HEADLINE NEWS
TSA to Distribute Djarum Super Indonesian Open 2008
The Djarum Super Indonesian Open 2008 Badminton Super Series event will be distributed by the Total Sports Asia (TSA) marketing company. TSA has concluded a deal with the event's promoter and owner, Mahaka Sports, for worldwide rights. The event will run from June 17-22 at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. "This agreement further shows TSA's commitment to the sport of badminton, in which, along with the World Championships, Thomas Cup, Uber Cup, the Sudirman Cup and the Indian Open GP Gold, are testimonies to our belief of the high level that the sport deserves to be at," said TSA's senior vice-president of media, Julian Jackson. Sports Media, 28th May 2008
SPORT SHORTS
* Tata Communications signed a memorandum of understanding with Emirates Telecommunications to provide enterprise grade network services in the UAE. Under the MoU announced, Tata Communications and Etisalat would align their respective infrastructures to offer dedicated ethernet services and a comprehensive range of network and value-added services to their customers. The alliance would enable both companies to expand their connectivity services and deliver secure, scalable and flexible connectivity solutions to the customers.said in a joint statement that gave no financial details. Telecomasia.net, new.webindia123.com, 29th May 2008
* Eurosport Network has relaunched its website in French, Swedish, Chinese and Russian. The group started the roll-out of the four sites last week, with the latest offering claiming to provide a more customised and user-friendly experience for its users. The new websites offer more content, functionality and interactive features including a new contemporary look and feel, designed to attract young users. It is now also easier to navigate with a new menu bar system and a clear hierarchical order for video, article, blog and forum content. Sports Media, 28th May 2008
* NBC Universal’s Sci-Fi and Universal Channel will launch across Asia from July, starting with Singapore. The launch will be the first in the region for Universal Channel but the third for Sci-Fi. The channels will launch on StarHub’s digital cable platform and will be the first of a planned slate of launches as NBC Universal progresses its plan to increase the number of channels it broadcasts internationally. That strategy was announced over a year ago, in April 2007, but launches in Asia have been few since then. Instead, the company seems to have been focusing on acquisitions, with stakes in India’s NDTV and Japan’s JSBC2 purchased. Rapid TV News, World Screen, 28th May 2008
* UK distributor Zeal Entertainment has struck a deal with video sharing portal Sumo.TV and will make a range of user-generated-clip shows available to international broadcasters. The deal, brokered by Sumo.TV's commercial director Steve Lazarus, gives Zeal TV distribution rights to shows such Sumo.TV's flagship My Sumo; Video Zoo, a round-up of internet clips; Shockorama, featuring the most shocking clips on television; animation shorts show Animental; and Retroland, which showcases vintage TV ads, public service films and retro toys. C21media.net, 28th May 2008
* Major League Soccer franchise Chivas USA has entered into a multi-year broadcast agreement with KAZA Azteca 54, the Los Angeles affiliate of Mexican-owned Azteca América network. KAZA will broadcast 10 Chivas USA games live during the 2008 MLS season, while also airing the popular weekly show 'Somos Chivas USA' on Saturdays. The agreement gives Chivas USA one of the most comprehensive local broadcast packages in Major League Soccer, totalling more than 90 hours of local television coverage between Azteca 54 and FSN West & Prime Ticket, the club's English-language broadcast partner. Sports Media, 28th May 2008
* Buzz Technologies, Inc. has acquired a mobile content/software company that provides Live Scores, Ratings and Information on the world's most popular sport, Football. Together with the company Buzz has developed the same platform for use on Olympic Sports. The Service has 6000 subscribers generating on average $150,000 USD per month gathered during the establishment phase. Buzz expects after the global launch to reach over 150,000 subscribers by 2009 and up to 1 million during the Olympic month of August. Currently operating in Thai, English and Chinese the service is also expected to generate advertising revenue well beyond subscription income. Advertisers will be restricted to properly licensed and regulated online gambling services and Casinos. A number of such services in Australia, Europe and Macau have already shown strong interest in advertising and sponsorship. Yahoo! Biz, 28th May 2008
* The profits of International Sportsworld Communicators (ISC), the commercial rights holders of motorsport's World Rally Championships have fallen according to UK press reports. Results released this month show that a dent in the value of the sport's commercial rights has seen turnover fall by 40 per cent to £8.8m in 2006, leaving the business with a £4 million pre-tax loss, down from a £250,000 profit the previous year. ISC's turnover primarily comprises revenues from TV rights, which in recent years, has steadily declined as rallying has fallen from a top-line sport in the UK. Its contract with UK commercial broadcaster, ITV1 ceased at the end of 2006. The sport was then shown on freeview channel ITV4 for one year, before moving to its current home on digital station Dave. Total costs of £12.9 million were down 8 per cent year-on-year. Sportbusiness.com, Telegraph UK, 28th May 2008
MORE NEWS
India/Rights: Ten Sports Scores $30 million for FIFA World Cup ’10
Cricket’s poorer cousin in India, football, seems to be catching up too. If one goes by the bids submitted by broadcasters for the FIFA World Cup 2010, football properties seem to have more than tripled in its valuation. Football Media Services (FMS), the joint venture company co-owned by Dentsu and Infront Sports & Media, headquartered in Singapore, is currently in the process of conducting the FIFA World Cup bids for 2010. Ten Sports, ESPN-Star and Neo Sports are in the fray to win the rights to telecast the World Cup. Sources told ET that the Dubai-based broadcaster Ten Sports has made the most aggressive bid for the Indian subcontinent at $30 million, followed closely by Neo Sports at $28 million and ESPN at about $27 million.
The FIFA franchise has always been sought after by broadcasters, but one has never witnessed such a premium for the sport in the Indian subcontinent in the past. The FIFA World Cup 2006, for instance, fetched a measly $9 million while the world cup in 2002 went for just $3 million. The sudden rise in bids has surprised many observers as the fan-following for soccer is limited to some states in India such as West Bengal and Kerala.
A chief executive of a sports channel explained the rationale for the higher bids. “The last FIFA World Cup fared very well in terms of television rating as well as mass popularity, which was not witnessed in earlier years. The three-hour crisp format was also promoted and marketed extensively last year, which also led to huge amounts of out-of-home viewing. FMS has realised the monetising potential of the game in the subcontinent and hence has decided to up the initial bid amounts significantly.”
However, unlike cricket, football as a sport is not advertiser-friendly, as it cannot accommodate the number of spots cricket can. So, the acquisition amount paid for acquiring the FIFA World Cup has to be leveraged by a broadcaster via distribution revenues and not so much through advertising. In 2006, ESPN-Star bagged the exclusive rights to telecast the championship in the Indian subcontinent while Ten Sports has been the official broadcaster in 2002. The growing acceptance of soccer in India has also been one of the key factors that has led to the escalation of the acquisition costs. The bidding process would be concluded in the next four weeks. Indiantimes.com, 29th May 2008
Asia/Broadcast: Globo TV Cracks New Markets in Asia Pacific
Globo TV International has expanded its Asia-Pacific business, scoring a volume deal with Australia’s Dream House Entertainment and an agreement for the broadcast of The Clone in Singapore. Under its agreement with Dream House Entertainment in Australia, 1,900 hours of telenovelas from Globo TV International will be broadcast until 2010 via subscription channel La Telenovela. The channel will dedicate three of its slots to Globo’s telenovelas, kicking off with The Clone, Terra Speranza and Uga Uga. This marks Globo TV International’s first entrée into the Australian market, and is an extension of its existing agreement with Dream House Entertainment covering the North American market.
In a deal with StarHub, Globo TV International has also sold the broadcast rights to an Indonesian dub of the telenovela The Clone, marking the first time that a channel in Singapore will air programming from the Brazilian distributor. Scheduled to premiere in June, The Clone will air on subscription channel Senasí, which includes programming entirely dedicated to the Indonesians and Malays living in Singapore. World Screen, 27th May 2008
India/New Media: Broadcasters Need to Embrace UGC
User generated content (UGC) is the future of media, said Mouthshut.com CEO Faisal Farooqui while speaking at the Promax/BDA India conference in the session on 'User Generated Content - The new media'. Farooqui emphasized that the need of the hour is to reach out to the consumers. User generated content like blogs play a profound source of information in daily life. “With blogs becoming popular day by day, the virtual wall of editor between the publisher and the reader has vanished. There is much more transparency for the readers and bloggers are free to express themselves,” said Farooqui.
Farooqui urged the need of existing media houses to adapt to this new means of communication called UGC. Refering to Google’s acquisition of YouTube Farooqui said, “It is important for all the media houses to secure a supply chain of content for them. The existing players will have to assimilate new mediums to avoid their competition from taking them over.” Farooqui said that the Indian broadcasters should learn a lesson that 75,000 videos with an average duration of six minutes each are being downloaded daily on YouTube. This shows that there is more content on YouTube than what any of the big media houses have.
Citing the example of CNN iReporter, Farooqui said: “CNN cut short its man power and spent Rs 7 billion to launch iReporter, an initiative wherein the viewers can post videos and blog on the CNN website.” Embracing this medium will promote interactivity with the consumers. This will leave no room for any communication gap between the viewers and the broadcasters. Indiantelevision.com, 28th May 2008
India/New Media: FLO Forum Bullish on Mobile TV in India
The mobile TV market in India offers a strong business opportunity as the wireless segment sees strong growth and Indians have a huge appetite for video entertainment. Speaking to the press, FLO Forum President Dr. Kamil A. Grajski said, “Mobile broadcast services are a new consumer mass market medium and consumers are looking for compelling user experience at affordable prices. With FLO technology, you can cost-effectively deliver videos to millions simultaneously at a good streaming rate.” Irdeto Head South Asia Sanjiv Kainth felt that handheld devices were gaining momentum because it offers viewers privacy. He went on to add that members of the younger generation didn’t mind watching an entire 3-hour movie on handheld devices.
“The consumer behaviour is changing,” said Kainth. “Mobile TV is not only for people on the go, as it was perceived to be. In a survey we conducted recently, 60 per cent of the respondents said they would watch Mobile TV from home.” “We believe in an open market and hence, expect competition. Over time, all companies will have to look at what the market trend is and what the demands of the consumers are. With our cost-effective service, I am confident that we will make our presence felt in the Indian market,” Grajsky said. FLO is a technology designed for multicasting significant multimedia content and enables wireless operators to cost-effectively deliver various types of multimedia content to millions of mobile users at once. Indiantelevision.com, 28th May 2008
Japan/General: All-Japan Poker Championship Winner to Compete in World Series of Poker
Mitsuhiro Nakao bested a field of more than 1,000 players in the 2nd Annual All-Japan Poker Championship presented by SEGA SAMMY Group, an official satellite of the World Series of Poker(R), and will compete in the 2008 WSOP Main Event in July at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Harrah's License Company announced today. "Poker's popularity in Japan continues to increase, and we are delighted to once again support the growth of this sport through one of our premier entertainment brands," said Michael Chen, President of Asia for Harrah's Entertainment. "We supported this tournament last year, and we are proud to do it again this year as a sign of our company's ongoing commitment to expand our presence in Asian markets, particularly Japan."
"We are thrilled to have the winner of the All-Japan Poker Championship, participate in our event," said Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the World Series of Poker and vice president of sports and entertainment for Harrah's. "This event continues to be an important step for us in Asia and we look forward to further introducing the world's most prestigious poker brand to this vibrant market." The 2008 World Series of Poker Presented by Milwaukee's Best Light, the world's richest sporting event, will begin May 30 at the Rio(R) All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Last year, players from 87 countries competed for a total prize pool exceeding $159 million. Yahoo! News, 28th May 2008
Japan/General: Japan Urges Limits on Kids' Cell Phone Use
Japanese youngsters are getting so addicted to Internet-linking cell phones that the government is warning parents and schools to set tighter limits. The government is worried that elementary and junior high school students are getting sucked into cybercrimes, spending too much time exchanging mobile e-mail and suffering other negative effects of cell phone overuse, Masaharu Kuba, a government official overseeing the initiative, said Tuesday. "Japanese parents are giving cell phones to their children without giving it enough thought," he said. "In Japan, cell phones have become an expensive toy."
The recommendations have been submitted from an education reform panel to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's administration and were approved this week. The panel is also asking Japanese makers to develop cell phones that can be used only for talk and global positioning, both of which can help ensure a child's safety. Most mobile phones in Japan offer high-speed Internet access. About one-third of Japanese sixth-graders have cell phones, while 60 percent of ninth-graders have them, according to the education ministry.
The panel said better Internet filtering is needed to protect children. Some youngsters spend hours at night on e-mail with friends - and some cliques employ a "30-minute rule," in which a child who doesn't respond to e-mail within that timeframe gets picked on. Parents find it increasingly difficult to monitor their children's use of cell phones, Kuba said. Some Japanese children commute long distances by trains and buses to school, and parents rely on cell phones to keep in touch at a cost of about $39 a month per child. Centraldaily.com, 28th May 2008
Elsewhere/Rights: Limited Interest in Euro 2008 Rights in Malta
The failure of England to qualify for soccer’s forthcoming 2008 European Championships would appear to have contributed to the reluctance of broadcasters in Malta to buy rights to the tournament. Euro 2008, to be co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland, kicks off in just 10 days time, but Maltese broadcasters have yet to agree a deal with Sportfive, the international sports marketing agency.
MaltaToday, the Maltese newspaper, reported today that England’s non-qualification was one of the reasons that GO Plus, the television service of the telecommunications provider GO, had not bid for exclusive rights. Malta has a large population of British expatriates, many of whom would have supported England during the tournament. Meanwhile, Melita Cable, the pay-television operator, said that it was not bidding for the rights because coverage of all 31 games by Rai, the Italian state broadcaster, would be available in Malta.
