), the report says that the passing of a new Broadcasting Bill on December 21 2007 by the National Legislative Assembly could “fill the regulatory vacuum that has persisted for a decade”.
The country has relatively low pay-TV penetration, at just 14.3% of 18.7 million Thai TV homes. Leading pay-TV operator True Visions, which has a “quad-play” offering of digital TV, broadband internet, and fixed line and mobile telephony, competes against provincial cable systems which could become more competitive if consolidation happens. Casbaa CEO Simon Twiston-Davies said: “Thailand should have a far more robust pay-TV market given its population, GDP, level of entertainment consumption and the maturity of the advertising industry. The pay-TV industry is optimistic on progress towards giving Thailand a modern regulatory system.”
That is likely to mean an expanded version of the existing National Telecommunications Commission, to which members with television and broadcasting expertise will be added, the report says. “According to one view,” says the report, “once a formal licensing regime is in place and the rules of the game are made clear by the new regulator, the stage will be set for consolidation and new investment in the cable sector, including a gradual move toward digitization.” Rapid TV News, 22nd Jan 2008
Japan/Broadcaster: JCom Gets an A-Minus
Japanese cable operator Jupiter Telecommunications (JCom) could be on the look out for new funds. The MSO has sought a credit rating from Rating and Investment Information Inc., receiving an A- rating and a “Stable” rating outlook. JCom said that the reason for seeking the rating “is to ensure the ability to quickly raise funds when required and to improve stability by diversifying financing methods, as well as to improve the company’s financial soundness and management transparency.”
The operator has 2.77 million cable subs and recently merged with programming arm Jupiter TV. Japan’s cable sector remains fragmented and JCom’s stated aim is to invest further in the sector. When it made its last investment, taking a 47% stake in Kyoto Cable Communications, the company said in a statement: “J:COM’s growth strategy focuses on proactive investment into cable television service providers.” Rapid TV News, 22nd Jan 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment