Thursday, 10th July 2008

DATA BOX

Mobile TV revenue $15bn+ by 2012
MultiMedia Intelligence reported on Advanced-Television.com, 10th July 2008

Consumers are demanding more personalization and entertainment content on their mobile phones, driving mobile video revenue to exceed $3.5 billion in 2008, according to research by MultiMedia Intelligence. By 2012, the mobile video and mobile TV market will exceed $15 billion, including direct pay and advertising. Mobile video, which relies on the mobile operator’s 3G network for delivery, has the advantage of an established network, making it the stronger of the two categories in today’s market. However, mobile TV infrastructure deployments and mobile TV handsets are rolling out aggressively, making mobile TV the dominant category in 2012.

Viewers Still Prefer TV Set
Cable & Telecomm. Association for Marketing Study results on Info IQ, 9th Jul 2008

Despite the growing popularity of viewing television content online, most adults (94%) who subscribe to cable or satellite television services prefer to watch television on traditional TV sets, According to the study by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM):

* Some 35% of the adult broadband users surveyed said they had watched at least one television program (originally shown on TV) via the internet.
* Of those who sought out video content online, 87% watched television programs directly from a TV network website.
* 82% of those who watched video content online reported that they went online to find a specific television program that they had missed when it first aired on TV.

Online television viewers are not only catching up on their favorite shows; nearly 40% report using the internet to get the scoop on actors and upcoming episodes:

Asked to choose among 17 online content categories, online television viewers said they prefer to watch shorter video clips online: Movie trailers (53%), user generated videos (45%), music videos and general news segments (37%), comedy programs (31%), and sports clips (31%) were respondents’ top choices. People are spending more time online each week than they were two years ago. More than half of the respondents (51%) reported being online for at least three hours a week in 2007.

In 2005, just 41% spent three or more hours online per week. Services associated with traditional television set viewing also recorded usage growth: For example, free on-demand programs and movies underwent a significant jump in usage, from 49% in 2005 to 71% in 2007; paid on-demand usage increased from 46% to 55%.

Other key findings from the report:

* HDTV subscribers are exceptionally loyal: Of those respondents who own HDTV sets, two-fifths (41%) subscribe to a high-definition programming service. These subscribers report making it a point to watch high-definition programs “every time” (20%) or “most of the time” (45%) they watch television.
* Digital cable and HDTV are poised for further growth: Interest in digital cable and HDTV sets is strong among respondents currently without these services or devices. Those interested in digital cable jumped from 9% to 20% from 2005 to 2007 - and from 18% to 28% for high-definition TV sets.
* Viewers are accessing TV content via new media platforms: Small, but significant, percentages of respondents reported watching television via desktop computers (14%), laptops (9%), video-enabled mobile phones (6%), or other portable video players (5%).
* Portable video platforms are slowly gaining popularity: While a large proportion (82%) of adults in this study own a mobile phone, only 7% subscribe to a video downloading service. Of those respondents who own a video iPod, 35% have never watched a video on it, 16% watch videos two or three times a month, 14% watch videos once a week, and 9% watch videos daily via iPod.


SPORTS SHORTS

* The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced an agreement with the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation Limited (SABC) for the acquisition of the broadcast rights within 37 territories in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The agreement includes exclusive over-the-air television and radio broadcast rights and non-exclusive satellite, mobile and internet rights. It covers English, French and Portuguese languages, with a minimum commitment of six hours per day on over-the-air television, with two highlights packages per day, and four hours per day on radio. Indiantelevision.com, Sports Media, 9th July 2008

* Punit Goenka is the new CEO at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL). He replaces Pradeep Guha, who has been rumoured to be planning a change for some time after three years as CEO. Guha spent 29 years in India’s tough print market, in particular as president of the Times of India group and he is to launch an outdoor advertising company (Street Culture) as part of his own Culture Country business. His replacement is Punit Goenka, eldest son of Zee’s founder Subhash Chandra. ZEEL is a part of the giant Essel/Zee operation, with an annual revenue of some US$350 million. Rapid TV News, 9th Jul 2008

* Star Ananda has acquired the television rights for the Sahara Calcutta Football League for the next four years. The League, which has eight first division clubs of Kolkata participating, kicked off from July 8, 2008 with the inaugural match between Peerless Sporting Club and Camelia George Telegraph Sporting Club. Last year, Kolkata-based channel 24 Ghanta had given live telecast of the League matches. The Sahara Group has been a sponsor of the League the past few years. Exchange4Media, 9th Jul 2008

* F1 teams will send experts to Singapore in the next few weeks to help them overcome some of the technical challenges posed by the sport's first night race, according to Honda team boss Ross Brawn. Singapore, with a street circuit using public roads around the Marina Bay area, will host a round of the championship for the first time on September 28. Organisers have said the circuit will be lit up by 1,500 projectors to a level bright enough to meet high definition television broadcast standards -- or four times brighter than a typical stadium. Sports City, 9th Jul 2008

