Tuesday, 8th March 2011

RIGHTS FEE & DISTRIBUTION

=>  France’s LFP has said the launch date for tender for domestic broadcast rights to the top-tier Ligue 1 from 2012-13 will be between April 30 and May 15. The tender would be launched soon so that the clubs can plan forward with financial stability. Ligue 1 rights are presently shared by Canal Plus and Orange in deals worth €668 mil ($936.4 mil) per season, although Orange warned it will not renew TV rights and is likely to bid only for new media rights. Canal Plus’ has also warned that it will not pay more than the €465 mil a season presently.

=>  The French Tennis Federation today launched invitation to tender for Roland Garros broadcast rights in Europe ahead of the expiry of its present deal with the EBU. The tender covers French Open rights from 2012 to 2016 and bidders have been asked to submit their offers by 6pm (CET) on April 6. The FFT’s present 4-year, €56-mil ($78.4-mil) deal with the EBU runs from 2008 to 2011. The deal represented a 69% increase in value on the previous agreement, largely due to competition for rights in markets like Spain. Broadcast rights in France are held by France Télévisions until 2013 as part of a deal worth €15.5-mil a year. The 2011 French Open is scheduled for May 17 to June 5.

=>  German commercial broadcaster, Sat.1, expressed interest in acquiring highlights rights to German Bundesliga from 2013-14 onwards. Along with Champions League rights, Sat.1 also holds rights to UEFA Europa League. Pubcaster, ARD, presently shows Bundesliga highlights from 6.30pm onwards, having fought hard to hold on to that timeslot for its iconic ‘Sportschau’ programme during the last broadcast rights tender. ARD paid €90 million ($126.2 million) per season for the Bundesliga highlights rights from 2009-10 to 2012-13.

=>  NTV-Plus has renewed rights to top-tier league, SOGAZ Russian Football Championship, for 2011-12 season, paying a total of $60 mil. The pay-TV operator won rights to show all league games on NTV-Plus and Sport-Plus channels and one match per round will also be shown free-to-air on a federal television channel in Russia. NTV-Plus’ 4-year deal from 2007 to 2010 was thought to be worth between $90 million and $100 million in total, representing a significant jump in rights value. The 2011-12 season is set to last a year and a half as the league converts from a summer to a winter season in time for the 2012-13 campaign, to bring itself into line with other European league and European club competitions.


BROADCAST

=>  KBS is returning to The Asian Pitch (TAP), an initiative by NHK and MediaCorp, to fund original HD documentaries produced by independent directors who live and work in Asia. The Korean pubcaster was on board at the start of the event in 2007 pulled out of TAP in 2008 for internal reasons. KBS has now strengthened its international activities and is returning to TAP, starting with the 2011 edition. Now in its fifth year, TAP targets Asian documentary-makers, promoting them to tell original stories about the region. The selected projects receive full funding from the broadcasters, will be aired in prime-time slots and will be marketed and distributed in international markets after completion.

=>  India TV producer, Sportzworkz, will produce live coverage of the inaugural Jharkland Premier League, a regional cricket series loosely based on the Twenty20 Indian Premier League. In India, Middle East and South-East Asia, the JPL will be broadcast on Ten Cricket. The JPL is an initiative of Jharkhand State Cricket Association and Elite Sports Management, the players' agent, to nurture cricket in the east Indian state. It will feature five franchises from across the state. The JPL takes place between March 13 and 19. This year's edition of the IPL, season four, is scheduled for April 8 to May 28.

=>  Sony and The AELTC have announced a partnership to present Wimbledon in 3D. Sony will work with SuperVision Media, its theatrical distribution partners, to bring live tennis to 3D cinemas worldwide in partnership with Wimbledon broadcaster, The BBC for live 3D production. The AELTC/Sony/BBC production of the Men’s Singles Semi-Finals and the Ladies’ and Men’s Singles Finals will be filmed in High Definition 3D and offered to rights holders and interested global broadcasters seeking unique and compelling content for their 3D channels. The two parties say that they have a commitment to deliver 3D tennis to a much wider audience over time.

=>  Meanwhile, Sony announced that it bought Hawk-Eye, the ball-tracking technology. News comes as FIFA announced extension of investigation into introducing goal-line technology in soccer matches for a further year. Andrew Croker, consultant to Hawk-Eye, said acquisition of the company by Sony would give it “extra geographical reach and access to resources” that are not presently available to it. Sony declined to say how much it paid for Hawk-Eye but analysts estimated that it could be worth £20 mil ($32 mil). The deal covers all Hawk-Eye intellectual property rights and software.

=>  And finally, Sony predicted India will become one of its top five markets in a “few years”, with sales of 3DTV line in India accounting for 30% of revenue by the end of fiscal 2012. Currently among the ten largest markets, India represents a huge growth area for Sony – as does 3D technology, which it predicts will record the company annual sales of about US$12 billion (1 trillion yen) by the end of March 2013. Sony in India is growing 50% per annum in revenue and Sony intends for that pace of growth to keep going.


DATA

=>  New study of how Europeans consume sport in 2011 and beyond, published for Global Sports Forum in Barcelona, claim that 98% watch sports content on TV, 57% of them daily. Comparing with internet, which attracts about 53% of fans daily. Just over 58% use HD TV, while over 65% own or have considered owning 3D TV. Research covered the top five European sports markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), showing trends in media consumption for consumers aged 12 to 35, the key market of sports consumers in the next 10 years. Smart phone usage for sports was highest in UK, but half 42% of fans don’t use their phones to track their favourite sport, but 57% of those believe that they will in future. Social media is making slow progress in influencing sports consumption, with just 26% using Facebook or Twitter to check on favourite teams or athletes. ‘Consumption of Sport in 2011 and Beyond’ study was conducted by Havas Sports & Entertainment for the Global Sports Forum Barcelona. It was based on a quantitative study of over 2000 Europeans and was conducted in February 2011.