Tuesday, 8th July 2008

DATA BOX

Asia-Pacific Internet Audiences up 14%, India Leads Regional Growth
comScore Data published on Content Asia, 7th Jul 2008

Asia Pacific internet audiences grew 14% during the past year to 319 million visitors in April, outpacing the growth of all other worldwide regions, according to new data from digital measurement company comScore. In The State of the Global Internet with a Focus on Asia, comScore found the strongest growth occurred in India, which surged 27% to more than 28 million internet users, followed by China, which grew 14% to more than 102 million visitors.

Taiwan, Malaysia and New Zealand also achieved double digit growth. More developed internet markets, such as Japan (3%) and Singapore (4%), experienced modest gains. Internet users in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia spend the most time online in the region, but still spend less time than the worldwide average.

Although Google Sites and Yahoo! Sites combined to capture the majority of search share in the Asia-Pacific region, five of the top 10 search properties were regional engines, including China’s Baidu.com and Korea’s NHN Corporation (Naver.com). While Facebook.com is the leading social networking site worldwide, Friendster.com is the top social networking site in Asia-Pacific, comScore said.


SPORTS SHORTS

* ESPN Star Sports (ESS) announced an eight-year broadcast partnership with Arab Digital Distribution (ADD), the pay TV platform management company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), for all International Cricket Council (ICC) events from 2008 to 2015. The deal includes the ICC Cricket World Cup due to take place in 2011 in Asia and 2015 in Australia. The partnership covers television and new media platforms including internet and mobile. It will make ICC events available across the MENA region, including Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Sports City, Worldscreen, Sportcal, 7th Jul 2008

* New Delhi Television Ltd's (NDTV) promoters have acquired 20.28% for Rs 5.57 billion to up their holding in the company to 71.38%. Dr Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy and RRPR Holdings (person acting in concert) acquired 12.69 million shares (20.28%) in an open offer at Rs 438.98 per share. Earlier the promoters had acquired 7.73% from GA (General Atlantic) Global Investments through open market purchase, triggering an open offer as per Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) regulations. The public shareholding in NDTV has come down from 46.90 to 26.63% after the open offer. NDTV shares closed on Monday at Rs 375.05 on the BSE, down 0.27% from the previous close. Indiantelevision.com, 7th July 2008

* Portuguese football club, FC Porto, extended its TV rights deal with Olivedesportos Publicidade, Televisao e Media SA until the end of the 2013-14 season. Under the deal, which is reported to be worth €51.75 million, Olivedesportos has the exclusive rights for all audiovisual media, national and international games of FC Porto. Olivedesportos is part of the Controlinveste Group owned by media giant Joaquin Oliveira. The group was founded in 2005 after the amalgamation of Lusomundo Media and Olivedesportos. Sport Business, Sports City, Sportcal, 7th Jul 2008

* (Excerpt) Last season, Manchester United earned £49.3 million from Premier League broadcast income, while Derby County, the bottom club, earned £29.1 million. In Spain, where television rights are sold individually by the clubs, Real Madrid earned €110 million (about £87 million) and Levante only €8 million. If United had to give up any more income to lower-ranked teams, the imperative for renegotiation of the formula – or for a breakaway league – would be irresistible. But equally, the formula will not be sustainable if the League sits still, hence Richard Scudamore’s commitment to the so-called 39th game. Times Online, 7th Jul 2008

* FC Barcelona has announced profits of €10.1m for the 2007-08 season - the fifth consecutive season the club has announced positive financial figures. The Liga BBVA giant has seen its income rise by €18.7m compared to last season's mark, with the current figure €185.4m more than that recorded five years ago. Barcelona has predicted 2008-09 will reap even larger rewards stating that it is set to "become a leader in terms of income in the world of sport". The club expects to generate €380m, which it believes will challenge the financial might of leading American professional outfits. Barca states that it is set to benefit from its in-house management of its merchandise licences, which up to now it had shared with Nike. It has also stated that the new television deal will see it receive €134m instead of the previous €116.2m. Football Insider, 7th Jul 2008

* The Brazilian soccer team face challenging friendly matches against Portugal in November and world champions Italy in February. The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has yet to confirm the fixtures but they appear on the calendar of Fifa, the sport’s world governing body. The match against Portugal is due to take place in Brasilia but a venue for the Italy match has yet to be decided. Sportcal, 7th Jul 2008