Eurosport, the pan-European cable and satellite broadcaster available on the Melita platform, also has delayed rights to the tournament. Melita Cable confirmed that ‘it has not submitted any bid for TV rights for the forthcoming Euro 2008 Championships and there are no ongoing negotiations in this regard.’ Vodafone Malta, the Maltese arm of the telecommunications giant Vodafone, also said that it had not bid for rights. The negotiation process for rights began in the middle of February. Malta’s broadcasting authorities ruled last year that the opening game, semi finals and final of Euro 2008 had to be available live or deferred on free-to-air television. Sportcal.com, 28th May 2008
Wednesday, 28th May 2008
SPORT SHORTS
* The International Archery Federation (FITA) signed an exclusive contract with MBC Korea for the Archery World Cup and World Championships. The contract, which signifies the latest stage of FITA's television strategy to secure support in its key markets, means archery highlights are now distributed by 40 broadcasters around the world. For the Korean territory, MBC will have exclusive access to highlights, world feeds and extended footage of three stages of the Archery World Cup and the Archery World Cup Final in 2008. The exclusivity is for terrestrial, cable, satellite and digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) to mobile phones. The access to news and internet images remains non-exclusive. Sports Media, 27th May 2008
* By August, broadcast of Philippine Basketball Association games shall virtually be on all local TV networks in the Philippines as the league ties up with its maiden carrier RPN-9, through block-timer Solar Sports. The PBA board of governors accepted Solar Sports’ offer to be the league’s broadcast partners in the next three years – a deal reportedly worth P508 million. Commissioner Sonny Barrios said the two parties will sign a memorandum of understanding in the next few days while working on the fine prints of the actual contract. The first official PBA activity to be covered by Solar Sports is the 2008 Rookie Camp in August then the Annual Rookie Draft a few days after. ABS-CBN News, 28th May 2008
* Microsoft and Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan`s top telco, will co-launch an operation called IPTV Ecosystem Development Center in Taiwan to zero in the Internet-based TV market. The operation will see Microsoft offer its Mediaroom platform for IPTVs while Chunghwa integrates systems. The operation will work with Taiwan`s set-top box makers and content providers to tap markets overseas. ATV, 27th May 2008
* MediaRecall today agreed to represent MICO (Media International Corporation) HD footage of Beijing for online stock footage licensing. The HD footage, shot by NHK, Japan is a collection of more than 1,100 high quality HD clips for licensing in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "The subject matter of these clips is wide-ranging, from Beijing lifestyle of the venues. The MICO cameramen have created something very special. Beijing footage is very rare to begin with, let alone HD. We expect these clips to be widely licensed for commercial use by broadcast news outlets and for editorial programs" says Taneoka Hiroaki, President of Contents Gate, a Japanese content aggregator and MediaRecall partner for Japan. Yahoo! Biz, 27th May 2008
* UTV New Media, the digital-media arm of India’s UTV Software Communications, has acquired a 76-percent stake in the online technology company IT Nation for Rs. 15 crores ($3.5 million). IT Nation focuses on technology markets covering enterprises, technology resellers and general consumers. The move is part of UTV’s overall new-media strategy, which includes a Rs. 120 crores ($28 million) investment over the next two years. “Our objective is to create a digital entity covering the domains of business, finance, entertainment, TV, films, music, gadgets and technology,” said TN Prabhu, the CEO of UTV New Media. “This we plan to do in a device-agnostic manner. That is wherever the user has a device to access, we will have content to deliver.” World Screen, 27th May 2008
* Iraqi Football Federation (IFA) president Hussain Saeed has vowed to ensure the country's national team will continue its FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign in the wake of its suspension. FIFA suspended the IFA, which was dissolved by the Iraqi government last week along with the country's Olympic Committee and all other sporting bodies. FIFA's Executive Committee took the decision to suspend the IFA and has recommended a year’s absence from competition. The suspension may be lifted if FIFA receives by May 29 written confirmation from the Iraqi government that their initial ruling has been overturned. The AFC had also called for immediate lifting of the order dissolving the IFA and reinstatement of the democratically elected football body. Iraq enjoyed a fairytale return to footballing prominence last year when it became champion of Asia by defeating Saudi Arabia to lift the 2007 Asian Cup. Football Insider, 27th May 2008
* The United Arab Emirates is to host the Fifa Club World Cup, the annual tournament featuring the champions of the soccer-playing continents, in 2009 and 2010, before the event returns to Japan in 2011 and 2012, Fifa’s Sepp Blatter announced. Blatter said the strength of the UAE's bid and its suitability to host the event in December made it a good choice for competing teams, who will include England's Manchester United, the winners of the Uefa Champions League, the top European clubs competition, in the 2007-08 season. Japan has hosted the revamped version of the Fifa Club World Cup since 2005 and, after staging this year's event, will be the host again in 2011 and 2012. The award represents a blow to Australia, which was looking to host the event in 2009 and 2010, possibly as a precursor to a successful bid for the 2018 World Cup. Sportcal.com, 27th May 2008
· Mazda agreed to become the main sponsor for two all-star baseball matches organised by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association in Japan. The matches will be played at the Kyocera Dome Osaka on July 31 and at Yokohama Stadium on August 1, 2008. The matches feature teams made up of top players from the Japanese professional baseball leagues, and have become a popular midsummer sporting event in Japan. Two or three all-star matches played in different cities over a two or three day period. Mazda will organise a variety of activities to support the all-star games, including fan balloting for the all-star teams’ player selection, which begins in late May. Sportbusiness.com, 27th May 2008
· New Zealand public service broadcaster TVNZ has been punished for using public funds to secure broadcasting rights to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The broadcaster receives $11 million per year to broadcast local content that would not make it on to commercial television and its decision to use that money to bid for the Olympic rights was deemed inappropriate by broadcasting minister Trevor Mallard. TVNZ will now be forced to apply to funding agency NZ On Air for all programming with no guarantee it will get the full amount in any one year. Sportcal.com, Stuff NZ, 27th May 2008
* Canal Plus has secured the international television rights for Ligue 1 Orange and Ligue 2 football months after the network secured a substantial share of the domestic rights. The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) has granted Canal Plus Events an eight-year deal with the network beating off rival offers from current rights holder IMG, Sportfive and Eurosport. Canal Plus and Orange secured the domestic broadcast rights to the French top flight for a combined €668 million per year in February. Vivendi-owned Canal Plus secured nine of the 12 packages on offer for the four campaigns starting with the 2008-09 season, with France Telecom's Orange picking up the other three. Sports Media, 27th May 2008
* The German Football Association (DFB) has extended its long-running relationship with Infront Sports & Media for a further five years. The agreement concerns Germany's national teams and will run from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2014. It covers all stadium advertising rights to all home matches played by the German national team, the women's national team and three men's youth teams - Under-21, Under-20 and Under-19. It also includes those away matches of the men's and the women's senior team where the DFB owns the rights. The renewal of the marketing contract with the DFB carries forward a relationship that originated in 1980 with Infront's predecessor CWL. Football Insider, 27th May 2008
* The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced that international television sales of the 2008 season for the ÅF Golden League and Athletix have reached record highs. The IAAF's commercial partner IMG/TWI has closed deals that will see the Golden League shown in 150 territories worldwide with TV revenues continuing on their upward trend. In the Middle East, the Golden League will be seen terrestrially throughout the region, thanks to an agreement with Arab States Broadcasting Union. The IAAF also revealed that TV sales for Athletix, the official IAAF TV magazine, continue to rise, and the series will be seen in 85 territories in 2008. A new agreement in Africa with TV5 will add to the coverage already in place via Canal France International. The IAAF statement added: "Athletix is now a must watch show for athletics fans around the world." Sports Media, 27th May 2008
* Kentaro has failed in its latest attempt to avoid a fine of up to SKr8 million ($1.36 million) after Sweden’s Supreme Court upheld an appeal court ruling against them for allowing Swedish free-to-air commercial broadcaster, TV4, to televise two recent matches from Swedish soccer’s top-tier Allsvenskan. The Supreme Court ruling is a victory for Swedish pay-television operator, Canal Plus, which claimed a deal signed by Kentaro and TV4 infringed its existing deal with the agency. The relevant matches were the 15th and 16th to be broadcast by TV4 this season, two more than the broadcaster was allocated under a deal covering the rights for 14 matches agreed with Kentaro, the distributor of the rights. Kentaro subsequently agreed a deal with TV4 for a further 36 matches, but Canal Plus argued that this infringes its exclusive deal for all of the remaining matches. Sportcal, 27th May 2008
* Optimus, the Portuguese mobile operator, has acquired exclusive mobile rights in Portugal to soccer’s 2008 European Championships next month. Optimus has agreed a deal with TVI, the Portuguese commercial network, for full-match mobile rights to the 20 games the broadcaster plans to televise. TVI and Sport TV, the pay-television operator, originally won the broadcast rights in Portugal to Euro 2008, with Sport TV set to show all 31 games, including 11 on an exclusive basis. Mobile users in Portugal will be able to watch all of Optimus’ matches for €1 ($1.58). The operator is to spend a reported €1.2 million on the rights fee, production costs and promotion of the Euro 2008 mobile offer through advertising and sponsorship. The tournament takes place in Austria and Switzerland from June 7 to 29. Sportcal.com, 27th May 2008
MORE NEWS
Global/Rights: ECB to Consider Restructuring Proposals for 2010
The England and Wales Cricket Board will this week consider radical changes to the domestic structure from 2010 which are intended to acknowledge the increasing significance of the Twenty20 format. Proposals to be reviewed will include switching from a two-division to a three-division structure in the county championship and reducing the length of the games from four back down to three days, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
The plans are intended to free up more time for an English version of the Indian Premier League, the lucrative new Twenty20 competition which involves eight city-based teams and some of the world’s top players. Television companies, sponsors and other commercial partners are all being consulted as the ECB prepares to issue a revised tender document for broadcasting rights which will take into account the commercial attraction of Twenty20.
The current domestic deals with pay-television operator BSkyB for live rights and commercial broadcaster Five for highlights rights expire at the end of the 2009 season. The Pro40, the 40-over-a-side county competition, could switch to a format of two 20-over innings per side, but the ECB has ruled out a franchise system, as seen in the IPL, for its Twenty20 competition because it has a constitutional commitment to the 18 first-class counties. Sportcal.com, 27th May 2008
India/Broadcast: Videocon Looks for DTH Partner
Indian consumer electronics firm Videocon Industries wants a foreign partner for its planned DTH platform. On its part, Videocon can offer a background in set-top box manufacture and links with many dealerships, through whom the platform will be marketed. Likely to be launched as D2H, the platform is looking at a test launch before the end of the year. But it has some major competition, with TataSky and Dish TV already well established, Sun Direct aiming at the southern market, plus planned launches from Reliance Communications’ Big TV and a service from telco Bharti.
Videcon reportedly plans to invest Rs10 billion (US$233 million) into the platform but clearly believes it will need more funds than that to reach break even. The company is aiming for that point after three years of operation, perhaps rather ambitiously given the scale of compeititon in the market. And Videcon is not the only propective DTH operator that could end up with a foreign backer. Telco Reliance is reportedly in talks with South Africa’s MTN about a reverse takeover of Reliance Communications, following the collapse of talk between MTN and Bharti Airtel. A Reliance-MTN tie-up would create a massive emerging-markets communications group, with around 120 million telecoms subs across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Rapid TV News, 27th May 2008
China/New Media: Plans for Three Telecom Giants
China plans to create three telecom giants as it seeks to bring balance back to an industry where mobile operators have seen the fastest growth by far, the government and state press said on Tuesday. Under the plan, the world's biggest mobile operator China Mobile will acquire fixed-line operator China Tietong Telecommunications Corp, the information industry ministry said in a statement over the weekend. China Telecom, an operator of fixed lines, will take over a mobile network of China Unicom (0762.HK - news) , the smaller of the nation's two key mobile phone operators, and most business of smaller player China Satellite Communications Corp. The remainder of China Unicom will be encouraged to merge with fixed line operator China Netcom, according to the ministry.
The objective of the restructuring is to bring about three competitors of roughly comparable strength, the government statement said. It is also aimed at redressing the imbalance between rapidly growing mobile phone operations and the fixed line business, which is actually seeing declines in subscriber numbers, it said. Once the restructuring is finalised, the government will issue three licences for third generation (3G) mobile services.
The arrival of the 3G licences, which allows more various advanced functions such as the use of broadband wireless data via mobile devices, is set to usher in a buying spree of new network equipment, state media reported on Tuesday. The revamp will probably take five months to complete, the Beijing Youth Daily said, citing a research note by Guotai Jun'an Securities, which has close contact with the operators.
In a sign of how lopsided the market is, official figures showed that by the end of last year China's fixed line users fell by 2.3 million to 365.4 million while mobile phone subscribers surged by 86.2 million to 547.3 million. China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile network operator by subscriber numbers, raked in 87.1 billion yuan (12.5 billion dollars) in net profits in 2007, twice as much as China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom combined. Yahoo! Biz, 27th May 2008
ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS
21 GHz, Ultra-HD’s Holy Grail?
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK is looking to satellite’s Ka-band for its future transmissions. Will the rest of the world follow suit?
Ka-Band lies just above the immensely popular and crowded Ku-Band. Ku-Band works well for satellite transmissions, with most broadcasters managing to exploit a satellite’s high-power output to beam their signals to increasingly small dishes. But the problem with 21 GHz is that it doesn’t cope with heavy rain (or snow) very well. The upside to 21 GHz is that the spectrum is largely unused. Indeed, the satellite industry has been seeking a use for the bandwidth for years and all manner of schemes have been proposed, including complex multiple spot-beams for satellite-supplied broadband.
The Japanese suggestion takes 21 GHz to the transmission limits. NHK’s engineers say that by using a phased array antenna on the satellite they can transmit higher power levels to those regions of a country suffering heavy rain – vital in a nation like Japan that suffers Monsoon-type rainfalls, and Typhoon-grade storms. In practical terms this means that two antennas will be used, one will cover the whole nation and the second, more concentrated, will cover a region about 200 km in diameter and focused on the Tokyo super-region. This super-beam will be activated if there’s poor weather.
But there’s a problem with simply boosting power-levels in this fashion. The all-important Travelling Wave Tubes get very hot, and the heat has to be dissipated somehow. NHK has worked with Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency to evolve methods to handle these heart levels. The next stage is to start experiments, and Japan plans to use its ultra high-speed 21 GHz internet craft (called Kizuna, meaning Winds) for Ultra HD transmissions. Ground-based experimentation has already started, and the Japanese are saying that more sophisticated orbiting tests will start around 2010-2011. Rapid TV News, 27th May 2008
Bayern Battles Cricket in Bid to Sell Soccer in India
Bayern Munich, the reigning German soccer champion and four-time European Cup winner, faced more than an Indian club when it played in Kolkata today. It was trying to overcome a cricket culture and England's Premier League. Bayern, which beat Mohun Bagan 3-0 in front of 120,000 fans, is seeking to convert consumers in India -- the world's second most-populous nation with 1.1 billion people -- to soccer from cricket and overcome a bias to English teams among those who already follow the sport.
India's $906 billion economy, Asia's third biggest, has grown at an average 8.7 percent since 2003, the fastest since the country's independence in 1947. The pace is behind only China among the world's largest economies. Bayern is the first European club since PSV Eindhoven in 1991 to bring a full- strength team to the country. ``It could grow our image and brand and help us become a top club in India,'' said Martin Haegele, head of international affairs at Bayern Munich. ``It's our goal to improve our image in Asia.''
Over the past 10 years, Europe's top clubs have ventured farther in efforts to drive revenue by winning fans overseas. The U.S. and the Far East have become common destinations for off-season exhibition matches. Manchester United traveled to Saudi Arabia for one game in January, which earned the club 1 million pounds ($1.98 million), according to the Guardian newspaper.
Farewell to Kahn
Bayern's match against Mohun Bagan -- billed as a farewell appearance for goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, the player of the tournament at the 2002 World Cup -- was being televised in India and Germany, Haegele said. ``Thank you for this great moment in my career, this is very special,'' Kahn told the fans in the stadium, who gave him a standing ovation.
Indians have traditionally favored cricket, the game brought there by the British when it was the colonial power. Broadcast rights to a new six-week cricket tournament, featuring some of the world's top players and promoted by Bollywood movie stars, were sold to India's Sony Television Network and the Singapore-based World Sports Group for $1 billion, according to the Australian newspaper. Soccer, though, is gaining ground, said Kaushik Moulik, head of business development at Bengal Peerless Housing Development Co., which is sponsoring the match. Middle-class consumers in cities watch games on satellite television, especially from England. ``English Premier League clubs have an automatic advantage over us: first by language than by TV,'' Haegele said.
Population
Still, the size of India's population means the game would be a success if Bayern attracted a small percentage of fans, Haegele said. The 80 million population of West Bengal, the state where the game was played, is the same as Germany's. Bayern picked the right place in India to plant its flag, said Utpal Ganguli, honorary secretary of the Indian Football Association in West Bengal, because soccer is more popular than cricket in the region. ``Football is passionately followed by millions here,'' Ganguli said. ``It's a game that the Bengalis feel is their home game.'' Haegele declined to say how much Bayern was being paid to play in Kolkata, which formerly was called Calcutta. He said it was considerably less than the fee it commands for playing in east Asia.
Patience Needed
A club such as Bayern, which won its 21st Bundesliga title this season, would normally charge about $1 million to play an exhibition in places like Hong Kong, Thailand or Malaysia, said Stuart Webb, who is licensed by soccer governing body FIFA to arrange matches. Clubs seeking to build a following in India have to understand that it may take time to realize a profit, said Charles Martin, another FIFA-approved match agent. Dealing with Indian bureaucracy and business practices requires patience, he said.