* (Excerpt) At the Los Angeles Olympics, the chairman of the Games Committee, Peter Ueberroth, presided over the successful hosting of the Games through a skilful combination of marketing, sponsorship, and revenue from television rights. The ABC network paid US$225 million for TV rights to the Games. Ueberroth attracted more than 30 other sponsors who contributed more than US$500 million and the delivery of new sports facilities. Commercialism was gaining ground as a viable option to cover rising costs, but it placed tremendous pressure on athletes to break records and provide a real show for the world. The Nation Barbados, 9th Jul 2008

* American network NBC will show more hours of coverage of the Beijing Olympics than of all previous summer Olympics combined – an average of 212 hours per day across 12 different platforms. NBC said it will have 3600 hours of coverage, compared to the 2,565 hours of American television coverage that the Olympic Games received from Rome 1960 through to Athens 2004. NBC is gambling that viewers will not be drawn away from its main network’s prime-time coverage, which is still the most important for advertisers. It believes its blanket coverage will drive up interest in the event, and attract viewers to key events which it has arranged with Olympics officials to have scheduled for American prime-time. Sport Business, 9th Jul 2008

* The newly-formed European Club Association (ECA) used its first meeting to oppose FIFA's controversial 6+5 proposal aimed at restricting the number of foreign players in starting line-ups. The ECA said that its 103 members had "strongly endorsed the stance" taken by chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and vice-chairman Joan Laporta after talks last month with EU Commissioner Vladimir Spidla. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has has argued that the 6+5 would strengthen national teams and prevent wealthy clubs from hoarding the best international players. But UEFA has repeatedly argued that the proposal is in conflict with EU labour laws on the free movement of workers within the bloc. Sports City, 9th Jul 2008


MORE NEWS

Hong Kong/Broadcaster: TVB Set for $1bn Takeover

Hong Kong's biggest broadcaster TVB is on the cusp of being bought by a property tycoon for US$1bn, according to local reports. The Chinese-language broadcaster, part-owned by 100-year-old media mogul Sir Run Run Shaw, is to be bought by Guangdong property tycoon Yeung Kwok-Keung, with a deal set to be signed by the end of the week, according to Kong Kong newspaper The Standard.

Shaw Brothers, a holding company, is the largest shareholder in TVB, with a 26% stake, while Sir Run Run himself owns 6.23%. Most of the money raised by Kwok-Keung will be used to buy out Shaw Brothers, with the rest used to acquire some properties owned by the firm's majority shareholders, Sir Run Run and his wife. TVB is Hong Kong's dominant TV station with a sizable presence in China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. It also has a distribution and syndication business in overseas markets including Canada and the US. C21media.net, 9th July 2008

India/Broadcaster: Dish TV to Take on Sun Direct

The DTH (direct-to-home) action has moved to the southern market even as Sun Direct has mopped up one million subscribers in a short span of 200 days with low subscription pricing. With Sun pricing its packages from as low as Rs 10 to Rs 140, market leader Dish TV has been forced to drop rates. The Zee Group DTH operator, boasting of 3.5 million subscribers across the country, has reduced the entry cost by over 40 per cent and introduced a special hat-trick offer for its subscribers in the four southern states.

As per the new rates, a new Dish TV connection in South India would now be available for Rs 1990 (plus Rs 200 as installation charges) from the earlier Rs 2,950 (plus Rs 200). In addition to this, there is monthly recurring cost starting at Rs 60 per month going up to Rs 300 per month. Dish TV is also offering three benefits to subscribers under the hat-trick offer. The subscribers will be offered five leading sports channels, 33 free movies and unlimited gaming free for one year.

Sun Group's DTH offering includes 14 add-on packages (ranging from as low as Rs 10 to Rs 140) to "suit every pocket" in a "Pay for what you watch" concept. The one million subscribers, the company says, have come from only the four southern states - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh - and the union territory of Pondicherry. Sun Direct launched four regional basic tiers consisting of over 100 plus channels specific to each southern state (Tamil basic, Telugu Basic, Kannada Basic and Kerala basic) at the rate of Rs 75 per month. Sun Direct now plans to have a national roll out strategy. Indiantelevision.com, 9th July 2008

Olympics/New Media: Going for Gold

Last minute preparations are under way as Beijing gets set to host the world for the first time. But with hotel vacancies at zero, and high-demand for tickets, most of the world will simply have to be content to watch the games remotely. For the first time, mobiles now play a significant role as a window to the games. There will be lots of ways to get the Olympics on your mobile this summer:

