Monday, 31st March 2008

SPORTS SHORTS

* Media Prima will be appointing TV3's CEO Farid Ridzuan as CEO of MPB Fund Management Company which runs a media fund spearheading investments in media assets in SEA and other Asian emerging markets. Ridzuan has a strong and proven track record, having transformed TV3 into the leading TV station in Malaysia as well as being instrumental in the successful turn arounds of 8TV, ntv7 and more recently TV9. He remains as Group CEO of MPB Television Networks that comprises TV3, 8TV, ntv7 and TV9. Amrin Awaluddin, the current CEO of ntv7 will replace Ridzuan as CEO of TV3, and Anthony Firdauz Bujang will replace Awaluddin. Bujang was formerly director of operations at TV3. The media fund is expected to raise and invest between US$100-150 million (RM319.46-RM479.19 million) with an investment horizon of five to seven years. Its first strategic partnership will be with ABC5, a TV network in the Philippines. Marketing Interactive, 27th Mar 2008

* Media Prima, via its subsidiary MPB Primedia, is expected to enter into a long-term block airtime and consultancy agreement with the ABC5, a TV network in the Philippines. Primedia will provide content and manage the sale of airtime of ABC5. At the same time, ABC5 will undertake its repositioning and launch exercise as well as transmission quality upgrade, which Primedia will assist under the agreement. According to Media Prima, ABC5 represents a high growth potential with TV penetration in the Philippines currently at 72.7% and total ad expenditure reported at US$2.8 billion (RM8.94 billion) in 2006 - with TV having more than 75% share. According to Media Prima, Primedia will be announcing soon its new CEO, a local Filipino with extensive experience working in a multinational company within the creative industry. Marketing Interactive, 27th Mar 2008

* Japan's Fuji TV will launch Fuji On-Demand, its new on-demand TV service on the Internet on April 1, 2008, extending the service to mobile from April 7, 2008. Targeting to meet changing demands of viewers, Fuji TV initiated the service to replace its earlier collaborative efforts with Internet service providers to offer webcasts. Fuji On-Demand is offering some 30 programmes including professional baseball and horse racing, and will premiere new shows including 24, anime Skullman adapted from Shotaro Ishinomori’s manga, and talk show Shopan. Content is being charged on pay-per-view and on monthly subscription, with selected shows available free. Television Asia, 31st Mar 2008

* Korean telecom firms are to invest around 1.57 trillion won (€9.9bn) on IPTV services this year according to the Broadcasting and Communications Commission (BCC). KT, the country’s dominant telephone and broadband Internet service provider, alone plans to spend 1.3 trillion won, and LG Dacom and Hanarotelecom respectively allotted 146.4 billion won and 122.1 billion won for the Internet TV business. A large part of the money will be used in expanding and improving Internet networks. Purchasing TV content is another big expenditure. "By enriching the content of its Mega TV service, KT will endeavor to narrow the information gap between rich and poor people," said KT. ATV, Rapid TV 31st March 2008

* Australia's Macquarie Group and private equity house MBK Partners have completed a $2 billion joint acquisition of South Korea's number 2 cable TV operator C&M. The deal made the unlisted company the first Korean cable TV operator owned by private equity funds. The country's adoption of digital and broadband TV services raise hopes for further revenue growth. ATV, telecomasia.net, 31st March 2008

* BabyFirst, the global TV channel for babies, toddlers and their parents, has completed a deal with Hong Kong Cable which will see the Asian network airing the ad-free channel from March 31. BabyFirst TV will be carried on Hong Kong Cable TV's Channel 138 and will be included as part of its Happy Kids Pack. The channel runs 24/7. Hong Kong Cable executive director Benjamin Tong said: "BabyFirst provides our subscribers the highest quality in child development and education content. We are proud to offer a unique channel like BabyFirst and look forward to a long and successful association with this outstanding programming service." C21 Media, 28th Mar 2008