``It's more about doing the groundwork, not necessarily about getting cash up front,'' he said. Arranging the game wasn't easy, Haegele said. ``You have to find a common ground and be patient,'' he said. ``In India, the football business is not structured and it takes two or three months to organize this.'' Bayern was careful about the contract it signed and made sure it limited the duties the club was expected to carry out in addition to the match, Haegele said. ``They ask for banquets, they ask for autograph sessions, kids' clinics and appearances at shop openings,'' he said. ``We have to tell them `no.' We have to explain that we are first of all there to play a football match.'' Bloomberg.com, 27th May 2008
* The International Archery Federation (FITA) signed an exclusive contract with MBC Korea for the Archery World Cup and World Championships. The contract, which signifies the latest stage of FITA's television strategy to secure support in its key markets, means archery highlights are now distributed by 40 broadcasters around the world. For the Korean territory, MBC will have exclusive access to highlights, world feeds and extended footage of three stages of the Archery World Cup and the Archery World Cup Final in 2008. The exclusivity is for terrestrial, cable, satellite and digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) to mobile phones. The access to news and internet images remains non-exclusive. Sports Media, 27th May 2008
* By August, broadcast of Philippine Basketball Association games shall virtually be on all local TV networks in the Philippines as the league ties up with its maiden carrier RPN-9, through block-timer Solar Sports. The PBA board of governors accepted Solar Sports’ offer to be the league’s broadcast partners in the next three years – a deal reportedly worth P508 million. Commissioner Sonny Barrios said the two parties will sign a memorandum of understanding in the next few days while working on the fine prints of the actual contract. The first official PBA activity to be covered by Solar Sports is the 2008 Rookie Camp in August then the Annual Rookie Draft a few days after. ABS-CBN News, 28th May 2008
* Microsoft and Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan`s top telco, will co-launch an operation called IPTV Ecosystem Development Center in Taiwan to zero in the Internet-based TV market. The operation will see Microsoft offer its Mediaroom platform for IPTVs while Chunghwa integrates systems. The operation will work with Taiwan`s set-top box makers and content providers to tap markets overseas. ATV, 27th May 2008
* MediaRecall today agreed to represent MICO (Media International Corporation) HD footage of Beijing for online stock footage licensing. The HD footage, shot by NHK, Japan is a collection of more than 1,100 high quality HD clips for licensing in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "The subject matter of these clips is wide-ranging, from Beijing lifestyle of the venues. The MICO cameramen have created something very special. Beijing footage is very rare to begin with, let alone HD. We expect these clips to be widely licensed for commercial use by broadcast news outlets and for editorial programs" says Taneoka Hiroaki, President of Contents Gate, a Japanese content aggregator and MediaRecall partner for Japan. Yahoo! Biz, 27th May 2008
* UTV New Media, the digital-media arm of India’s UTV Software Communications, has acquired a 76-percent stake in the online technology company IT Nation for Rs. 15 crores ($3.5 million). IT Nation focuses on technology markets covering enterprises, technology resellers and general consumers. The move is part of UTV’s overall new-media strategy, which includes a Rs. 120 crores ($28 million) investment over the next two years. “Our objective is to create a digital entity covering the domains of business, finance, entertainment, TV, films, music, gadgets and technology,” said TN Prabhu, the CEO of UTV New Media. “This we plan to do in a device-agnostic manner. That is wherever the user has a device to access, we will have content to deliver.” World Screen, 27th May 2008
* Iraqi Football Federation (IFA) president Hussain Saeed has vowed to ensure the country's national team will continue its FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign in the wake of its suspension. FIFA suspended the IFA, which was dissolved by the Iraqi government last week along with the country's Olympic Committee and all other sporting bodies. FIFA's Executive Committee took the decision to suspend the IFA and has recommended a year’s absence from competition. The suspension may be lifted if FIFA receives by May 29 written confirmation from the Iraqi government that their initial ruling has been overturned. The AFC had also called for immediate lifting of the order dissolving the IFA and reinstatement of the democratically elected football body. Iraq enjoyed a fairytale return to footballing prominence last year when it became champion of Asia by defeating Saudi Arabia to lift the 2007 Asian Cup. Football Insider, 27th May 2008
* The United Arab Emirates is to host the Fifa Club World Cup, the annual tournament featuring the champions of the soccer-playing continents, in 2009 and 2010, before the event returns to Japan in 2011 and 2012, Fifa’s Sepp Blatter announced. Blatter said the strength of the UAE's bid and its suitability to host the event in December made it a good choice for competing teams, who will include England's Manchester United, the winners of the Uefa Champions League, the top European clubs competition, in the 2007-08 season. Japan has hosted the revamped version of the Fifa Club World Cup since 2005 and, after staging this year's event, will be the host again in 2011 and 2012. The award represents a blow to Australia, which was looking to host the event in 2009 and 2010, possibly as a precursor to a successful bid for the 2018 World Cup. Sportcal.com, 27th May 2008
· Mazda agreed to become the main sponsor for two all-star baseball matches organised by the Nippon Professional Baseball Association in Japan. The matches will be played at the Kyocera Dome Osaka on July 31 and at Yokohama Stadium on August 1, 2008. The matches feature teams made up of top players from the Japanese professional baseball leagues, and have become a popular midsummer sporting event in Japan. Two or three all-star matches played in different cities over a two or three day period. Mazda will organise a variety of activities to support the all-star games, including fan balloting for the all-star teams’ player selection, which begins in late May. Sportbusiness.com, 27th May 2008
· New Zealand public service broadcaster TVNZ has been punished for using public funds to secure broadcasting rights to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The broadcaster receives $11 million per year to broadcast local content that would not make it on to commercial television and its decision to use that money to bid for the Olympic rights was deemed inappropriate by broadcasting minister Trevor Mallard. TVNZ will now be forced to apply to funding agency NZ On Air for all programming with no guarantee it will get the full amount in any one year. Sportcal.com, Stuff NZ, 27th May 2008
* Canal Plus has secured the international television rights for Ligue 1 Orange and Ligue 2 football months after the network secured a substantial share of the domestic rights. The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) has granted Canal Plus Events an eight-year deal with the network beating off rival offers from current rights holder IMG, Sportfive and Eurosport. Canal Plus and Orange secured the domestic broadcast rights to the French top flight for a combined €668 million per year in February. Vivendi-owned Canal Plus secured nine of the 12 packages on offer for the four campaigns starting with the 2008-09 season, with France Telecom's Orange picking up the other three. Sports Media, 27th May 2008
* The German Football Association (DFB) has extended its long-running relationship with Infront Sports & Media for a further five years. The agreement concerns Germany's national teams and will run from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2014. It covers all stadium advertising rights to all home matches played by the German national team, the women's national team and three men's youth teams - Under-21, Under-20 and Under-19. It also includes those away matches of the men's and the women's senior team where the DFB owns the rights. The renewal of the marketing contract with the DFB carries forward a relationship that originated in 1980 with Infront's predecessor CWL. Football Insider, 27th May 2008
* The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced that international television sales of the 2008 season for the ÅF Golden League and Athletix have reached record highs. The IAAF's commercial partner IMG/TWI has closed deals that will see the Golden League shown in 150 territories worldwide with TV revenues continuing on their upward trend. In the Middle East, the Golden League will be seen terrestrially throughout the region, thanks to an agreement with Arab States Broadcasting Union. The IAAF also revealed that TV sales for Athletix, the official IAAF TV magazine, continue to rise, and the series will be seen in 85 territories in 2008. A new agreement in Africa with TV5 will add to the coverage already in place via Canal France International. The IAAF statement added: "Athletix is now a must watch show for athletics fans around the world." Sports Media, 27th May 2008
* Kentaro has failed in its latest attempt to avoid a fine of up to SKr8 million ($1.36 million) after Sweden’s Supreme Court upheld an appeal court ruling against them for allowing Swedish free-to-air commercial broadcaster, TV4, to televise two recent matches from Swedish soccer’s top-tier Allsvenskan. The Supreme Court ruling is a victory for Swedish pay-television operator, Canal Plus, which claimed a deal signed by Kentaro and TV4 infringed its existing deal with the agency. The relevant matches were the 15th and 16th to be broadcast by TV4 this season, two more than the broadcaster was allocated under a deal covering the rights for 14 matches agreed with Kentaro, the distributor of the rights. Kentaro subsequently agreed a deal with TV4 for a further 36 matches, but Canal Plus argued that this infringes its exclusive deal for all of the remaining matches. Sportcal, 27th May 2008
* Optimus, the Portuguese mobile operator, has acquired exclusive mobile rights in Portugal to soccer’s 2008 European Championships next month. Optimus has agreed a deal with TVI, the Portuguese commercial network, for full-match mobile rights to the 20 games the broadcaster plans to televise. TVI and Sport TV, the pay-television operator, originally won the broadcast rights in Portugal to Euro 2008, with Sport TV set to show all 31 games, including 11 on an exclusive basis. Mobile users in Portugal will be able to watch all of Optimus’ matches for €1 ($1.58). The operator is to spend a reported €1.2 million on the rights fee, production costs and promotion of the Euro 2008 mobile offer through advertising and sponsorship. The tournament takes place in Austria and Switzerland from June 7 to 29. Sportcal.com, 27th May 2008
MORE NEWS
Global/Rights: ECB to Consider Restructuring Proposals for 2010
The England and Wales Cricket Board will this week consider radical changes to the domestic structure from 2010 which are intended to acknowledge the increasing significance of the Twenty20 format. Proposals to be reviewed will include switching from a two-division to a three-division structure in the county championship and reducing the length of the games from four back down to three days, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
The plans are intended to free up more time for an English version of the Indian Premier League, the lucrative new Twenty20 competition which involves eight city-based teams and some of the world’s top players. Television companies, sponsors and other commercial partners are all being consulted as the ECB prepares to issue a revised tender document for broadcasting rights which will take into account the commercial attraction of Twenty20.
The current domestic deals with pay-television operator BSkyB for live rights and commercial broadcaster Five for highlights rights expire at the end of the 2009 season. The Pro40, the 40-over-a-side county competition, could switch to a format of two 20-over innings per side, but the ECB has ruled out a franchise system, as seen in the IPL, for its Twenty20 competition because it has a constitutional commitment to the 18 first-class counties. Sportcal.com, 27th May 2008
India/Broadcast: Videocon Looks for DTH Partner
Indian consumer electronics firm Videocon Industries wants a foreign partner for its planned DTH platform. On its part, Videocon can offer a background in set-top box manufacture and links with many dealerships, through whom the platform will be marketed. Likely to be launched as D2H, the platform is looking at a test launch before the end of the year. But it has some major competition, with TataSky and Dish TV already well established, Sun Direct aiming at the southern market, plus planned launches from Reliance Communications’ Big TV and a service from telco Bharti.
Videcon reportedly plans to invest Rs10 billion (US$233 million) into the platform but clearly believes it will need more funds than that to reach break even. The company is aiming for that point after three years of operation, perhaps rather ambitiously given the scale of compeititon in the market. And Videcon is not the only propective DTH operator that could end up with a foreign backer. Telco Reliance is reportedly in talks with South Africa’s MTN about a reverse takeover of Reliance Communications, following the collapse of talk between MTN and Bharti Airtel. A Reliance-MTN tie-up would create a massive emerging-markets communications group, with around 120 million telecoms subs across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Rapid TV News, 27th May 2008
China/New Media: Plans for Three Telecom Giants
China plans to create three telecom giants as it seeks to bring balance back to an industry where mobile operators have seen the fastest growth by far, the government and state press said on Tuesday. Under the plan, the world's biggest mobile operator China Mobile will acquire fixed-line operator China Tietong Telecommunications Corp, the information industry ministry said in a statement over the weekend. China Telecom, an operator of fixed lines, will take over a mobile network of China Unicom (0762.HK - news) , the smaller of the nation's two key mobile phone operators, and most business of smaller player China Satellite Communications Corp. The remainder of China Unicom will be encouraged to merge with fixed line operator China Netcom, according to the ministry.
The objective of the restructuring is to bring about three competitors of roughly comparable strength, the government statement said. It is also aimed at redressing the imbalance between rapidly growing mobile phone operations and the fixed line business, which is actually seeing declines in subscriber numbers, it said. Once the restructuring is finalised, the government will issue three licences for third generation (3G) mobile services.
The arrival of the 3G licences, which allows more various advanced functions such as the use of broadband wireless data via mobile devices, is set to usher in a buying spree of new network equipment, state media reported on Tuesday. The revamp will probably take five months to complete, the Beijing Youth Daily said, citing a research note by Guotai Jun'an Securities, which has close contact with the operators.
In a sign of how lopsided the market is, official figures showed that by the end of last year China's fixed line users fell by 2.3 million to 365.4 million while mobile phone subscribers surged by 86.2 million to 547.3 million. China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile network operator by subscriber numbers, raked in 87.1 billion yuan (12.5 billion dollars) in net profits in 2007, twice as much as China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom combined. Yahoo! Biz, 27th May 2008
ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS
21 GHz, Ultra-HD’s Holy Grail?
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK is looking to satellite’s Ka-band for its future transmissions. Will the rest of the world follow suit?
Ka-Band lies just above the immensely popular and crowded Ku-Band. Ku-Band works well for satellite transmissions, with most broadcasters managing to exploit a satellite’s high-power output to beam their signals to increasingly small dishes. But the problem with 21 GHz is that it doesn’t cope with heavy rain (or snow) very well. The upside to 21 GHz is that the spectrum is largely unused. Indeed, the satellite industry has been seeking a use for the bandwidth for years and all manner of schemes have been proposed, including complex multiple spot-beams for satellite-supplied broadband.
The Japanese suggestion takes 21 GHz to the transmission limits. NHK’s engineers say that by using a phased array antenna on the satellite they can transmit higher power levels to those regions of a country suffering heavy rain – vital in a nation like Japan that suffers Monsoon-type rainfalls, and Typhoon-grade storms. In practical terms this means that two antennas will be used, one will cover the whole nation and the second, more concentrated, will cover a region about 200 km in diameter and focused on the Tokyo super-region. This super-beam will be activated if there’s poor weather.
But there’s a problem with simply boosting power-levels in this fashion. The all-important Travelling Wave Tubes get very hot, and the heat has to be dissipated somehow. NHK has worked with Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency to evolve methods to handle these heart levels. The next stage is to start experiments, and Japan plans to use its ultra high-speed 21 GHz internet craft (called Kizuna, meaning Winds) for Ultra HD transmissions. Ground-based experimentation has already started, and the Japanese are saying that more sophisticated orbiting tests will start around 2010-2011. Rapid TV News, 27th May 2008
Bayern Battles Cricket in Bid to Sell Soccer in India
Bayern Munich, the reigning German soccer champion and four-time European Cup winner, faced more than an Indian club when it played in Kolkata today. It was trying to overcome a cricket culture and England's Premier League. Bayern, which beat Mohun Bagan 3-0 in front of 120,000 fans, is seeking to convert consumers in India -- the world's second most-populous nation with 1.1 billion people -- to soccer from cricket and overcome a bias to English teams among those who already follow the sport.
India's $906 billion economy, Asia's third biggest, has grown at an average 8.7 percent since 2003, the fastest since the country's independence in 1947. The pace is behind only China among the world's largest economies. Bayern is the first European club since PSV Eindhoven in 1991 to bring a full- strength team to the country. ``It could grow our image and brand and help us become a top club in India,'' said Martin Haegele, head of international affairs at Bayern Munich. ``It's our goal to improve our image in Asia.''
Over the past 10 years, Europe's top clubs have ventured farther in efforts to drive revenue by winning fans overseas. The U.S. and the Far East have become common destinations for off-season exhibition matches. Manchester United traveled to Saudi Arabia for one game in January, which earned the club 1 million pounds ($1.98 million), according to the Guardian newspaper.
