Tuesday, 22nd April 2008

INFO BOX

Pay TV Strong in Asia

Asia’s pay-TV and broadband industries continue to benefit from economic growth, investment and competition, according to a report published by Media Partners Asia (MPA). The report measures the consumption and value of multi-channel video and broadband services over multiple distribution networks, including cable, satellite, fibre, ADSL and mobile, across 16 markets in Asia Pacific.

Over the past five years, the region’s pay-TV and broadband industries have grown at an average annual rate of 22%, generating more than $53 billion in sales in 2007. According to MPA, this revenue base could climb at a CAGR of 11% to reach $86 billion by 2012. Over a longer time frame, MPA sees industry revenues growing at a CAGR of 8 per cemt to approach $120 billion by 2017.

Commenting on the report’s findings, MPA Executive Director Vivek Couto said: "Digitisation and broadband penetration is growing rapidly in Asia, boosted by growing economies of scale in platform operation; technological change and lower equipment costs; and the availability of wider programming options. Near-term risks include softening economic growth as well as deteriorating global credit conditions and equity markets, while longer-term risks converge around regulation. Encouragingly, the broad fundamentals of the region in general, and markets such as India in particular, remain strong." ATV, Rapid TV, 22nd Apr 2008


SPORT SHORTS

* There were more than 17 million mobile TV users in Asia at the end of 2007, according to an analysis from Asia Media Journal publisher, Media Partners Asia (MPA). Subscriber growth was boosted last year by platforms using free and pay models in Asia’s two largest markets for mobile TV, Korea and Japan, as well as new rollouts in Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Meanwhile, new launches are expected this year in China, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan. 3G adoption is also growing, increasing by 38% in 2007 to top 128 million users, a viable critical mass to drive up interest in mobile video streaming. ATV, 22nd Apr 2008

* The new board of TOT is unlikely to purchase the 42% stake held by CAT Telecom in their Thai Mobile joint venture as the business environment has changed and the price of 2.4 billion baht ($76 million) is now too high, said a TOT source. The company also has accumulated debt of over 6 billion baht ($190 million), plus a court case over 2.6 billion baht ($77 million) owed to Samart Corporation, he said. Thai Mobile has been operating for six years and had 240,000 customers at its peak. Now it has fewer than 50,000 in a market of 54 million cellular users. The source said the only useful asset of Thai Mobile was its 1900Mhz spectrum because it was the International Telecommunication Union standard for 3G service. But TOT has been reluctant to invest more money and wanted to make a joint investment with CAT to develop 3G and become a network owner. telecomasia.net, 22nd Apr 2008

* China is the world’s biggest pirate, with the World Trade Organisation already having filed cases against the Beijing government for its inaction. China says it has successfully prosecuted 4322 people for piracy-related matters this past year. China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) says last year it seized almost 76m pirated movies, and closed down more than 13,000 piracy-related operations. Yi Xintian, a spokesman for SIPO said. "We are extending comprehensive and strict protection to Olympic intellectual property," he added. "The Chinese government has the resolve and capability to make sure that during the Olympic Games we create a favourable climate for intellectual property." But it is an uphill task. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) which represents the major Hollywood studios says 93% of all DVDs sold in China are copies. Rapid TV, 22nd Apr 2008

* Juventus Football Club has announced details of its off-season tour of South East Asia and Australia. Juventus will play South China FC in Hong Kong (May 22), Shenhua FC in Shanghai (24 May) and Melbourne Victory (30 May) in Melbourne. The one-off friendly match against Melbourne Victory at the Telstra Dome was oragnised by Football Federation Australia, the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Australia, the Victorian state government and the two clubs, along with the event's promoter MP and Silva. The event will be broadcast throughout the world by MP and Silva, which are also the television rights distributors for Serie A. The Australian broadcast deal has yet to be finalised. Sportbusiness.com, 21st Apr 2008

