Friday, 13th May 2011

RIGHTS FEES

=>  Disney-owned ESPN and ABC, have been considering a joint bid for TV rights of the 2014 and 2016 Olympics in USA, with the International Olympic Committee due to launch its auction for the rights next month. ESPN is set to be a serious player in the battle for rights, presently held by rival NBC, although the recent Comcast acquisition has only shown lukewarm interest, given its claim that it lost about $223 mil on broadcasting last year’s winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. NBC paid a total of $2.2 bil for rights to the 2010 and 2012 games: $1.18 bil for the 2012 in London; $820 mil for Vancouver; and $200 mil from former NBC parent, GE, in sponsorship support.

=>  Poland’s Ekstraklasa soccer league, agreed new domestic broadcast deals with pay-TV Canal+ Poland, for live rights to all games but with the league retaining option to launch its own TV channel. Ekstraklasa entered into private negotiations with broadcasters for the rights from 2011/12 to 2013/14 resulting in the deal. The new deals are reported to be worth slightly less /season than the 120 mil zlotys ($43.3 mil) /season paid by Canal+ and telecom, Telekomunikacja Polska, which runs the Orange Sport channel, for the deals that expire at the end of this season.


BROADCAST & RIGHTS DISTRIBUTION

=>  TV coverage of the 2011 Giro d’Italia has reached 167 countries, in 350 mil homes, largely made possible by the agreement between RCS Sport – La Gazzetta dello Sport and Rai Trade Direction. In the Americas, the TV broadcast of the Giro is with Universal Sports (USA & Canada), ESPN (Latin America) and TDN (Mexico & Central America). Eurosport, airs in Europe, TV2 (Norway) and TV2 (Denmark) will air in Northern Europe. The Corsa Rosa will also be broadcast in Spain by ETB and Veo7. In Africa, Supersports will carry while in Asia races are visible on Jsports (Japan), Khabar TV (Kazhakistan), SBS (Australia), while back home in Italy, RAI has expanded on its coverage on Rai Sport 1 and Rai Sport 2.


STATS & DATA

=>  Pay-TV in Asia, making up 48% or 367 mil of TV homes, will continue to make gains in coming years, Media Partners Asia says, generating revenues of $78 bil by 2020 and contingent upon investments being made in content, distribution and new technology. Growth hinges on improvement in ground-level execution, talent and regulation, especially in India, China and Southeast Asia. MPA’s Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets 2011 estimates pay-TV homes will reach 486 mil in 2015 (57% TV homes) and 570 mil in 2020 (62%). Digital pay-TV sub homes hit 148 mil (20% penetration) in 2010 and will rise to 362 mil (42%) by 2015 and 483 mil (52%) by 2020, led by China and India. The HD base was 12.4 mil in 2010, increasing to 45 mil by 2015 and 81 mil by 2020. Excluding China and India, HD penetration of digital pay-TV subs is forecast to double from 30% to 60% by 2020. Pay-TV revenues gained 14% in 2010 to $38 bil, led by ARPU growth in developed markets, sub gains in emerging ones and recovering ad market. Pay-TV advertising saw a 15% jump in 2010 to reach $8 bil, or 25% of the total TV ad pie. Sub revenues rose to $30 bil, a 14% hike. By 2015, MPA forecasts Asia-Pac pay-TV revenues will reach $60 bil, rising to $78 bil in 2020.

=>  Sales of 3D TVs accounted for over 10% of total LCD TV sales in China during the Labour Day holidays in May, with models from China-based TV vendors accounting for 60% of total sales in the segment, according to All View Consulting (AVC). China-based Hisense was the top vendor of 3D TVs, followed by Sony, Changhong, Skyworth and Samsung Electronics. Pricing is the key for China-based vendors to grab a large chunk of the 3D TV market. Total LCD TV sales during the Labour Day holidays (30 April-2 May) reached 1.58 mil units, down 4.7% from a year earlier.