Farewell to Kahn
Bayern's match against Mohun Bagan -- billed as a farewell appearance for goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, the player of the tournament at the 2002 World Cup -- was being televised in India and Germany, Haegele said. ``Thank you for this great moment in my career, this is very special,'' Kahn told the fans in the stadium, who gave him a standing ovation.
Indians have traditionally favored cricket, the game brought there by the British when it was the colonial power. Broadcast rights to a new six-week cricket tournament, featuring some of the world's top players and promoted by Bollywood movie stars, were sold to India's Sony Television Network and the Singapore-based World Sports Group for $1 billion, according to the Australian newspaper. Soccer, though, is gaining ground, said Kaushik Moulik, head of business development at Bengal Peerless Housing Development Co., which is sponsoring the match. Middle-class consumers in cities watch games on satellite television, especially from England. ``English Premier League clubs have an automatic advantage over us: first by language than by TV,'' Haegele said.
Population
Still, the size of India's population means the game would be a success if Bayern attracted a small percentage of fans, Haegele said. The 80 million population of West Bengal, the state where the game was played, is the same as Germany's. Bayern picked the right place in India to plant its flag, said Utpal Ganguli, honorary secretary of the Indian Football Association in West Bengal, because soccer is more popular than cricket in the region. ``Football is passionately followed by millions here,'' Ganguli said. ``It's a game that the Bengalis feel is their home game.'' Haegele declined to say how much Bayern was being paid to play in Kolkata, which formerly was called Calcutta. He said it was considerably less than the fee it commands for playing in east Asia.
Patience Needed
A club such as Bayern, which won its 21st Bundesliga title this season, would normally charge about $1 million to play an exhibition in places like Hong Kong, Thailand or Malaysia, said Stuart Webb, who is licensed by soccer governing body FIFA to arrange matches. Clubs seeking to build a following in India have to understand that it may take time to realize a profit, said Charles Martin, another FIFA-approved match agent. Dealing with Indian bureaucracy and business practices requires patience, he said.
``It's more about doing the groundwork, not necessarily about getting cash up front,'' he said. Arranging the game wasn't easy, Haegele said. ``You have to find a common ground and be patient,'' he said. ``In India, the football business is not structured and it takes two or three months to organize this.'' Bayern was careful about the contract it signed and made sure it limited the duties the club was expected to carry out in addition to the match, Haegele said. ``They ask for banquets, they ask for autograph sessions, kids' clinics and appearances at shop openings,'' he said. ``We have to tell them `no.' We have to explain that we are first of all there to play a football match.'' Bloomberg.com, 27th May 2008
Tuesday, 27th May 2008
SPORT SHORTS
* Eurosportnews has qualified to be the only international sports channel available at the Beijing Olympic Village during the Olympic Games. It has partnered with Chinese portal Sohu to provide sports news and information on their web. The website, with 30,000 online viewers per day, does not sell ads. Most banners are from global campaigns with its global clients. Arjan Hoekstra, managing director of Eurosport Asia-Pacific, said the channel on air, likewise, does not carry any ads. "It is merely an international sports news channel which brings global sports news to audiences 24/7." Marketing-interactive.com, 27th May 2008
* The further development of mobile phone advertising will be crucial to keeping Hong Kong's advertising industry growing argued industry players, such as Google, PCCW and The Hyperfactory, at a forum on mobile advertising presented by The American Chamber of Commerce. The forum featured on its panel, Google Hong Kong's head of sales and business development, Preston Lau, PCCW's MD of advertising and interactive services, Lindsay Servian, and The Hyperfactory Asia Pacific's VP, Tanbir Rahman. The panel warned marketers to avoid the pitfalls of bombarding consumers with ads and recommended that advertisers use the mobile space efficiently in a constant frequency. Marketing-interactive.com, 21st May 2008
* United New Media Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Software Communications, that is focused on Internet, new media and digital activities, has completed the acquisition of IMPL. IMPL has technology based consumer and trade focused business model positioned as an online technology infomediary. This business model focuses on the target age group of 15-35 and the Company finds this highly synergistic to its business. The acquisition by UNVML of IT Nation was through a combination of acquisition of equity shares from the existing promoters of IT Nation and subscription to fresh equity shares of IT Nation. Post completion of acquisition process UNMVL will hold 80% of IMPL. Televisionpoint.com, 23rd May 2008
* Tyroo Media has launched a unique gaming channel as part of its fast expanding inventory. Names like Miniclip.com, UltimateArcade.com, and Cheatcodes.com targets an age group of 13-25 years with high speed broadband connections and good spending power. The audience is Internet savvy and a big influencer in 81% of all family purchase decisions like mobile phones, cars, and holidays, etc. Currently exposed to 4 million unique users, these users have five times better recollection power than other age-groups and a higher acceptability to brand exposure. This inventory is available on both CPC and CPM and industry performance suggests CTRs much higher than other verticals. With 72% people buying gadgets and hardware influenced by the Internet, gaming inventory should open up new avenues for advertisers. Televisionpoint.com, 23rd May 2008
* The English Football League, comprised of England’s three soccer leagues below the Premier League, has announced a new overseas broadcasting deal worth £24 million ($47.5 million) over three seasons, beginning in 2009-2010. The agreement, representing a threefold increase on the present contract, follows the £264-million domestic deal signed with pay-television broadcaster BSkyB and public-service broadcaster BBC earlier. The Football League has split its worldwide rights with four broadcasters and agencies holding the rights in Africa and the Middle East, while IMG will market rights in the rest of the world. Pitch International distribute in the Middle East, while Supersports, Hi TV and GTV will collectively cover Africa. Perform will hold the online rights for betting websites. The rights will cover the second-tier Championship, third-tier League 1 and fourth-tier League 2, as well as the Carling Cup. Sportcal.com, 26th May 2008
MORE NEWS
India/General: Nimbus Launches Showtime Home Video
Nimbus Communications has launched Showtime brand, which deals with the home video entertainment business of global standards. The venture will entail rental and sale of home entertainment content in formats like DVDs, VCDs, Game CDs and other allied products. The other features includes that a customer of Showtime can order a movie through a channel of his/her choice – phone-ins, walk into a store, through the Internet, SMS and even through the delivery boy, who fulfils the order at the doorstep.
Showtime stores are currently operational in Bandra, Lokhandwala, Malad and Chembur areas of Mumbai. In addition, there are 8 distribution centres across Mumbai to ensure prompt delivery anywhere in the city. It is supported by an ever growing representation of 16,000 titles across all genres in languages of Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Marwari, Punjabi and English. It provides one of few services that combines rental and sale of DVD's, VCD's & other allied products, all delivered promptly at home. These features come at a competitive pricing package to the consumer, who does not have to pay any registration fee or deposit to avail of the service.
Sanjay Sharma, COO, Showtime, said, "The home entertainment business is set to grow exponentially. With Showtime we aim at a more organised approach to the Home Entertainment business in India. We are confident that with the emergence of organized retail, such as ours, this space will witness significant changes in customer habits as also much higher levels of customer delight. Better quality viewing, prompt delivery, competitive pricing, a wider array of products and superior service standards will all comprise the critical success factors of the business." Televisionpoint.com, 23rd May 2008
India/General: IPL Bats Into Business School Syllabi
From stadiums to classrooms, IPL fever is raging. After the success of the Indian Premier League— known as much for its marketing glitz as for its cricketing antics—popular B-schools in Mumbai and outside have sought to include the IPL phenomenon in their syllabi.
Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Vile Parle, plans to rope in financial and marketing experts associated with IPL to train its faculty at a workshop on 'teaching sports management', slated to be held after the IPL tamasha ends. "We plan to offer an elective in sports management. We want the IPL team to help us design the course," said Ramesh Bhat, dean, school of business management at NMIMS. According to him, there's a lot to learn from the IPL's contract arrangements, with remuneration being based on performance.
"IPL has huge implications for the country," said Bhat. The authorities at Mudra Institute of Communications-Ahmedabad (MICA), and S P Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) in Andheri also echo his views.
Students enrolled in the executive post-graduate programme in communication management (PGPCMX) course at MICA were recently given an assignment on the economic implications of IPL in the context of the Indian market. "Besides the business aspect, there's also a lot to be learnt in terms of organisational behaviour and leadership skills. While there are a number of team captains who are relatively new, some of the established players have not been able to find their place in the sun," said Hemant Trivedi, chairperson of the PGPCMX course. He plans to introduce a component on IPL in an elective on media and entertainment as well.
For B-schoolers, the IPL's success has underlined just how big a career in sports management could turn out to be. Raghu Chaitanya, a student at MICA, sees immense opportunity in the league. "After all, it's a mix of the two most popular things in the country—cricket and Bollywood," he said.
At the S P Jain Institute, students recently asked their marketing professor to discuss the IPL phenomenon with them. The issue was taken up at a faculty meeting where the dean, M L Shrikant, suggested that IPL could be an integral case study for a business model. Students have been asked to read 'What is Management?' by Joan Margretta and co-relate parts of the book with the IPL success story. "IPL will help students understand the concept of a business model where there are a number of stakeholders whose interests have to be met," said Shrikant.
According to Bhat, IPL also presents a great career opportunity for management students in the years to come. After all, the GMR group, the infrastructure giant which owns the Delhi team, hired Colonel Vinod Bisht, who was a student of IIM-Ahmedabad's postgraduate programme in public policy and management, as its assistant vice president (operations). Timesofindia.com, indiatimes.com, 27th May 2008
Global/New Media: Online Subscription Market 'Still Strong' as WCSN and JumpTV Team Up
The subscription market for online sports content remains strong despite the growth of online video advertising, according to WCSN, the US broadband internet website specialising in Olympic sports, whose chairman and chief executive was speaking after a strategic tie-up with JumpTV, the Canada-based internet broadcaster. Claude Ruibal told Sportcal.com that he still saw ‘pretty strong opportunities around the subscription product for now,’ but that extra content could be made available for free on WCSN if more advertising deals can be developed. He said: ‘We think that if we continue to build our relationships with the Olympic sponsors and other endemic sponsors around these sports then we may have more content available for free.’ Ruibal pointed to a major advertising deal which facilitated free coverage on WCSN of gymnastics’ 2007 FIG Rhythmic World Championships and FIG Artistic World Championships.
However, the subscription market remains healthy, particularly for premium events, and Ruibal said that recent live and on-demand coverage of the 2008 IIHF World Ice Hockey Championships has resulted in a 200-per-cent increase of subscribers and number of streams compared to recent years. The source of revenue at JumpTV, meanwhile, has shifted dramatically over the course of the last year to reflect the growth of online video advertising for popular content.
Nadia Usina, the president of JumpTV, told Sportcal.com that she expects revenue for this year to be split relatively evenly into three sections – subscription, advertising and other services. A year ago, she said, JumpTV could be seen as a ‘one-trick pony with subscriptions being the primary driver.’ Usina said that advertisers were ‘looking for quality content that is serving engaged audiences,’ such as the content provided on WCSN rather than video-sharing websites such as YouTube. She said: ‘As more and more dollars continue to move towards an online space, particularly around video, advertising are really starting to get strategic about where they are placing their dollars and their brands.’
WCSN and JumpTV have formed a strategic alliance to radically redesign the WCSN website and provide a variety of different supporting mechanisms. The technical support from JumpTV will allow WCSN to ‘deliver an incredibly immersive online experience which includes television-quality streaming along with the user interactivity only the web can provide,’ according to Carlos Silva, WCSN's president and chief operating officer.
A major part of the agreement is the integration of JumpTV’s ‘One Fan Profile solution,’ an in-depth tracking device that examines the behaviour and interests of the user. Such a facility will help WCSN identify which rights to chase as they increasingly look to secure the worldwide internet rights, as they did for athletics’ 2008 Boston Marathon. Silva said: ‘The tools that JumpTV will give us to track and know where people are coming from will certainly help us to understand what other rights in the future we should go after.’ The new website is set to be launched in the first week of July and Silva said that WCSN and JumpTV may look at the idea of co-promotion through each others’ websites after that.
JumpTV has refocused its output considerably of late, deciding to focus on sports content to drive audiences and entice advertisers in the process. Usina said that JumpTV’s strengths were previously ‘in the video space and ethnic programming but it wasn’t too long before we recognised the fact that sport was driving a lot of viewership and eyeballs and revenue accordingly.’ JumpTV last year bought XOS Network, the US college sports internet broadcaster, to significantly boost its sports output, and has struck other content agreements. The internet broadcaster also added to its sports portfolio last summer by acquiring Cycling.tv, the three-year-old UK-based specialist internet cycling broadcaster. Sportcal.com, 26th May 2008
* Eurosportnews has qualified to be the only international sports channel available at the Beijing Olympic Village during the Olympic Games. It has partnered with Chinese portal Sohu to provide sports news and information on their web. The website, with 30,000 online viewers per day, does not sell ads. Most banners are from global campaigns with its global clients. Arjan Hoekstra, managing director of Eurosport Asia-Pacific, said the channel on air, likewise, does not carry any ads. "It is merely an international sports news channel which brings global sports news to audiences 24/7." Marketing-interactive.com, 27th May 2008
* The further development of mobile phone advertising will be crucial to keeping Hong Kong's advertising industry growing argued industry players, such as Google, PCCW and The Hyperfactory, at a forum on mobile advertising presented by The American Chamber of Commerce. The forum featured on its panel, Google Hong Kong's head of sales and business development, Preston Lau, PCCW's MD of advertising and interactive services, Lindsay Servian, and The Hyperfactory Asia Pacific's VP, Tanbir Rahman. The panel warned marketers to avoid the pitfalls of bombarding consumers with ads and recommended that advertisers use the mobile space efficiently in a constant frequency. Marketing-interactive.com, 21st May 2008
* United New Media Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Software Communications, that is focused on Internet, new media and digital activities, has completed the acquisition of IMPL. IMPL has technology based consumer and trade focused business model positioned as an online technology infomediary. This business model focuses on the target age group of 15-35 and the Company finds this highly synergistic to its business. The acquisition by UNVML of IT Nation was through a combination of acquisition of equity shares from the existing promoters of IT Nation and subscription to fresh equity shares of IT Nation. Post completion of acquisition process UNMVL will hold 80% of IMPL. Televisionpoint.com, 23rd May 2008
* Tyroo Media has launched a unique gaming channel as part of its fast expanding inventory. Names like Miniclip.com, UltimateArcade.com, and Cheatcodes.com targets an age group of 13-25 years with high speed broadband connections and good spending power. The audience is Internet savvy and a big influencer in 81% of all family purchase decisions like mobile phones, cars, and holidays, etc. Currently exposed to 4 million unique users, these users have five times better recollection power than other age-groups and a higher acceptability to brand exposure. This inventory is available on both CPC and CPM and industry performance suggests CTRs much higher than other verticals. With 72% people buying gadgets and hardware influenced by the Internet, gaming inventory should open up new avenues for advertisers. Televisionpoint.com, 23rd May 2008
* The English Football League, comprised of England’s three soccer leagues below the Premier League, has announced a new overseas broadcasting deal worth £24 million ($47.5 million) over three seasons, beginning in 2009-2010. The agreement, representing a threefold increase on the present contract, follows the £264-million domestic deal signed with pay-television broadcaster BSkyB and public-service broadcaster BBC earlier. The Football League has split its worldwide rights with four broadcasters and agencies holding the rights in Africa and the Middle East, while IMG will market rights in the rest of the world. Pitch International distribute in the Middle East, while Supersports, Hi TV and GTV will collectively cover Africa. Perform will hold the online rights for betting websites. The rights will cover the second-tier Championship, third-tier League 1 and fourth-tier League 2, as well as the Carling Cup. Sportcal.com, 26th May 2008
MORE NEWS
India/General: Nimbus Launches Showtime Home Video
Nimbus Communications has launched Showtime brand, which deals with the home video entertainment business of global standards. The venture will entail rental and sale of home entertainment content in formats like DVDs, VCDs, Game CDs and other allied products. The other features includes that a customer of Showtime can order a movie through a channel of his/her choice – phone-ins, walk into a store, through the Internet, SMS and even through the delivery boy, who fulfils the order at the doorstep.