* Focus Media's decision to stop sending unsolicited SMS messages has resulted in a US$40 million downgrade of its 2008 mobile advertising revenue. Focus last month said it had established an internal policy prohibiting its subsidiaries sending spam messages to mobile customers without their explicit consent. As a result of the rules change, Focus said it will lose US$40 million from its 2008 revenue. Jason Jiang, Focus Media chairperson, said despite the downgrade revenue were still strong. "We have already seen strong growth in our WAP advertising and interactive marketing businesses based on mobile devices. "Going forward, we will focus on building a pull-based advertising model for our mobile business and will only send advertising information to consumers in China based on their explicit consent," he said. Marketing-interactive.com, 22nd Apr 2008

* The FEI, the international governing body for equestrian sports, has announced the launch of a special eventing series, to be sponsored by international bank HSBC, that brings together some of the world’s leading competitions. The HSBC FEI Classics will comprise all five four-star events currently on the FEI calendar, beginning with the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day-Event in the USA, which starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday. The top 10 riders at each event will earn points which go towards the HSBC FEI Classics overall ranking where the top five are awarded prize money. HSBC is contributing $1 million over three years and the annual winner of the series will receive $150,000. The other Classics will be the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials in the UK, the Luhmuhlen CCI presented by E.ON Avacoon in Germany, the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials in the UK and Les etoiles de Pau in France. Sportcal.com, 21st Apr 2008

* Italy's Antitrust Commission has launched a preliminary investigation into the Italian Lega Calcio TV rights model. The Commission's investigation will centre on the Lega Calcio's process of selling Serie B TIM broadcast rights, according to a statement. The Commission aims to verify whether the Lega Calcio has "limited the ability of the clubs" to "trade the match transmission rights autonomously and by carrying out anti-competitive behaviour". The investigation could last for up to 12 months, the Commission stated. Deals for Serie B broadcast rights were struck with several different entities in February, with RAI, La 7 and Sky Italia among the parties to agree contracts. Sports Media, 21st Apr 2008

* MotoGP has lifted the lid on a new look for its official website, www.motogp.com. The new official website of the MotoGP World Championship aims to have produced a simpler look and feel, which is quicker to load and much easier on the eye, with all recent news accessible from the homepage and in a larger font. The new site retains several key features from the existing site, such as all the latest news direct from the MotoGP paddock, live video coverage of races, video interviews and features, live timing, results and statistics. There are also now dedicated team and riders pages, event pages and championship sections. Sports Media, 21st Apr 2008

* The International Triathlon Union announced broadcast deals for its television series with ESPN Star Sports, pan-Asian broadcaster, WCSN, US sports broadband portal and television, and Canal Plus, Spanish pay-television operator. The ITU television series, featuring action from the BG Triathlon World Cup and BG Triathlon World Championship, is now available in 160 countries. ESPN Star Sports’ deal covers broadcast rights across its cable and satellite platform in Asia, in addition to internet and mobile rights. WCSN’s coverage will complement that already available in USA on the Fox Sports Net, the regional cable sports network. Sportcal, 21st Apr 2008


MORE NEWS

India/General: IPL Off to a Solid Start

The Indian Premier League (IPL) seems to be bowling Indian audiences over, if the Tam data for the first two days is any indication of how the T20 format is set to revolutionise prime time television viewing in the country. The first match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers of Bangalore, has led to a TVR of 8.22 (Tam, C&S 4+, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi). Max, the channel which telecasts the DLF IPL matches, has quoted Tam to say that a staggering 20 million people watched the matches. Bangalore recorded a whopping TVR of 10.56 while Kolkata got a princely rating of 9.44 for the match. Even if their city is not playing, fans are still watching intensely. In Mumbai the kick-off match managed a 8.79 TVR while in Delhi it got the rating of 8.06.