* NBC said its marathon coverage of the men's Wimbledon Championships tennis final generated its best overnight ratings for the event in eight years with a 4.5 rating/12 share. It was also the highest-rated final without an American contending for the title since 1991. The show peaked at a 6.5/15 from 4 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Sunday as Rafael Nadal upset Roger Federer after two rain delays in the longest match in Wimbledon finals history and arguably its most exciting. Broadcastingcable.com, 7th July 2008

* ITV Worldwide’s Asia office has ramped up its hunt for local projects in Asia. The focus is part of ITV Worldwide boss Peter Iacono’s push to forge closer ties with independent producers around the world. The first of the new scheme’s initiatives in Asia are expected to be announced by year end, says Asia regional director James Ross. The deals include investment and acquisition. Content Asia, 7th July 2008


MORE NEWS

Elsewhere/Rights: DFB Pokal Prize Money Gets Boost from TV Deals

Prize money for German soccer’s DFB Pokal, the country’s clubs knockout competition, has been increased by more than 38 per cent thanks to new television deals. The winners of the 2008-09 DFB Pokal will take home €2.56 million ($4 million) from the final alone, double the existing amount, with the losing finalist netting €1.71 million.

The DFB, the German football federation, received a boost this year after agreeing contract extensions for the national cup competition with incumbent rights holders ARD and ZDF, the public-service broadcasters, and also negotiating a first-ever deal with Premiere, the pay-television broadcaster, to swell income further.

The DFB will also generate money from ticket sales and pitchside advertising. A total of €38.6 million will be distributed between the 64 participating clubs in the 2008-09 DFB Pokal. Each club participating in the first round is to receive €97,942, before teams that reach the second round are awarded €227,133 and those that make the third round €454,267. Fourth-round teams will receive €908,533 and semi-finalists will receive €1.57 million. Sportcal, 7th Jul 2008

Elsewhere/Programming: Martial Arts TV to kick off on Pulse

UK satellite gaming channel Pulse is to launch a series of programmes focusing on all aspects of martial arts. Pulse, which also carries cross-platform gaming platform XLeague.TV, Cultra films and male-skewed MAV TV, is set to launch Martial Arts TV as the latest addition to its collection of branded programming blocks, with a view to potentially extending Martial Arts TV into a standalone channel.

Martial Arts TV, set to debut in the 17.00-18.00 and 23.00-0.00 slots on Sky, will begin with a series of programmes focused on Thai kick boxing and will phase in live interviews with martial art stars. It will also include tips and hints, show classic movies and give updates from the sport's global community. The shows will be targeted at both male and female viewers, martial arts associations, clubs and bodies, and the online community.

Ray Mia, channel head at Pulse, said: "Martial Arts TV will bring a new element to the growing mix of Pulse brands. The combination of profiling sporting pros and offering advice for beginners should ensure we reach martial arts devotees and general gaming fans alike." Nick Payne, chairman of Martial Arts TV, said: "Our relationship with Pulse is an ideal way for us to expand our broadcast reach in the UK on the Sky platform and helps us connect with Pulse's video game community." C21 Media, 7th Jul 2008

Elsewhere/Broadcast: Swedish Open Outdoes Master Series TV Distribution

A few days prior to the start of the ATP Catella Swedish Open, no less than 45 media companies are signed up to air action from the Centre Court in Båstad. That is more media takers than at a high profile Master Series event!

Jonas Persson, CEO at IEC in Sports, comments:
- We set the objective to make Swedish Open the best TV-distributed tennis event in the world apart from the Grand Slams and the Master Series.
- Now we are outperforming also the Master Series in terms of numbers of broadcasters around the world.

For the 2008 edition of Catella Swedish Open, only recently, live takers in Germany and China have been added to the long list of broadcasters. These are of course two important markets where you want to gain media distribution and we are happy to have taken the tournament to these markets also.

In Sweden, TV4 Sport is airing all matches on Centre Court Monday to Sunday. In addition, the channel offers a highlights magazine and mobile phone coverage of the entire event. TV4’s main channel, also Sweden’s strongest commercial broadcaster, airs its morning show directly from the Centre Court. IEC in Sports is the exclusive media distributor and host broadcaster of the event, which is managed by PR Event. Both IEC in Sports and PR Event are part of Lagardere Sports. Sports City, 7th Jul 2008