Wednesday, 27th April 2011

RIGHTS FEES

=>  The Ugandan Super League (USL) has inked a US$5 mil 5-year broadcast deal with SuperSport, the biggest in the league's history since Gateway Television's 2007 deal. The agreement comes into effect at the start of the 2011/12 USL season, sees SuperSport acquire exclusive broadcast rights to the soccer league, including cup competitions, and first option to renew. 18 to 20 match-weeks will be screened per season. Local broadcasters will be provided with highlights while the national broadcaster will receive one live game and one run on a tape-delay. Additionally, SuperSport will fund a broadcasting van, 12 cameras and training over 40 staff to ensure high broadcasting standards. SuperSport will also develop, manger and administer the USL website.


BROADCAST & RIGHTS DISTRIBUTION

=>  Thailand’s GMM Grammy group has won exclusive broadcast rights to 2012 European Championships. Grammy will air all 31 games from Euro 2012 on its own satellite channel and terrestrial channels in Thailand. Coverage will include magazine and highlights shows and live and on-demand internet and mobile coverage. The deal includes rights to European Under-21 and Women’s Euro 2013, which will be broadcast by Grammy's terrestrial partners in Thailand. Sportfive is Uefa’s exclusive sales agency for Euro 2012 broadcast rights in Asia and Oceania excluding Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.


CONTENT

=>  Fox Sports Media Group is set to produce a 6-part original series for FUEL TV, Bruce Lee Lives!, which is scheduled to debut on the channel in June. The half-hour series, which is produced by Pangolin Pictures, centers on the martial artist's influence on celebrities, such as Ryan Phillippe, Carlos Santana, Jesse Ventura and a variety of others. Each episode features a personal celebrity story and focuses on Lee’s impact on pop culture.

=>  The new sports-themed health and fitness series NBA Fit is slated to premiere on Disney XD in April. The show is hosted by Daniel Curtis Lee of Zeke and Luther and includes NBA stars Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers, among many others. Along with the premiere of NBA Fit, Disney XD is set to air a day of other sports-themed content, including episodes of Pair of Kings and Phineas and Ferb.


STATS & DATA

=>  The connected TV revolution is predicted to accelerate, growing 30% in 2014 to a total 123 mil units. According to Q1’11 Quarterly TV Design and Features Report, DisplaySearch forecasts the connected TV market will become fragmented and increase in complexity. Basic connected sets carrying enhanced broadcast services such as Hbb.TV or basic video on demand will appeal to consumers who expect TV to remain a passive experience. Yet, there will be a segment who runs configurable apps, sophisticated search and navigation engines, and advanced user interfaces. East Europe’s market will grow from 2.5 mil connected TVs in 2010 to over 10 mil by 2014 and a third of flat panel TVs sold in China in 2013 will have internet capability. Chinese connected TV market will advance of with a surge driven by decoder chip costs reaching a tipping point, as cost for such capability is now low.

=>  Google is reportedly going to make a full-blown attempt to enter the pay-TV market by charging users to stream content from its YouTube online video platform. Even though the company has denied all reports, analyst and major news outlets are predicting the service to begin before May 2011 beginning with pay video-on-demand (VOD) service and evolving into offerings as well a sell-through option. It is also expected that Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Lionsgate and Universal will be among those offering content at launch.

=>  After a year of stagnation due to worldwide recession, pay-TV numbers are bouncing back globally and pay-TV subscribers by 2014 will approach 1.4 billion, says In-Stat. China has the largest number of pay TV subs, with over 160 mil. The largest regional market of IPTV subs is Western Europe, with nearly 17.5 mil subs, of which France has over 10 mil, led by Free and Orange. In terms of market leaders, Net Servicos de Comunicacao of Brazil is the largest cable operator in the Caribbean and Latin America region.


BIZ & BITES

=>  Tennis’ Grand Slam Committee, made up of the chairmen of the four grand slam tournaments – Wimbledon and the French, Australian and US Opens – is to open a full-time office, led by Bill Babcock, to handle increased levels of Grand Slam Committee business. Babcock becomes the full-time director of the committee, stepping down from his position as ITF executive director of the professional tennis department. The committee office will be located at the ITF headquarters in Roehampton, west London. Babcock will be supported by Katie Wright, who joins the office as project co-ordinator.

=>  F1 promoter, Bernie Ecclestone, has hinted that he would quit the sport if Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation succeeds in a bid to take control of the sport. News Corp’s is reportedly aiming to televise the F1 via its own channels but any move to switch TV coverage to pay-TV channels of News Corp and América Móvil would be controversial, given that F1 has always relied on exposure on FTA TV to attract sponsors that pay millions of dollars a year to associate themselves with teams and races. Pay-TV coverage has always been regarded as an adjunct to FTA exposure.

=>  Archery’s FITA will not look for another sports marketing agency to distribute worldwide broadcast rights after taking it back in-house although it would consider working with agencies for specific territories. FITA signed a long-term distribution deal with MP & Silva early 2009, but that was terminated prematurely end 2010. MPS was appointed for 6 years to exclusively sell broadcast rights worldwide and seek sponsorships on a non-exclusive basis. FITA has 2 current international broadcast deals; a long-term agreement with Korean FTA SBS (brokered by MPS) and with Italian pubcaster, RAI. FITA has a 26-min pre-season highlights show to add to 6 existing 26-min highlights shows for six events (World Cup, World Cup Final and World Archery Field Championships). TV production is handled by World Archery TV and HD was introduced for the first time in 2010.

=>  Skateboarding has a greater chance of Olympic Games inclusion now since the International Olympic Committee included “visionaries” among its ranks. The UCI, cycling’s world governing body, has been seeking to include skateboarding as a discipline of cycling at future Olympic Games. The UCI first proposed the inclusion of skateboarding in the programme for London Olympic Games in 2007, but the IOC said then that it would be “premature.” It is thought that BMX Freestyle cycling and skateboarding could be introduced to the Olympics together, as they use similar facilities, including the so-called 'half-pipes' on which tricks are performed. The UCI proposed to ‘adopt’ skateboarding since it is not represented by any IOC-recognised federation.