What is also interesting is that even the Elite is tuning in. In Tam's elite panel in Mumbai and Delhi, it attracted a 9.81 TVR, more than the mass ratings in these two metros. The ratings for the match on Saturday (19 April) between the Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals were lower, but still strong. It managed a TVR of 5.67 in all the six cities. In Delhi it got a TVR of 7.4 while Mumbai clocked a rating of 7.1. In Bangalore the match managed a TVR of 3.73. Among the elite in Mumbai and Delhi, the match got a TVR of 5.72. The match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings got a TVR of 5.99 (Tam C&S 4+ six cities). It got a rating of 7.28 in Hyderabad. Among the elite in Mumbai and Delhi, it attracted a rating of 4.92.

Sony president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta says that the numbers have exceeded expectations. "Marketing has played a huge role in getting people to sample the product. But audiences stayed on as the quality of the cricket has been superb. While there was the entertainment aspect, it was important that the on field cricket delivered. This is just the start and I am confident that the ratings will grow as the tournament progresses. I am also delighted that females are tuning in good numbers which does not happen often in cricket."

According to Max, the opening game got a phenomenal rating of 6.7 amongst women in the six metros. GroupM ESP managing partner Hiren Pandit notes that ratings are strong partly due to curiosity. "People wanted to see what this event was all about. There is also the entertainment factor which brings in family viewership. This is a good start for the IPL." The real test, however, will come on weekdays when the IPL will have to compete with the Saas Bahu serials. Whether or not it manages this successfully, remains to be seen. For now, though, the IPL is off to a flying start. Indiantelevision.com, 21st Apr 2008

Japan/General: Students Travel 6,000 Kilometres to Promote TOKYO 2016

TOKYO 2016, Japan's Bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, was pleased to receive an interim report from Olympic Caravan across Japan, a nationwide undertaking by university students who are travelling throughout Japan to lend their voices and support to the growing wave of Olympic enthusiasm that is sweeping the nation. As of April 2008, 150 students and other representatives of 96 universities have taken part in the ongoing caravan, which launched on 1 December 2007 and has covered no less than 6,089 kilometres in 21 of the nation’s 47 prefectures. Along the way, the participants have visited sports clubs, professional club teams, local institutions, universities and other venues to share their enthusiasm for the Bid with local citizens.

The caravan is scheduled to visit Japan’s other 26 prefectures before finishing in Tokyo on 23 June, the internationally recognised Olympic Day. The students have met face-to-face with more than 2,000 people, including past Olympians such as two-time Olympic swimming medallist Takashi Yamamoto and Asian track and field record-holder Koji Ito. In addition, they have received the official support of 36 celebrity advocates, including eight Olympic medallists. The caravan has also generated broad awareness in the media, including coverage in 15 daily newspapers, two radio programs and tens of online news sites so far.

Yuka Shibata, a female student of Waseda University and the leader of the caravan, commented to TOKYO 2016: "Our group strongly supports the Bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016. We sincerely hope Tokyo will help us realise our dream by making the Games a part of our future. The caravan is our way to promote the Bid, and at the same time hear from others about how to work toward a better future. We wish to contribute to a bright future by realising greater social harmony and peace for Japan and the world through the Olympic Games."

Dr Ichiro Kono, Chairman and CEO of the TOKYO 2016 Olympic Games Bid Committee, said: "We appreciate the energy and passion of these students, who are part of the generation that soon will provide us with our new leaders. This is the very group to whom we want to pass on the Olympic legacy and values, because in doing so we will pass it on to future generations as well. Such efforts by young people herald a new golden era of sporting, social, economic and environmental benefits for Tokyo, Japan and the entire Olympic Movement." Sportcal.com, 18th Apr 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: LPGA Tour Defends Plan to End Airtime Buy Model in USA

Golf’s LPGA, organiser of the top women’s USA-based professional golf tour, has said that aggregating domestic broadcast rights for eight to 12 events a year from 2010 onwards, which could involve either a rights-fee or revenue-share agreement, is ‘justifiable and very do-able.’ The LPGA was responding to criticism from US television networks that have warned the LPGA against departing from the traditional airtime-buy model. The LPGA is considering plans to combine broadcast rights for selected tournaments, in the hope of agreeing a deal with network television for regular weekend coverage.

