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