* China's main mobile phone company will launch trial service of the homegrown Chinese next-generation standard next week, possibly moving the huge market closer to the long-anticipated rollout of new services. Companies expect a multibillion-dollar wave of spending on equipment once China awards licenses for 3G service. But Beijing has delayed a decision while it tries to develop its own system to compete with global standards. China has the world's biggest population of mobile phone users, with some 520 million subscribers, and standards decisions could have a far-reaching impact on the equipment market. Beijing has been trying to create its own standard since 2001, hoping to create opportunities for its telecoms companies and reduce the need to pay license fees to developers of the global standards, known as W-CDMA and cdma2000. China also has approved those standards for use. Telecomasia.net, Central Daily, World Screen, 31st Mar 2008

* The US-India Business Council (USIBC) has released a study showing huge job and revenue losses to the Indian economy as a result of piracy in India’s burgeoning entertainment industry. The study - prepared for USIBC by Ernst & Young India, shows as much as Rs.16,000 (E253m) are lost each year due to piracy. As many as 800,000 direct jobs are also lost as a result of theft and piracy, afflicting India's entertainment industry. ATV, 31st March 2008

* Neo Sports, the Nimbus-owned Indian sports channel which shows the national cricket team’s home matches, is reported to be targeting Rs700 million ($17.5 million) in advertising sales from the current test series against South Africa. It is thought that between Rs260 million and Rs280 million will come from the deals with broadcast sponsors Coca-Cola, Airtel, Nivea, Asian Paints, Pidilite, Tata Motors, Hero Honda and Nike. Doordarshan, the Indian state broadcaster, is not showing the three tests, enabling Neo Sports to demand higher rates from advertisers. Sportcal.com, 28th Mar 2008

* Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) becomes the first Saudi mobile operator to launch in-flight calls aboard select airlines. Mobily customers can now call and text messages as they travel aboard select Emirates Airline flights, through a landmark agreement with AeroMobile. Telecomasia.net, 31st Mar 2008

* Vietnam will host a group of the World Women’s Volleyball Grand Prix at the northern province of Vinh Phuc’s Gymnasium on June 26-28. The Viet Nam Volleyball Federation made the announcement after meeting with the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) chairman of the Sports Events Council, Shanrit Nongprasert, on Tuesday. As scheduled, four teams Brazil, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Germany will compete in group B, hosted by Vietnam for the first time in history. The Grand Prix draws 12 top teams from Asia, Europe and America to compete in three groups with the five best going to the final round in Yokohama, Japan with a total prize of US$2 million. In Vietnam, volleyball was the second sport (after football) to enter the professional arena three years ago. VNS, 28th Mar 2008

* Online gaming company, bwin, has renewed its sponsorship deal with MotoGP, for the seasons 2008 and 2009. bwin will become the title sponsor of two races: Jerez, Spain (March 30) and Estoril, Portugal (April 13). The company will also provide trackside signage at the Brno circuit. In addition to its interest in MotoGP, bwin sponsors Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and AC Milan. It is also the official partner of the bwin Liga Portugal and is stadium advertising sponsor at German national football games. As global sponsor of FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, bwin will be also partner of the FIBA Euro Basket Poland in 2009 and the FIBA World Championship in Turkey the following year. Sport Business, 28th Mar 2008


MORE NEWS

Global/General: A1's International Growth

A1GP's struggles to crack the terrestrial market mask what has been a period of impressive growth for a series in only its third year, writes Jamie Strickland. India, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, China and Lebanon are among the countries representing the emerging motorsport markets of Asia and the Middle East on the track, and A1GP's broadcasting and media general manager Richard Dorfman has found that more and more countries are eager to secure broadcast rights for the series. Dorfman told Sports Media : "The coverage has gone from in the first year having roughly 120 countries to now approaching 200 countries. It seems every year we get new countries coming on from all over the place.

"The third season of A1GP is a pivotal one for Dorfman, with a number of contracts up for renewal, but he is bullish over the series' ability to retain its existing broadcast partners. "What happened in the first season was that we did all our big deals as three-year deals," he said. "Sky in the UK was a three-year deal, ESPN was a three-year-deal, Sky Italy was a three-year deal. So now we're going into the renewal cycle. When we've done a year-to-year deal we've never had a broadcaster drop out, so the footprint is expanding. All of the people that we originally started with are still with us, so that tells me there's an acceptance by the broadcaster, which means there must be an acceptance by the audience." Sports Media, 28th Mar 2008