Showtime stores are currently operational in Bandra, Lokhandwala, Malad and Chembur areas of Mumbai. In addition, there are 8 distribution centres across Mumbai to ensure prompt delivery anywhere in the city. It is supported by an ever growing representation of 16,000 titles across all genres in languages of Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Marwari, Punjabi and English. It provides one of few services that combines rental and sale of DVD's, VCD's & other allied products, all delivered promptly at home. These features come at a competitive pricing package to the consumer, who does not have to pay any registration fee or deposit to avail of the service.
Sanjay Sharma, COO, Showtime, said, "The home entertainment business is set to grow exponentially. With Showtime we aim at a more organised approach to the Home Entertainment business in India. We are confident that with the emergence of organized retail, such as ours, this space will witness significant changes in customer habits as also much higher levels of customer delight. Better quality viewing, prompt delivery, competitive pricing, a wider array of products and superior service standards will all comprise the critical success factors of the business." Televisionpoint.com, 23rd May 2008
India/General: IPL Bats Into Business School Syllabi
From stadiums to classrooms, IPL fever is raging. After the success of the Indian Premier League— known as much for its marketing glitz as for its cricketing antics—popular B-schools in Mumbai and outside have sought to include the IPL phenomenon in their syllabi.
Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Vile Parle, plans to rope in financial and marketing experts associated with IPL to train its faculty at a workshop on 'teaching sports management', slated to be held after the IPL tamasha ends. "We plan to offer an elective in sports management. We want the IPL team to help us design the course," said Ramesh Bhat, dean, school of business management at NMIMS. According to him, there's a lot to learn from the IPL's contract arrangements, with remuneration being based on performance.
"IPL has huge implications for the country," said Bhat. The authorities at Mudra Institute of Communications-Ahmedabad (MICA), and S P Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) in Andheri also echo his views.
Students enrolled in the executive post-graduate programme in communication management (PGPCMX) course at MICA were recently given an assignment on the economic implications of IPL in the context of the Indian market. "Besides the business aspect, there's also a lot to be learnt in terms of organisational behaviour and leadership skills. While there are a number of team captains who are relatively new, some of the established players have not been able to find their place in the sun," said Hemant Trivedi, chairperson of the PGPCMX course. He plans to introduce a component on IPL in an elective on media and entertainment as well.
For B-schoolers, the IPL's success has underlined just how big a career in sports management could turn out to be. Raghu Chaitanya, a student at MICA, sees immense opportunity in the league. "After all, it's a mix of the two most popular things in the country—cricket and Bollywood," he said.
At the S P Jain Institute, students recently asked their marketing professor to discuss the IPL phenomenon with them. The issue was taken up at a faculty meeting where the dean, M L Shrikant, suggested that IPL could be an integral case study for a business model. Students have been asked to read 'What is Management?' by Joan Margretta and co-relate parts of the book with the IPL success story. "IPL will help students understand the concept of a business model where there are a number of stakeholders whose interests have to be met," said Shrikant.
According to Bhat, IPL also presents a great career opportunity for management students in the years to come. After all, the GMR group, the infrastructure giant which owns the Delhi team, hired Colonel Vinod Bisht, who was a student of IIM-Ahmedabad's postgraduate programme in public policy and management, as its assistant vice president (operations). Timesofindia.com, indiatimes.com, 27th May 2008
Global/New Media: Online Subscription Market 'Still Strong' as WCSN and JumpTV Team Up
The subscription market for online sports content remains strong despite the growth of online video advertising, according to WCSN, the US broadband internet website specialising in Olympic sports, whose chairman and chief executive was speaking after a strategic tie-up with JumpTV, the Canada-based internet broadcaster. Claude Ruibal told Sportcal.com that he still saw ‘pretty strong opportunities around the subscription product for now,’ but that extra content could be made available for free on WCSN if more advertising deals can be developed. He said: ‘We think that if we continue to build our relationships with the Olympic sponsors and other endemic sponsors around these sports then we may have more content available for free.’ Ruibal pointed to a major advertising deal which facilitated free coverage on WCSN of gymnastics’ 2007 FIG Rhythmic World Championships and FIG Artistic World Championships.
However, the subscription market remains healthy, particularly for premium events, and Ruibal said that recent live and on-demand coverage of the 2008 IIHF World Ice Hockey Championships has resulted in a 200-per-cent increase of subscribers and number of streams compared to recent years. The source of revenue at JumpTV, meanwhile, has shifted dramatically over the course of the last year to reflect the growth of online video advertising for popular content.
Nadia Usina, the president of JumpTV, told Sportcal.com that she expects revenue for this year to be split relatively evenly into three sections – subscription, advertising and other services. A year ago, she said, JumpTV could be seen as a ‘one-trick pony with subscriptions being the primary driver.’ Usina said that advertisers were ‘looking for quality content that is serving engaged audiences,’ such as the content provided on WCSN rather than video-sharing websites such as YouTube. She said: ‘As more and more dollars continue to move towards an online space, particularly around video, advertising are really starting to get strategic about where they are placing their dollars and their brands.’
WCSN and JumpTV have formed a strategic alliance to radically redesign the WCSN website and provide a variety of different supporting mechanisms. The technical support from JumpTV will allow WCSN to ‘deliver an incredibly immersive online experience which includes television-quality streaming along with the user interactivity only the web can provide,’ according to Carlos Silva, WCSN's president and chief operating officer.
A major part of the agreement is the integration of JumpTV’s ‘One Fan Profile solution,’ an in-depth tracking device that examines the behaviour and interests of the user. Such a facility will help WCSN identify which rights to chase as they increasingly look to secure the worldwide internet rights, as they did for athletics’ 2008 Boston Marathon. Silva said: ‘The tools that JumpTV will give us to track and know where people are coming from will certainly help us to understand what other rights in the future we should go after.’ The new website is set to be launched in the first week of July and Silva said that WCSN and JumpTV may look at the idea of co-promotion through each others’ websites after that.
JumpTV has refocused its output considerably of late, deciding to focus on sports content to drive audiences and entice advertisers in the process. Usina said that JumpTV’s strengths were previously ‘in the video space and ethnic programming but it wasn’t too long before we recognised the fact that sport was driving a lot of viewership and eyeballs and revenue accordingly.’ JumpTV last year bought XOS Network, the US college sports internet broadcaster, to significantly boost its sports output, and has struck other content agreements. The internet broadcaster also added to its sports portfolio last summer by acquiring Cycling.tv, the three-year-old UK-based specialist internet cycling broadcaster. Sportcal.com, 26th May 2008
Monday, 26th May 2008
INFO BOX
TV is Highest Reaching Medium Across Countries
Source: Indiantelevision.com, 24th May 2008
Though television in general is the highest reaching medium with more than 85 per cent penetration in 2007, the reach in India is just above 50%. According to research firm Magna Global, TV outshines other media as being the highest reaching, except for Germany and India. Radio reaches more than 60% of the population, except for Spain, India and China.
Countering figures given from time to time by the Indian government, the study shows radio reaches a bare 20%, newspapers around 38%, magazines just over ten per cent, and Internet less than five per cent. Newspapers still have penetration of more than 60% in Germany, China, the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom, although the reach is particularly lower in France and Russia, with less than 20 per cent. Magazines have an impressive penetration in Germany and France, with more than 85%, but do not perform as well in the United States and India, with less than 25% reach.
The Internet, although still newly emerging, has a reach of more than half the population in most of the countries studied. In the United States, penetration is at about 70%, while in the United Kingdom and Germany penetration is more than 60%. However, in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the penetration is still lower than 30%.
SPORTS SHORTS
* The Indian Premier Cricket League has reached an agreement to stream matches live on the Internet and to mobile phones in regions including India, Pakistan and the Middle East in a deal with Dubai-based company netlinkblue reported to be worth almost $50 million over 10 years. Netlinkblue is looking to target cricket fans with content from the Twenty20 competition including live streaming and a 72-hour online catch-up service. The deal excludes markets such as the US, UK, South Africa and New Zealand due to existing deals with broadcasters. In the UK Setanta has a five year pay-TV deal with the IPL that also covers online video rights. ATV, Sportcal.com, Sportbusiness.com, 26th May 2008
* The Philippine Basketball Association board of governors opted to set another meeting before deciding to whom it would grant the league’s broadcast rights after drawing more data on the contending networks. To date, Solar Sports, with RPN-9 as carrying station, is offering a straight-up three-year deal. ABS-CBN is apparently offering a four-year package with the option to sign a three-year contract-extension at the end of the initial deal. The STAR source said Solar Sports’ package is P31 million better than the amount being offered by the Lopez-owned network in the first three years of its offer. The board set another meeting Tuesday also at the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City for further discussion. Meanwhile, speculation is that the PBA governors are to accept the offer of Solar Sports over that of ABS-CBN. Abs-cbnnews.com, 23rd May 2008
* Hong Kong mobile operators have been caught by surprise by PCCW’s sudden decision to lift interconnection fees by 25%. However, they have no choice but to accept the new charges. The regulator Ofta last Friday announced the hike in the fixed to mobile interconnection charge (FMIC) from HK4.36 to HK5.45 cents per minute. A Smartone Vodafone spokesman said the carrier “does not agree to such an increase” but would enter into talks with PCCW. “If we can’t reach an agreement we will seek a determination from Ofta,” he told telecomasia.net. A spokesperson for Hutchison Telecom, Hong Kong’s largest mobile provider, said the company had been taken by surprise by the move. “We are still studying it,” the offcial said. PCCW filed the new charges on April 17. Under local rules it becomes official after 30 days unless Ofta finds it amounts to anti-competitive behavior. telecomasia.net, 26th May 2008
* Japanese public broadcaster NHK will start experimental test transmissions of its spectacular Ultra-HD system (7680 x 4320 pixel) in 2011-12. Japan switches off its analogue terrestrial transmissions on July 24 2011, and NHK will hold onto some of the frequencies permitting expansion into next-generation HDTV. Dr Kenkichi Tanioka, director general of NHK’s science and technical research laboratories, was outlining NHK’s timetable at a major presentation in Tokyo on May 22, saying that he anticipated further testing and development taking until 2016, and implementation following on. Unlike in the past when broadcasters from the USA, Europe and Japan fought each other over rival TV transmission systems (the USA’s “Grand Alliance”, EBU’s DVB and Japan’s analogue Muse and then Hi-Vision digital system are all different), there seems to be a wish from all parties to avoid costly and overlapping effort in the search for next-generation HDTV. Rapid TV News, 25th May 2008
* India's Spice group will invest up to $300 million this year in its telecom operations in the two states it provides services, and is talking with firms to rent network infrastructure. The Spice group is confident of getting spectrum in Andhra Pradesh "soon," Dilip Modi, group president, global operations said. Spice has licences to operate in six of India's 23 telecom circles but a paucity of spectrum, or radio airwaves to transmit the wireless signals, means it cannot immediately start services in all of them. It has operations in Punjab and Karnataka, the report added. "In the two circles we will invest $200-$300 million. As we get more visibility on spectrum, we will invest more," Modi said. Spice, which had 4.2 million of India's over 261 million mobile users in end-March, is 39.2% owned by Malaysia's state-controlled Telekom Malaysia. Spice aims to double its subscriber base to at least 8 million in 2008. telecomasia.net, 26th May 2008
* Dhanus Technologies Ltd has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the company is launching a new service branded "V-tel mobile service". V-tel mobile service is aimed at Indians traveling abroad and can be used in 229 countries in the world. V-tel mobile offers free incoming calls in over 50 countries and charges discounted rates for home country calls as well as for calls made within the respective country during travel. The company has already obtained permission from the department of telecommunications. Thehindubusinessline.com, 23rd May 2008
* Bharti Airtel has called off merger talks with South Africa's largest mobile phone network operator, MTN Group, a company statement said. Bharti Airtel said it was pulling out of talks with MTN because the South African firm had presented a different merger structure from what had been agreed to earlier this month. "This new structure envisages Bharti Airtel becoming a subsidiary of MTN and exchange of majority shares of Bharti Airtel held by the Bharti family and Singtel, in exchange for a controlling stake in MTN," the statement said. "Bharti's vision of transforming itself from a homegrown Indian company to a true Indian multinational telecom giant, symbolizing the pride of India, would have been severely compromised and this was completely unacceptable to Bharti," the statement said. telecomasia.net, 26th May 2008
* Advanced Interactive Sciences, LLC (AIS), a provider of integrated response solutions to the direct response industry, has joined the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The MMA is a non-profit association that aims to stimulate the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies. As a provider of response solutions that convert responders through any channel - phone, web or mobile - into buyers, AIS' solution enables coordination of multi-channel marketing programs through one company. AIS mobile response solution blends “the immediacy of mobile with the ease of a phone call for order completion”. With mobile click-to-call capability, prospective customers don't need to dial the phone. They have to click on the phone number on a mobile website, banner landing page or SMS and are directed to the AIS speech platform for order completion. By partnering with AIS, mobile marketing companies can track consumers through to completion of a transaction whether the result is an order, a lead or an appointment. Indiantelevision.com, 24th May 2008
* Live coverage of the Champions League final penalty shoot-out was the most watched TV moment of the year in the UK so far, according to ITV. The broadcaster said that overall 11.1 million viewers tuned in to watch Manchester United beat Chelsea in Moscow. Audiences peaked at 14.6 million with ITV securing a 60% share of the viewers – 46% for the whole match. A further two million viewers watched pay-television broadcaster Sky Sports' coverage of the match - the channel's best ratings for a Champions League final since 2004. An average of 6.2 million people watched all of ITV1’s live Champions League coverage this season – making it the most-watched season for five years. Sportbusiness.com, 23rd May 2008
* Bayern Munich, the recently-crowned German soccer champions, earned highest share of television rights revenue generated by the Bundesliga during the 2007-08 season, netting €29.1 million ($45.7 million). Bayern’s tv rights share was €3 million more than VfB Stuttgart received when they won the Bundesliga title in 2006-07. Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 finished second and third in the tv rights table compiled by Ernst & Young mirroring their final places in the Bundesliga this season. Werder Bremen received €27.4 million while Schalke 04 received €25.7 million. Around €360 million was split between the Bundesliga’s 18 clubs, €15 million more than the previous season. The sum comprised international and domestic television deals. Hansa Rostock, which finished second from bottom in the Bundesliga, were given a €13.1-million share, while FC Nürnberg netted €19.3 million despite finishing just one place above Hansa. Ernst & Young added that in Spain and Italy, where television rights are not marketed centrally, top clubs could earn 10 or 15 times more than the bottom clubs. Sportcal.com, 23rd May 2008
MORE NEWS
Thailand/New Media: AIS Postpones Bangkok 3G Launch on Permit Delay
Thailand's AIS said it will have to postpone the commercial launch of its 3G mobile broadband services in Bangkok until mid-July as the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is behind schedule in approving equipment imports. The country's largest mobile operator earlier planned to introduce 3G commercial service in Bangkok in mid-June after it was launched in Chiang Mai early this month. AIS has been given approval by the NTC to upgrade 30 base stations to high-speed packet access (HSPA) technology. President Wichian Mektrakarn said AIS was likely to delay services in Bangkok for another month since the the NTC could not approve the equipment imports and relocation of the five 3G base stations from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. He said the Chiang Mai bases were too large for existing demand. The company planned to introduce an equal number of base stations in Bangkok.