* Yahoo has just launched a site devoted exclusively to the 2008 Beijing Games. From Yahoo’s main mobile web site, m.yahoo.com, there’s a new link that’s been added to the top of the list directly underneath Mail and Messenger. The link reads “2008 Olympics Coverage.”
* For video, MobiTV customers can subscribe to a mobilized channel showing NBC Sports coverage, which come August, will be all Olympics news to be sure.
* To get the latest headlines, Google Mobile’s News feature lets you customize your page of news, so it’s very easy to create a personalized page displaying only the news containing the keyword you entered - like “Olympics” or “Beijing,” for example.
* Then there is Reuters mobile news service which is available at http://mobile.reuters.com or via text (text NEWS to 25669). They even provide mobile RSS feeds, including this one for sports news.
* However, if you are going to be attending the Olympics, be warned that 3G in China is a strange homegrown creature (TD-SCDMA) that isn’t compatible with your internationally recognized high-speed handset [via MarketWatch]. The service will not provide seamless compatibility with the 3G standards in use elsewhere in Asia, Europe and North America, according to reports.
* Visitors to Beijing will find laptops running on WCDMA-based data cards, the European standard, will get much slower connection speeds as service will automatically draw down to a 2.5G technology. Visitors who acquire TD-SCDMA enabled phones or data cards may also experience glitches, as the service has reportedly suffered from irregular service quality, weak signals and limited coverage.

If you do get 3G in Beijing, you could become a mobile reporter — a citizen sports journalist:
* Mobile IM and VOIP company, Fring, is looking for mobile Olympics news reporters.
* They’re hoping to take advantage of the demand for Olympics news coverage by using the event to gain traction and exposure for their service.
* On a recent blog entry, the company announced that they would provide 3.5G mobile phones, with camera, SIM card, and unlimited data plans to anyone planning to attend the games and interested in micro-blogging the events. “FringCommentators,” as they’re being called, will then send in quick updates and photos to their blog.
* The Dawn of a Mobile Era for the Games
* The IOC sees a big future for mobile at the Olympics. IOC marketing head, Gerhard Heiberg says that mobile is set to become a big part of the media rights, adding that after London in 2012, mobile will no longer be bundled into the broadcast deal. Charged, 8th Jul 2008

Global/General: Superleague Formula to Look For Circuits Outside Europe

The Superleague Formula series will aim to spread its wings outside Europe after its debut year, according to co-founder Robin Webb. The UK's Donington Park is set to be the venue for the inaugural round of the series on August 30-31 with the goal to fuse the passions of football and motorsport. Twenty of the world's top clubs will do battle over six rounds of the first season with the field of V12-powered 750 horsepower single seater racecars bearing the colours of the teams.

Following the first round at Donington the first Superleague Formula season will take in the Nurburgring (Germany), Zolder (Belgium), Estoril (Portugal) and Vallelunga (Italy) before concluding at Spain's Jerez circuit on November 22-23. Teams from Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, Belgium, Switzerland, Scotland, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates are currently represented on the circuit. England, Russia and China are soon set to follow and Webb believes that expanding Superleague Formula will be a natural move to further establish its global footprint.

"We call this year a launch year, which is why we're putting six races on to introduce the product to the public and television audiences," he told Football Insider. "And if we do make mistakes then I'd rather that we get them done and dusted this year and do all our learning. Once you start travelling overseas and having fly-away events the complications and costs get enormous. Next year who knows how many away-days we may have. We'd very much like to go and do South America and probably the Middle East and to take the calendar up to nine races. Hopefully we could then go up to 12 the year after that when we could be in China or perhaps Korea and Mexico." Football Insider, 9th Jul 2008

Elsewhere/New Media: Broadband Cable Won’t be Ready for 2010

It has now been revealed that despite repeated government assurances, the Broadband Infraco-led undersea cable set to run up the west coast of Africa could be up to six months behind schedule and will not be ready in time for the Fifa World Cup. Less that a month ago Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri told Parliament that the African west coast cable (AWCC) would come on line in May 2010, the month before the World Cup kicks off on June 11.

However, this week Cornelis Groesbeck, a department of public enterprises consultant close to the AWCC project, told the Mail & Guardian the cable was “never intended” to be ready in time for the Cup. It would probably come on line some time between October and November 2010.

Groesbeck said the cable was originally intended to come on line in October 2010, but because the agreement governing the relationship between the investors had not been finalized by the deadline of July 1 this year, it could be running late and may be in use only by November.

The bandwidth requirements for the Cup stands at 80-gigabits, which could easily be carried by these cables, he said. In addition the department had other contingency plans, including completing the section of the cable to Portugal in time or having the section to Nigeria or Senegal completed. The cable could then be landed in those countries and the traffic transferred to another cable for the rest of the transmission.

Because there are a number of massive fibre projects in the Asia-Pacific region, there is heavy demand on manufacturers and the ships that lay the cables. However, Groesbeck said the public enterprises department has already selected the company to lay the undersea cable and secured a manufacturing slot for the AWCC cable. Groesbeck said the department was hoping to secure the financial closure of the project by July 15 2008 and it was still trying to meet that deadline. Sports City, 9th Jul 2008