Libba Galloway, the LPGA’s deputy commissioner, told Sportcal.com that the plan was justifiable and that she would not rule out the prospect of the tour being able to ask US networks for rights fees for the first time. ‘It would be nice if we were in a rights fee environment. I don’t know if that is going to be a reality, but at a minimum what we want to do, whether it’s a revenue share or some other kind of arrangement, we want to make it more economically favourable for our tournaments and for the LPGA to get events on broadcast network television. We believe that that’s justifiable and very do-able, given where we are relative to some of the other sports that are on broadcast networks.’

At present, the LPGA Tour tournaments buy airtime for weekend coverage on network television for six events, while ESPN2 and the Golf Channel, the cable channels, are able to show weekend coverage from eight and nine events respectively as part of a wider deal for early-round coverage that expires in 2009. Under the existing airtime-buy system, title sponsors of LPGA events buy airtime on US networks such as CBS Sports, pay the production costs and take responsibility for selling the advertising.

The LPGA Tour’s ‘broadcast network series’ could include both the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and the Kraft Nabisco Championship, two of the sport’s four majors recognised by the LPGA Tour. Galloway revealed that the LPGA ‘will definitely be exploring having those two tournaments as part of the series.’ Discussing the make-up of the other tournaments involved in the series designed for network television, she said that they would all be ‘high-profile’ events which offer the larger prize funds on the LPGA Tour, but added that they would also require ‘a title sponsor who is interested in broadcast network television and advertising across a series of events.’

An umbrella sponsorship package for the different tournaments on the new series is also being discussed, while one company could have the opportunity to assume the role of main sponsor. Galloway revealed, ‘We would be looking at a number of sponsors, there could be a sponsor that we would have as the main sponsor of the series but we would anticipate having a number of sponsors.’ Sponsorship of the events would also include advertising time on network television.

Rights fee agreements are particularly prevalent in Asia, where broadcasters from Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines have all agreed deals, in addition to broadcasters in Europe and Latin America. Meanwhile, Galloway echoed the recent words of support from the professional and amateur game for golf’s inclusion in the Olympics. She said that ‘[LPGA] Commissioner Carolyn Bivens is very excited about golf in the Olympics and really believes that having golf in the Olympics would be one of the best things that we can do to promote women’s golf worldwide.’ Sportcal, 21st Apr 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: French Soccer Clubs Agree New TV Distribution Model

France’s professional soccer clubs have agreed a distribution structure for television money between the top two leagues, with the second-tier Ligue 2 to be awarded €101.8 million ($161.5 million) of the €668 million available each season. Phillipe Diallo, the director of UCPF, the union of professional soccer clubs in France, said that the top two leagues had reached a unanimous decision on the share of television rights for four years from next season onwards.

Ligue 2’s previous share was €94 million from a domestic television contract worth €653 million per season, meaning that the second flight’s share has risen from 14.4% to 15.2%. Ligue 2 clubs had been unhappy at the suggestion that the €94 million share remained the same despite the €15-million-a-season increase generated by the LFP, France’s professional football league, from its new domestic broadcast rights deals from 2008-09 onwards.

The €566.2 million reserved for Ligue 1 clubs will be divided as follows: 50% in fixed sums shared between the 20 clubs; 30% according to league position; and 20% according to ‘awareness’ of the clubs. The ‘awareness’ factor is decided by measuring the number of times the clubs have been broadcast on television in the last five years. The three clubs featuring most often on television - presently Marseille, Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain - will share 42.2% of the 20-per-cent awareness pot, with the next five clubs sharing 36.8% and the remaining 12 teams dividing up 21%. Sportcal, 21st Apr 2008