The 30 sites could accommodate 10,000 subscribers, but capacity would be as low as 5,000 if customers use data services simultaneously. AIS's 3G service includes video calling, video streaming and full song and music video downloads. Wichian admitted that 3G in Chiang Mai was only a trial venture, not a serious rollout due to its limited on bandwidth and the fact that only a handful of handsets are 3G-capable. "We don't expect much revenue from 3G now. We just want to raise awareness of 3G in Thailand," he said. "With our limited bandwidth of only 5 MHz with one carrier, it's impossible for AIS to provide full broadband services." However, he said, AIS planned to introduce 3G in another 20 major cities.
Although 3G on existing networks requires AIS to pay under existing concessions, he said the company needed to act now on 3G rather than do nothing. Wichian said AIS was on the verge of applying for a 3G license running on the 2100 MHz band in order to move aggressively into the sector. telecomasia.net, 26th May 2008
China/New Media: China Telecom Restructuring May Be Under Way
China's biggest mobile phone company will take over a smaller fixed-line carrier, a state news agency said Friday, in what was expected to be the start of a sweeping industry restructuring. China Mobile Communications Corp. will acquire China Railway Communication, also known as Tietong, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing information from state-owned China Mobile. Regulators are believed to be preparing a series of mergers that will link up China's fast-growing mobile carriers with fixed-line partners to invigorate competition. Fixed-line carriers have seen demand slump as new customers opt for mobile service.
"The long-awaited restructuring of the Chinese telecoms market appears closer than ever before," Jing Li, a China telecoms analyst for the consulting firm Global Insight, said in a report to clients. An industrywide plan might be released as early as this weekend, Li said. "A successful restructuring will undoubtedly spur competition in the market as the resultant telecoms players square up to each other," Li said. The overhaul also is expected to affect China's biggest fixed-line carrier, China Telecom Corp., and its smaller rival, China Netcom Group Corp., as well as No. 2 mobile operator China Unicom Ltd.
In Hong Kong, trading in China Netcom and China Unicom shares was suspended pending an announcement. Trading in China Unicom shares was suspended in Shanghai. There was no indication how long the suspensions would last. China has the world's biggest population of mobile phone users, with some 520 million accounts, and the government says that should reach 600 million soon. Mobile carriers say the number of new accounts is growing at double-digit rates, while fixed-line carriers say subscriber numbers are flat or falling. China Telecom and China Netcom have tried to boost revenues by promoting broadband Internet, Web-based cable TV and other services but earnings still are growing more slowly than at mobile carriers. Beijing is preparing to roll out third-generation, or 3G, service that will support video, Web access and other services. That is expected to boost revenues further for mobile companies as it opens up opportunities for new services. CentralDaily.com, 23rd May 2008
ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS
Viewing Behaviour Shifts as IPTV Gains Traction
Research from analyst firm Canalys indicates that, while the IPTV market will continue to gather momentum over the next four years, competition from other video delivery platforms will make it increasingly difficult for service providers to convince consumers to invest in services. Established cable, satellite and terrestrial digital TV offerings will continue to develop, and online video services will increasingly compete for viewer attention, making it essential that IPTV providers (and indeed pay-TV operators in general) continue to develop their services in a bid to differentiate them from the competition.
"IPTV growth was strong in 2007, albeit from a relatively small base," said Canalys senior analyst Adrian Drozd. "The number of worldwide IPTV subscribers increased from under four million at the end of 2006 to over ten million at the end of last year, with annualised subscription revenue closing in on the two billion Euro mark," Drozd continued. "Solid progress is expected to continue over the next four years. By the end of 2011, Canalys expects the number of IPTV subscribers to have reached 67 million – more than a six-fold increase over 2007 levels."
EMEA remains the leading region in terms of consumer uptake, accounting for 54 per cent of the worldwide subscriber total at the end of last year. "France is still the driving force in the Western European IPTV market," explained Drozd, "with France Telecom having passed the one million subscriber mark and both Free Telecom and Neuf Cegetel continuing to expand." But rapid growth in the French market has been facilitated by service providers’ desire to promote low-cost triple-play bundles, where IPTV is part of the service mix, but not a huge revenue generator in its own right. "While the growth of IPTV in France has dwarfed the progress of most other European countries, it has arguably come at the expense of revenue generation," Drozd added. "IPTV has helped to attract and retain subscribers, but the emphasis must now shift to revenue generation to justify the significant investments being made in video delivery."
Outside Europe, progress has also been strong. "Seven IPTV services had more than half a million subscribers each by the end of 2007," said Drozd. "Verizon has since exceeded the one million mark in the US and PCCW (Hong Kong) is closing in on that milestone." But despite early promise, major hurdles remain for the IPTV market. Canalys believes that usurping the role of established cable and satellite digital TV platforms will be a tougher challenge than many in the IPTV industry expect. Convincing consumers to switch pay-TV provider will be both difficult and expensive, unless services are either highly price-competitive or offer considerable benefits over the competition. "Offering the same content and services as the competition will not provide the necessary returns, but delivering a compelling mix of on-demand and high-definition programming alongside a range of advanced interactive services just might," Drozd concluded. ATV, 26th May 2008
Thailand's Mobile Market Reached 53 Million Subscribers by End-2007
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c92742) has announced the addition of "2008 Asia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Myanmar and Thailand" to their offering. The neighbouring countries of Thailand and Myanmar continue to provide an interesting contrast. Similar in both population size and land area, the two countries have been developing along totally different economic paths. Thailand, a constitutional monarchy, which has certainly been struggling with its democratic processes and institutions, has nonetheless been able to offer an essentially open market. On the other hand we have Myanmar operating as it has under a repressive military dictatorship for many years now and presenting a market that remains totally closed and centrally controlled. GDP per capita in Thailand is running at around US$4,000; in Myanmar it is less than US$250. The development of their respective telecom sectors reflects the same divide. In mobile and Internet penetrations Thailand leaves Myanmar far behind. Even in basic fixed-line telephone services, a segment of the market that the Thais have not given any priority, Myanmar is continuing to lag far behind Thailand.
The overthrow of Thailand's Shinawatra government in a military coup in September 2006 was followed by a period of government by a military-appointed administration; happily this interim period ended without too much pain and certainly no further military intervention when general elections were held in late 2007 and a new government was installed. As the country continued its search for increased political stability, there can be no doubt that the upheaval over the last few years has had considerable negative impact on (1) the Thai economy, (2) the administration of the country and (3) investor confidence.
The telecom sector witnessed the appointment by the post-coup government of a Minister for Information and Communication Technology who, at least initially, took a policy position that was essentially against what were seen as Thaksin Shinawatra's telecom reforms. The new minister, for example, wanted to roll back the process of privatisation of the two state-owned telcos, TOT and CAT; further to this, he wanted to restore some of their regulatory powers. While generally seen within the industry as a rather regressive administration, some positive reforms did emerge during this period.
Despite all the difficulties, Thailand's telecom sector has continued to display a surprising amount of energy. The country's mobile telephone market in particular has recorded strong annual growth rates, the recent high level of growth taking the industry by surprise. By early 2008, mobile penetration was around 82%. In a matter of only six years, the mobile market had moved from 8 million in 2001 to 53 million in 2007.
Apart from the booming mobile sector, the Internet is an area of the Thai market that has also been popular - at least in its dial-up form. Oddly, the development of broadband Internet has been languishing. It was not until 2005 that the number of broadband subscribers started to move in any serious fashion. A reasonably strong growth trend has continued since then and by end-2007 there were around 1 million broadband subscribers in the country. Broadband penetration was still under 2%, however.
Thailand has certainly been seeing the benefits of a liberalised market with the highly competitive mobile sector being the big beneficiary. Nevertheless, sectoral reform remains unfinished business. It took four years after the enabling Telecommunications Act was adopted as law in 2000 for the country's new regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, to be put in place. And once it became operational, the NTC had to contend with the volatile political environment following the 2006 coup, again throwing uncertainty over the regulator's role. Even with a newly-elected government in place in early 2008 the future direction for the regulator was not exactly clear.
Myanmar's telecom sector continues to be dominated by the state-owned monopoly telephone service provider, Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT). This ministry's form has indeed been consistent with the overall operating environment of an economy where change is simply slow. The country has been battling both economic problems and a troubled political climate. Soaring inflation remains a major problem (34% in 2007). The country's centrally planned economy is plagued by weak fiscal and monetary management, resulting in major economic imbalances, which are not likely to be easily or quickly resolved.
These problems, combined with a disturbing lack of transparency, have not surprisingly frightened off foreign investment. In the meantime, the telecom sector is characterised by what can only be described as stunted growth. In fact, following the political and social upheaval of late 2007 subscriber data reports suggested that things were actually going backwards.
The telecom sector reflects the overall state of the national economy and society. It should also be noted that Myanmar's official economic data is not considered reliable, making actual growth rates difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to assume that fixed-line telephone penetration remains at or below 1%; the penetration of mobile services is even less than that; and Internet access continues to be severely restricted in its availability to the general public.
At the same time, given the state of the economy and the absence of serious foreign investment, the MPT's level of capital investment in telecom's infrastructure has been depressingly low. To cap this off, the country suffered a devastating cyclone in May 2008 resulting in a huge loss of life and massive damage to the country's fragile infrastructure.
Key highlights:
- Thailand's mobile market had reached 53 million subscribers by end-2007. After more than seven straight years of strong growth, the annual increase in the mobile subscribers was still running at over 30% coming into 2008.
- The broadband Internet market in Thailand saw another year of vigorous subscriber growth in 2007, running at an annual rate of around 60% with all the signs suggesting that this would continue through 2008.
- While interest in broadband services was finally picking up in Thailand, it was happening from a relatively small base; overall broadband penetration remained low (under 2%).
- Despite a slowing in economic growth following the September 2006 coup, the post-coup government, after a number of missteps, worked hard to stimulate the economy, looking to such initiatives as free trade agreements. Then in December 2007 a newly-elected government committed itself to the task of getting the country back on track.
- Myanmar's mobile market, after reportedly growing at an annual rate in excess of 100% in 2006, managed another healthy expansion in 2007 with a 40% jump in subscribers.
- Of course, this growth was from a low subscriber base in the first place - up from 126,000 subscribers (0.3% penetration) in 2005 to 325,000 (0.7%) in 2007.
- With information on growth patterns being difficult to obtain, one source suggested that mobile subscriber numbers had in fact declined from a mid-2007 peak.
- From totally different perspectives Thailand and Myanmar must both seriously address regulatory reform; Thailand needs to work to get fresh momentum in its stalled reform processes; Myanmar needs to get some sort of reform process started. The latter has a lot further to travel in this regard. CentralDaily.com, 23rd May 2008
TV is Highest Reaching Medium Across Countries
Source: Indiantelevision.com, 24th May 2008
Though television in general is the highest reaching medium with more than 85 per cent penetration in 2007, the reach in India is just above 50%. According to research firm Magna Global, TV outshines other media as being the highest reaching, except for Germany and India. Radio reaches more than 60% of the population, except for Spain, India and China.
Countering figures given from time to time by the Indian government, the study shows radio reaches a bare 20%, newspapers around 38%, magazines just over ten per cent, and Internet less than five per cent. Newspapers still have penetration of more than 60% in Germany, China, the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom, although the reach is particularly lower in France and Russia, with less than 20 per cent. Magazines have an impressive penetration in Germany and France, with more than 85%, but do not perform as well in the United States and India, with less than 25% reach.
The Internet, although still newly emerging, has a reach of more than half the population in most of the countries studied. In the United States, penetration is at about 70%, while in the United Kingdom and Germany penetration is more than 60%. However, in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), the penetration is still lower than 30%.
SPORTS SHORTS
* The Indian Premier Cricket League has reached an agreement to stream matches live on the Internet and to mobile phones in regions including India, Pakistan and the Middle East in a deal with Dubai-based company netlinkblue reported to be worth almost $50 million over 10 years. Netlinkblue is looking to target cricket fans with content from the Twenty20 competition including live streaming and a 72-hour online catch-up service. The deal excludes markets such as the US, UK, South Africa and New Zealand due to existing deals with broadcasters. In the UK Setanta has a five year pay-TV deal with the IPL that also covers online video rights. ATV, Sportcal.com, Sportbusiness.com, 26th May 2008
* The Philippine Basketball Association board of governors opted to set another meeting before deciding to whom it would grant the league’s broadcast rights after drawing more data on the contending networks. To date, Solar Sports, with RPN-9 as carrying station, is offering a straight-up three-year deal. ABS-CBN is apparently offering a four-year package with the option to sign a three-year contract-extension at the end of the initial deal. The STAR source said Solar Sports’ package is P31 million better than the amount being offered by the Lopez-owned network in the first three years of its offer. The board set another meeting Tuesday also at the PBA office in Libis, Quezon City for further discussion. Meanwhile, speculation is that the PBA governors are to accept the offer of Solar Sports over that of ABS-CBN. Abs-cbnnews.com, 23rd May 2008
* Hong Kong mobile operators have been caught by surprise by PCCW’s sudden decision to lift interconnection fees by 25%. However, they have no choice but to accept the new charges. The regulator Ofta last Friday announced the hike in the fixed to mobile interconnection charge (FMIC) from HK4.36 to HK5.45 cents per minute. A Smartone Vodafone spokesman said the carrier “does not agree to such an increase” but would enter into talks with PCCW. “If we can’t reach an agreement we will seek a determination from Ofta,” he told telecomasia.net. A spokesperson for Hutchison Telecom, Hong Kong’s largest mobile provider, said the company had been taken by surprise by the move. “We are still studying it,” the offcial said. PCCW filed the new charges on April 17. Under local rules it becomes official after 30 days unless Ofta finds it amounts to anti-competitive behavior. telecomasia.net, 26th May 2008
* Japanese public broadcaster NHK will start experimental test transmissions of its spectacular Ultra-HD system (7680 x 4320 pixel) in 2011-12. Japan switches off its analogue terrestrial transmissions on July 24 2011, and NHK will hold onto some of the frequencies permitting expansion into next-generation HDTV. Dr Kenkichi Tanioka, director general of NHK’s science and technical research laboratories, was outlining NHK’s timetable at a major presentation in Tokyo on May 22, saying that he anticipated further testing and development taking until 2016, and implementation following on. Unlike in the past when broadcasters from the USA, Europe and Japan fought each other over rival TV transmission systems (the USA’s “Grand Alliance”, EBU’s DVB and Japan’s analogue Muse and then Hi-Vision digital system are all different), there seems to be a wish from all parties to avoid costly and overlapping effort in the search for next-generation HDTV. Rapid TV News, 25th May 2008
* India's Spice group will invest up to $300 million this year in its telecom operations in the two states it provides services, and is talking with firms to rent network infrastructure. The Spice group is confident of getting spectrum in Andhra Pradesh "soon," Dilip Modi, group president, global operations said. Spice has licences to operate in six of India's 23 telecom circles but a paucity of spectrum, or radio airwaves to transmit the wireless signals, means it cannot immediately start services in all of them. It has operations in Punjab and Karnataka, the report added. "In the two circles we will invest $200-$300 million. As we get more visibility on spectrum, we will invest more," Modi said. Spice, which had 4.2 million of India's over 261 million mobile users in end-March, is 39.2% owned by Malaysia's state-controlled Telekom Malaysia. Spice aims to double its subscriber base to at least 8 million in 2008. telecomasia.net, 26th May 2008
* Dhanus Technologies Ltd has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that the company is launching a new service branded "V-tel mobile service". V-tel mobile service is aimed at Indians traveling abroad and can be used in 229 countries in the world. V-tel mobile offers free incoming calls in over 50 countries and charges discounted rates for home country calls as well as for calls made within the respective country during travel. The company has already obtained permission from the department of telecommunications. Thehindubusinessline.com, 23rd May 2008
* Bharti Airtel has called off merger talks with South Africa's largest mobile phone network operator, MTN Group, a company statement said. Bharti Airtel said it was pulling out of talks with MTN because the South African firm had presented a different merger structure from what had been agreed to earlier this month. "This new structure envisages Bharti Airtel becoming a subsidiary of MTN and exchange of majority shares of Bharti Airtel held by the Bharti family and Singtel, in exchange for a controlling stake in MTN," the statement said. "Bharti's vision of transforming itself from a homegrown Indian company to a true Indian multinational telecom giant, symbolizing the pride of India, would have been severely compromised and this was completely unacceptable to Bharti," the statement said. telecomasia.net, 26th May 2008
* Advanced Interactive Sciences, LLC (AIS), a provider of integrated response solutions to the direct response industry, has joined the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The MMA is a non-profit association that aims to stimulate the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies. As a provider of response solutions that convert responders through any channel - phone, web or mobile - into buyers, AIS' solution enables coordination of multi-channel marketing programs through one company. AIS mobile response solution blends “the immediacy of mobile with the ease of a phone call for order completion”. With mobile click-to-call capability, prospective customers don't need to dial the phone. They have to click on the phone number on a mobile website, banner landing page or SMS and are directed to the AIS speech platform for order completion. By partnering with AIS, mobile marketing companies can track consumers through to completion of a transaction whether the result is an order, a lead or an appointment. Indiantelevision.com, 24th May 2008
* Live coverage of the Champions League final penalty shoot-out was the most watched TV moment of the year in the UK so far, according to ITV. The broadcaster said that overall 11.1 million viewers tuned in to watch Manchester United beat Chelsea in Moscow. Audiences peaked at 14.6 million with ITV securing a 60% share of the viewers – 46% for the whole match. A further two million viewers watched pay-television broadcaster Sky Sports' coverage of the match - the channel's best ratings for a Champions League final since 2004. An average of 6.2 million people watched all of ITV1’s live Champions League coverage this season – making it the most-watched season for five years. Sportbusiness.com, 23rd May 2008
* Bayern Munich, the recently-crowned German soccer champions, earned highest share of television rights revenue generated by the Bundesliga during the 2007-08 season, netting €29.1 million ($45.7 million). Bayern’s tv rights share was €3 million more than VfB Stuttgart received when they won the Bundesliga title in 2006-07. Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 finished second and third in the tv rights table compiled by Ernst & Young mirroring their final places in the Bundesliga this season. Werder Bremen received €27.4 million while Schalke 04 received €25.7 million. Around €360 million was split between the Bundesliga’s 18 clubs, €15 million more than the previous season. The sum comprised international and domestic television deals. Hansa Rostock, which finished second from bottom in the Bundesliga, were given a €13.1-million share, while FC Nürnberg netted €19.3 million despite finishing just one place above Hansa. Ernst & Young added that in Spain and Italy, where television rights are not marketed centrally, top clubs could earn 10 or 15 times more than the bottom clubs. Sportcal.com, 23rd May 2008
MORE NEWS
Thailand/New Media: AIS Postpones Bangkok 3G Launch on Permit Delay
Thailand's AIS said it will have to postpone the commercial launch of its 3G mobile broadband services in Bangkok until mid-July as the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is behind schedule in approving equipment imports. The country's largest mobile operator earlier planned to introduce 3G commercial service in Bangkok in mid-June after it was launched in Chiang Mai early this month. AIS has been given approval by the NTC to upgrade 30 base stations to high-speed packet access (HSPA) technology. President Wichian Mektrakarn said AIS was likely to delay services in Bangkok for another month since the the NTC could not approve the equipment imports and relocation of the five 3G base stations from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. He said the Chiang Mai bases were too large for existing demand. The company planned to introduce an equal number of base stations in Bangkok.
