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