The 30 sites could accommodate 10,000 subscribers, but capacity would be as low as 5,000 if customers use data services simultaneously. AIS's 3G service includes video calling, video streaming and full song and music video downloads. Wichian admitted that 3G in Chiang Mai was only a trial venture, not a serious rollout due to its limited on bandwidth and the fact that only a handful of handsets are 3G-capable. "We don't expect much revenue from 3G now. We just want to raise awareness of 3G in Thailand," he said. "With our limited bandwidth of only 5 MHz with one carrier, it's impossible for AIS to provide full broadband services." However, he said, AIS planned to introduce 3G in another 20 major cities.
Although 3G on existing networks requires AIS to pay under existing concessions, he said the company needed to act now on 3G rather than do nothing. Wichian said AIS was on the verge of applying for a 3G license running on the 2100 MHz band in order to move aggressively into the sector. telecomasia.net, 26th May 2008
China/New Media: China Telecom Restructuring May Be Under Way
China's biggest mobile phone company will take over a smaller fixed-line carrier, a state news agency said Friday, in what was expected to be the start of a sweeping industry restructuring. China Mobile Communications Corp. will acquire China Railway Communication, also known as Tietong, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing information from state-owned China Mobile. Regulators are believed to be preparing a series of mergers that will link up China's fast-growing mobile carriers with fixed-line partners to invigorate competition. Fixed-line carriers have seen demand slump as new customers opt for mobile service.
"The long-awaited restructuring of the Chinese telecoms market appears closer than ever before," Jing Li, a China telecoms analyst for the consulting firm Global Insight, said in a report to clients. An industrywide plan might be released as early as this weekend, Li said. "A successful restructuring will undoubtedly spur competition in the market as the resultant telecoms players square up to each other," Li said. The overhaul also is expected to affect China's biggest fixed-line carrier, China Telecom Corp., and its smaller rival, China Netcom Group Corp., as well as No. 2 mobile operator China Unicom Ltd.
In Hong Kong, trading in China Netcom and China Unicom shares was suspended pending an announcement. Trading in China Unicom shares was suspended in Shanghai. There was no indication how long the suspensions would last. China has the world's biggest population of mobile phone users, with some 520 million accounts, and the government says that should reach 600 million soon. Mobile carriers say the number of new accounts is growing at double-digit rates, while fixed-line carriers say subscriber numbers are flat or falling. China Telecom and China Netcom have tried to boost revenues by promoting broadband Internet, Web-based cable TV and other services but earnings still are growing more slowly than at mobile carriers. Beijing is preparing to roll out third-generation, or 3G, service that will support video, Web access and other services. That is expected to boost revenues further for mobile companies as it opens up opportunities for new services. CentralDaily.com, 23rd May 2008
ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS
Viewing Behaviour Shifts as IPTV Gains Traction
Research from analyst firm Canalys indicates that, while the IPTV market will continue to gather momentum over the next four years, competition from other video delivery platforms will make it increasingly difficult for service providers to convince consumers to invest in services. Established cable, satellite and terrestrial digital TV offerings will continue to develop, and online video services will increasingly compete for viewer attention, making it essential that IPTV providers (and indeed pay-TV operators in general) continue to develop their services in a bid to differentiate them from the competition.
"IPTV growth was strong in 2007, albeit from a relatively small base," said Canalys senior analyst Adrian Drozd. "The number of worldwide IPTV subscribers increased from under four million at the end of 2006 to over ten million at the end of last year, with annualised subscription revenue closing in on the two billion Euro mark," Drozd continued. "Solid progress is expected to continue over the next four years. By the end of 2011, Canalys expects the number of IPTV subscribers to have reached 67 million – more than a six-fold increase over 2007 levels."
EMEA remains the leading region in terms of consumer uptake, accounting for 54 per cent of the worldwide subscriber total at the end of last year. "France is still the driving force in the Western European IPTV market," explained Drozd, "with France Telecom having passed the one million subscriber mark and both Free Telecom and Neuf Cegetel continuing to expand." But rapid growth in the French market has been facilitated by service providers’ desire to promote low-cost triple-play bundles, where IPTV is part of the service mix, but not a huge revenue generator in its own right. "While the growth of IPTV in France has dwarfed the progress of most other European countries, it has arguably come at the expense of revenue generation," Drozd added. "IPTV has helped to attract and retain subscribers, but the emphasis must now shift to revenue generation to justify the significant investments being made in video delivery."
Outside Europe, progress has also been strong. "Seven IPTV services had more than half a million subscribers each by the end of 2007," said Drozd. "Verizon has since exceeded the one million mark in the US and PCCW (Hong Kong) is closing in on that milestone." But despite early promise, major hurdles remain for the IPTV market. Canalys believes that usurping the role of established cable and satellite digital TV platforms will be a tougher challenge than many in the IPTV industry expect. Convincing consumers to switch pay-TV provider will be both difficult and expensive, unless services are either highly price-competitive or offer considerable benefits over the competition. "Offering the same content and services as the competition will not provide the necessary returns, but delivering a compelling mix of on-demand and high-definition programming alongside a range of advanced interactive services just might," Drozd concluded. ATV, 26th May 2008
Thailand's Mobile Market Reached 53 Million Subscribers by End-2007
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c92742) has announced the addition of "2008 Asia - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband in Myanmar and Thailand" to their offering. The neighbouring countries of Thailand and Myanmar continue to provide an interesting contrast. Similar in both population size and land area, the two countries have been developing along totally different economic paths. Thailand, a constitutional monarchy, which has certainly been struggling with its democratic processes and institutions, has nonetheless been able to offer an essentially open market. On the other hand we have Myanmar operating as it has under a repressive military dictatorship for many years now and presenting a market that remains totally closed and centrally controlled. GDP per capita in Thailand is running at around US$4,000; in Myanmar it is less than US$250. The development of their respective telecom sectors reflects the same divide. In mobile and Internet penetrations Thailand leaves Myanmar far behind. Even in basic fixed-line telephone services, a segment of the market that the Thais have not given any priority, Myanmar is continuing to lag far behind Thailand.
The overthrow of Thailand's Shinawatra government in a military coup in September 2006 was followed by a period of government by a military-appointed administration; happily this interim period ended without too much pain and certainly no further military intervention when general elections were held in late 2007 and a new government was installed. As the country continued its search for increased political stability, there can be no doubt that the upheaval over the last few years has had considerable negative impact on (1) the Thai economy, (2) the administration of the country and (3) investor confidence.
The telecom sector witnessed the appointment by the post-coup government of a Minister for Information and Communication Technology who, at least initially, took a policy position that was essentially against what were seen as Thaksin Shinawatra's telecom reforms. The new minister, for example, wanted to roll back the process of privatisation of the two state-owned telcos, TOT and CAT; further to this, he wanted to restore some of their regulatory powers. While generally seen within the industry as a rather regressive administration, some positive reforms did emerge during this period.
Despite all the difficulties, Thailand's telecom sector has continued to display a surprising amount of energy. The country's mobile telephone market in particular has recorded strong annual growth rates, the recent high level of growth taking the industry by surprise. By early 2008, mobile penetration was around 82%. In a matter of only six years, the mobile market had moved from 8 million in 2001 to 53 million in 2007.
Apart from the booming mobile sector, the Internet is an area of the Thai market that has also been popular - at least in its dial-up form. Oddly, the development of broadband Internet has been languishing. It was not until 2005 that the number of broadband subscribers started to move in any serious fashion. A reasonably strong growth trend has continued since then and by end-2007 there were around 1 million broadband subscribers in the country. Broadband penetration was still under 2%, however.
Thailand has certainly been seeing the benefits of a liberalised market with the highly competitive mobile sector being the big beneficiary. Nevertheless, sectoral reform remains unfinished business. It took four years after the enabling Telecommunications Act was adopted as law in 2000 for the country's new regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, to be put in place. And once it became operational, the NTC had to contend with the volatile political environment following the 2006 coup, again throwing uncertainty over the regulator's role. Even with a newly-elected government in place in early 2008 the future direction for the regulator was not exactly clear.
Myanmar's telecom sector continues to be dominated by the state-owned monopoly telephone service provider, Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT). This ministry's form has indeed been consistent with the overall operating environment of an economy where change is simply slow. The country has been battling both economic problems and a troubled political climate. Soaring inflation remains a major problem (34% in 2007). The country's centrally planned economy is plagued by weak fiscal and monetary management, resulting in major economic imbalances, which are not likely to be easily or quickly resolved.
These problems, combined with a disturbing lack of transparency, have not surprisingly frightened off foreign investment. In the meantime, the telecom sector is characterised by what can only be described as stunted growth. In fact, following the political and social upheaval of late 2007 subscriber data reports suggested that things were actually going backwards.
The telecom sector reflects the overall state of the national economy and society. It should also be noted that Myanmar's official economic data is not considered reliable, making actual growth rates difficult to ascertain. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to assume that fixed-line telephone penetration remains at or below 1%; the penetration of mobile services is even less than that; and Internet access continues to be severely restricted in its availability to the general public.
At the same time, given the state of the economy and the absence of serious foreign investment, the MPT's level of capital investment in telecom's infrastructure has been depressingly low. To cap this off, the country suffered a devastating cyclone in May 2008 resulting in a huge loss of life and massive damage to the country's fragile infrastructure.
Key highlights:
- Thailand's mobile market had reached 53 million subscribers by end-2007. After more than seven straight years of strong growth, the annual increase in the mobile subscribers was still running at over 30% coming into 2008.
- The broadband Internet market in Thailand saw another year of vigorous subscriber growth in 2007, running at an annual rate of around 60% with all the signs suggesting that this would continue through 2008.
- While interest in broadband services was finally picking up in Thailand, it was happening from a relatively small base; overall broadband penetration remained low (under 2%).
- Despite a slowing in economic growth following the September 2006 coup, the post-coup government, after a number of missteps, worked hard to stimulate the economy, looking to such initiatives as free trade agreements. Then in December 2007 a newly-elected government committed itself to the task of getting the country back on track.
- Myanmar's mobile market, after reportedly growing at an annual rate in excess of 100% in 2006, managed another healthy expansion in 2007 with a 40% jump in subscribers.
- Of course, this growth was from a low subscriber base in the first place - up from 126,000 subscribers (0.3% penetration) in 2005 to 325,000 (0.7%) in 2007.
- With information on growth patterns being difficult to obtain, one source suggested that mobile subscriber numbers had in fact declined from a mid-2007 peak.
- From totally different perspectives Thailand and Myanmar must both seriously address regulatory reform; Thailand needs to work to get fresh momentum in its stalled reform processes; Myanmar needs to get some sort of reform process started. The latter has a lot further to travel in this regard. CentralDaily.com, 23rd May 2008
Friday, 23rd May 2008
SPORTS SHORTS
* Sir Run Run Shaw, the centenarian founder and chairman of Hong Kong based Television Broadcasts, is in talks to sell his stake in the world’s leading Chinese language broadcaster and has attracted interest from private equity groups including Bain Capital and Blackstone. TVB is Hong Kong’s dominant TV station, with a big presence in China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. It also has sizeable distribution and syndication overseas, including in the US and Canada. Almost 40% of its revenue was derived outside Hong Kong last year. The 40-year-old company is attractive to private equity investors because of its underleveraged balance sheet, according to Goldman Sachs analysts. They also said that TVB could squeeze more profits out of its operations in China. Shaw Brothers has a 26% stake in TVB. ATV, 19th May 2008
* Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks' sci-fi and mystery channel AXN Beyond is extending its footprint into Singapore, launching on the country's StarHub digital cable platform later this month. The 24/7 channel, a spin-off of SPEN's AXN channel, will debut in Singapore on May 27, offering shows including Lost, Supernatural, Pushing Daisies, The X-Files and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. AXN Beyond launched first in the Philippines and SPEN is pursuing an Asia-wide roll-out plan for the channel, mirroring the strategy with its progenitor. StarHub customers will be offered a free six-day trial. C21Media, 22nd May 2008
* NDS, provider of technology solutions for digital Pay TV, has increased its presence in India with the opening of a new, sales and support office in New Delhi. NDS aims to offer the Indian Pay TV industry the best service and support of any technology provider. ATV, 23rd May 2008
* NGC Network has announced its plans of extending its brand presence in India by introducing four new Nat Geo channels into the country. The channels - Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Adventure, Nat Geo Music and Nat Geo HD (Hi Definition) will now be available in India along with the core Nat Geo Channel that has already been present in the country for 11 years. Through the new channels, viewers will be able to access a comprehensive and diverse bouquet of accurate, credible and entertaining programming suitable for the entire family. The plan to launch the new Nat Geo Channels is in alignment with the NGC Network's strategy to offer its viewers a compelling offering on the DTH platform. As the broadcast environment evolves in the country, viewers will be looking for a bouquet of television offering that is suitable and rewarding for the entire family. Televisionpoint.com, 21st May 2008
* Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) will launch an IPTV service very soon in which triple play facilities would be provided to consumers including almost 150 TV channels , according to a high official of PTCL . ATV, 23rd May 2008
* A&E’s Biography Channel is launching May 27 in a j-v with Malaysia’s Astro All Asia. First reception will be in Singapore, followed by the Philippines. More territories will follow now that a satellite feed is available. Biography joins A&E’s other high-profile channels in the region, including The History Channel. A&E says that other aspects of the deal with Astro includes VOD services, plus mobile and broadband. Biography will immediately include locally-made programming. RapidTV News.com, World Screen, 22nd May 2008
* Taiwan-based High Tech Computers (HTC) on Thursday launched a new smartphone in India in tie-up with the mobile service provider Bharti Airtel and is aiming to sell 2.5 lakh phones this calendar year. The company sells HTC Touch smartphone bundling with Bharti Airtel network and the new phone is priced at Rs 27,500. Launching its latest smartphone -- HTC Touch Diamond -- HTC President and CEO Peter Chou said, "We are targeting a sale of two lakh HTC Touch smartphones and 50,000 units of Touch Diamond phones this year.'' HTC's Diamond Touch will face competition from iphone, when Apple Computers launches its smartphone with host of video and content features in India this year. The Hindu Business Line, 22nd May 2008
* A Philippine mobile service provider plans to offer free service to subscribers who agree to receive advertisements on their cellphones. Subscribers will get $2 worth of prepaid service every month. Each time they view an ad on their phones they'll earn extra service and other rewards, said Ardie Balderama, marketing officer for Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise Inc., a subsidiary of Smart Communications Inc. The service will be available by invitation only and limited to 10,000 subscribers each month. Sales director Noli Romualdez said Connectivity Unlimited was negotiating with several corporations keen on creating mobile-based advertisements for personal care, food and service products, among others. The new phone service will launch June 1 on the Smart network. Smart is owned by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the largest telecommunications provider in the country. TheRecord.com, 22nd May 2008
* Leading global Internet TV platform, Brightcove Inc., announced formation of a majority-owned Japanese subsidiary, Brightcove KK (BKK). The new subsidiary is backed by $4.9 million in new investment from Brightcove Inc. and four Japanese strategic partners: Dentsu, Inc., J-Stream, Inc., transcosmos Inc., and Cyber Communications, Inc. (CCI). Dentsu, J-Stream, and CCI, along with Brightcove Inc., will be sales agents in Japan, giving BKK immediate and powerful access to the Japanese market. BKK will operate a localized version of Brightcove's on-demand Internet TV platform, currently used by media companies and marketers in North America and Europe. With BKK, Japanese media companies and marketers will gain access to the most powerful and scalable software as a service (SaaS) solution available for online video players, distribution, and advertising. Yahoo! Biz, C21Media, RapidTV News.com, 22nd May 2008
* Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM), the multiple system operator in Japan controlled by Liberty, has announced that the total subscribing households as of April 30, 2008 served by J:COM’s 20 managed franchises reached approximately 2.85 million, up 180,000, or 6.7 per cent since April 30th, 2007. Combined revenue generating units for cable television, high-speed Internet access and telephony services reached 5.05 million, up 427,500 or 9.2 per cent since April 30th, 2007. ATV, 19th May 2008
* Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that it had agreed to acquire the assets of Hands-On Mobile Korea, a leading Korean mobile developer and publisher, best known for its mobile role-playing game, Heroes Lore. Upon completion of the acquisition, the former Hands-On Mobile Korea team will become EA Mobile Korea and will play a strategic role in the EA Mobile(TM) Asia development and publishing growth plans. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed by the end of this fiscal quarter. Hands-On Mobile Korea is a subsidiary of parent company Hands-On Mobile(TM), based in the United States. Central Daily, 22nd May 2008
* While many MNOs are planning to use a combination of 3G and dedicated mobile broadcasting networks to deliver mobile TV and video services, they must not overlook emerging alternatives, according to a a report published by Analysys Mason. Many MNOs already offer TV and video services over their 3G networks. Concerns over capacity and quality of service are driving MNOs to combine 3G networks with dedicated mobile broadcasting networks (such as DVB-H and MediaFLO). However, these are not the only ways of delivering mobile TV content. Indoor wireless systems (such as femtocells and WLAN) and sideloading (where content is transferred from a PC or other device to memory in a mobile handset) are important delivery mechanisms with valuable benefits. iPhone users can already watch a range of TV content without the need for 3G or mobile broadcasting capability, using sideloading and WLAN streaming," says Dr Alastair Brydon, Analysys Mason Associate and co-author of the report. ATV, 23rd May 2008
MORE NEWS
Singapore/New Media: Mobile mio TV Launched
SingTel has upped its presence in the mobile TV market by launching mio TV on Mobile which will initially offer 12 live channels and 3 video-on-demand channels, from its mio TV platform, to subscribers on the move. Channel 8 Prime Time, Channel NewsAsia, Mom-On-Demand and KBS World are some of the channels available on the new mobile service which will mirror the content shown, including the ads, on mio TV. But a SingTel spokesperson said the company was currently "exploring different ways" for it, as well as advertisers, to better take advantage of the mobile medium. Selected Nokia phones will be able to carry the service which has been formatted specially for viewing on the mobile phone.
"Mio TV has revolutionised the way people watch TV, and the mio TV on Mobile service provides our customers with yet another convenient medium to expand their viewing options," Wong Soon Nam, SingTel's VP of Consumer Marketing, said. In response to the mio TV on Mobile announcement, corporate communications manager, Cassie Fong from rival StarHub said it would "continue to supplement its line-up with new content as well as introduce new content and channels in the coming months".
"The first of which will be UEFA Euro 2008 content. Live matches will be streamed over our 3G/HSPA network, allowing customers to watch the games on their 3G or 3.5G mobile device or HSPA-connected laptop," she said. StarHub currently offers six live channels on the mobile. Marketing-Interactive.com, 21st May 2008
China/New Media: China's Internet Users Get the Buzz
Buzz Technologies, Inc. is pleased to announce that the company has successfully launched Web, News and Video search linked to Buzz Marketing ad network in China and Thailand. Web Site Traffic Rankings from Alexa have gone from 90,000 to now 7,700 (www.alexa.com), making Buzz one of the world's most popular web sites only 1 month after the official launch. Traffic has increased most dramatically in Thailand and China; in Thailand, Buzz is now one of the top 500 web sites, and in China, it has rocketed from 200,000 to 15,000 in a few weeks.
Traffic is coming most noticeably to Search and Buzz Marketing; Buzz has their sights firmly set on becoming Thailand's number 1 online ad supplier this year. Google predicted Thailand would see an explosion of spending on online and search-related advertising that would be worth an estimated $250 million (7.88 billion baht), according to Google's regional managing director for Australia, NZ, Korea and Southeast Asia, Richard Kimber.
Buzz also expects to be in the top 3 across Asia within the next 3 months competing directly with Yahoo, Google, MSN and Baidu. Buzz has seen a rapid uptake and use of the English Beta of the Buzz Search Engine. The Search Engine offers Keyword enabled 120 x 60 banner ads as well as relevant Text ads in the search results. Online Ads and Search ads are available for Buzz Advertisers on the Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com) and many Thai sites, as well as being on 1000s of PCs in internet cafes in Thailand and over 20,000 in China and growing daily. Yahoo! Biz, 22nd May 2008
GyPSii, the leading geo-location and mobile social networking provider, today announced it has entered into a map licensing agreement with NAV2, a Shanghai-based provider of world class digital map data. The deal means GyPSii users will have complete access to NAV2’s comprehensive China map database. The database will play a crucial part in the roll-out of the GyPSii service across China. The licensed map database contains coverage of more than 980 cities and more than five million local points of interest (POIs), meaning users will have access to the country’s most up-to-date map database and a wealth of local content relevant to the Chinese market. GyPSii has recently boosted its infrastructure in China with the opening of a Data Centre in Shanghai and a major partnership announcement with China Unicom and Shanghai Rannuo to launch GyPSii during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. GyPSii has also been made available to members of the Dopod Club, the exclusive online community for Dopod device users in China. Yahoo! Biz, 22nd May 2008
China/General: China Leads Asia-Pacific Surge in Online Games Market
The online gaming market in the Asia-Pacific region is predicted to see " very rapid" growth over the next five years, according to new research. Research firm In-Stat said that growing consumer awareness, together with new communications and computing technology, will improve the quality and variety of games and content. Regional revenue from online games is expected to grow at an average rate of 20.6 per cent per year, reaching $21.1bn by 2013 from $5.8bn last year.
"The online gaming market in Asia-Pacific is growing in tandem with the significant increase in consumer internet use," said In-Stat analyst Stephanie Ethier. China is now the fastest growing online games market, and is expected to become the largest market in the region next year. While several imported games, such as World of Warcraft, have been major hits in China, more than half of online games played in the country are now developed locally.
Chinese developers have also begun to sell their online games overseas, for example to Vietnam. Competition continues to heat up across the region as rising revenue attracts more companies. "The number of market players is rapidly expanding, and improved content and a greater variety of games are keys to success in this market," said Ethier. "Online games are no longer restricted to slow-action strategy games. Faster connections are allowing the popular MMORPGs to enter the mainstream. "In turn, this is rapidly increasing consumer acceptance of the internet as an entertainment medium." Informaticsonline.co.uk, 22nd May 2008
Asia/General: India Earns Place in Revamped AFC Champions League
Recognising the potential of the Indian market, the Asian Football Confederation, soccer’s governing body in the region, has announced that the country will be one of 11 definitely represented in the revamped AFC Champions League, the continent’s top clubs competition, next year. The number of teams in the competition is increasing from 28 to 32 in 2009 as the AFC relaunches the tournament on completely professional lines. India are currently ranked a lowly 151st in the world, but soccer is becoming more popular in the country and the AFC is eager to tap into the population of 1 billion plus. As a result, the winners of the domestic I-League, which had its first season in 2007-08, will automatically qualify for the 2009 AFC Champions League.
The 11 confirmed participating countries were chosen on the basis of recommendations from the AFC Pro-League Ad-Hoc Committee chaired by Saburo Kawabuchi. They are Japan (4 clubs), South Korea (4), China (4), Saudi Arabia (4), United Arab Emirates (4), Iran (4), Australia (2), Indonesia (1), Jordan (1), Kuwait (1) and India (1). The other two participants will emerge from two play-offs. The first will involve teams from Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and one of the finalists from the second-tier AFC Cup and the other teams from Syria, Uzbekistan and Qatar and the second finalist from the AFC Cup. Japan was the only country to receive an A grade from the committee, as it met all the desired criteria, while 10 others received B grades, meaning that there is confidence that they will meet the criteria by the October 1 deadline.
AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam said: ‘I am very proud of the achievements of this committee and they are laying down the blueprint for the professionalism of Asian football. ‘Asian football needs a big reformation process to make it professional and successful and I know radical changes might not please everybody. But we must have the courage of conviction.’ The agreed new AFC Champions League format will be used in 2009 and 2010, after which other countries will have a chance to earn automatic places in the competition.
The AFC has called for the Iraqi government to reinstate the country’s national soccer association. The Iraq Football Association was dissolved on Tuesday, the latest development in a conflict involving the soccer body, the national Olympic committee and government officials. In a statement, Bin Hammam said: ‘The Iraq Football Association and its executive committee are democratically elected bodies and only its congress has the right to dissolve them. AFC will recognise and deal with only the democratically-elected committee and office-bearers. Sportcal.com, 22nd May 2008
ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS
Gaming Industry Set to Surge in India
-India needs to encourage students to develop game creating skills
From playing video games years back to doing professional courses in order to caricature your own games, it couldn't get bigger than this. The story of Indian IT industry has been legendary but over the years, East European countries and the United States have been successful in developing models in the video animation domain.
Gaming as a culture
With gaming and animation industry entering a serious phase, India too joined the bandwagon with movies such as Hanuman and the much talked about Ghatothkach, developed indigenously. Analysts believe that India has a lot of catching up to do in terms of regularly churning out films, characters that are driving games etc. While the west has well developed gaming and developing domains, does our nation find to itself in the crossroads? Is India beginning to accept gaming as a culture? Many answer in the affirmative. Atindriya Bose, country manager, Sony Computer Entertainment avers, "From being looked upon with certain amount of doubt, gaming has come a long way towards becoming a mainstream entertainment. It has cut through the cultural barrier and is becoming more and more acceptable across the consumer segments." "Indian audience is now participating across the range. With the advent of social gaming, people are now using gaming consoles towards creating impromptu singing competition and quizzing contests, things that can be done in groups as unadulterated fun."
A serious game this
Undoubtedly, gaming and animation today are a serious business and rake in high moolah for companies specializing in this segment. Rajasekhar, vice president, HR and Operations for Crest Animation Studios points, "The profession of entertaining be it via gaming or animation is definitely a serious profession." An important element arising now is the need to ingrain animation into the curriculum. Pundits believe in the ardent need to expose students and encourage them to develop their game creating skills. "One of the big issues here is the education model, which focuses a lot on mugging up and reading everything in the book and writing it back in the exam. The IT specialists in India have great technical skills that can work to a specification but they cannot generate a specification. The next of Indian software industry has to be that they have to become developers of their own intellectual property," points out Prof. Lachlan MacKinnon, head of School of Computing and Creative Technologies, University of Abertay Dundee in Scotland.
This is important because MacKinnon feels-- "If they (India) do not, someone else will come and say that at lower cost we can do the same thing. It is more in digital media where you constantly need creative talent and fresh ideas. Part of that is definitely changing the way people are taught. Potential of that to happen through state university is very unlikely. They are very much driven by the fixed model." Analysts aver that there is an ardent need to develop new centers.
The University of Abertay Dundee is already working with the government of Maharashtra in creating new institutes and looking at how to develop creative process. "The way we do it is focusing at early stages on student experience their capabilities of problem solving by working in teams with different backgrounds. On our campus we have 75 different nationalities, so the outcome is that we have lot of different culture experience coming on together," says MacKinnon.
Change in mindset
Many believe that parental mindsets have to change in order to shape their children's career moves and that could go a long way in perhaps building gaming and animation as an attractive career opportunity. Rajasekhar enthuses, "Today's parents are much more aware and well informed; they are encouraging and supportive of the child's desire. The future would see more of such parents, who would support the child's career aspirations irrespective of the choice that he/she make. It is therefore imperative to focus all the energies and strategies towards educating, and generating the awareness amongst the workforce of the future, the future human resource pool who would be living and experiencing the amazing possibilities of the 3D CGI technology instead of the parents."
A roadblock for India stems from the fact that India, at the moment does not have degree programs in animation and digital media games. But worldwide, it is a massive industry growing at the blitzkrieg speed. MacKinnon believes that gaming unlike software engineering or semiconductor manufacturer could be done anywhere at lowest possible data as it is ingrained in human experience and culture which has a local as well as global nature. "We are helping to develop programs in India with institutes offering courses in these things. We will be seeing a massive growth in mobile games." The university is working with colleges in India and in China. "In the last 18 months to two years India has shown interest in our gaming program. Films like Hanuman have had a great effect in terms of thinking about Indian product in a video animation model," says MacKinnon. The mindset needs to change if India is to become a gaming development destination and the faster this happens, the better it is for the young Indian population that has over the years feasted on the Walt Disneys of the world. ciol.com, 22nd May 2008