Tuesday, 3rd May 2011

RIGHTS FEES

=>  Ben Buckley, head of Football Federation Australia, is looking forward to pitting wits with TV networks and new media distributors to negotiate Australian soccer's next TV contract when its long-term deal with Fox Sports expires in 2013. The FFA is looking to leverage its $17 mil /year Fox Sports deal into something greater. Australian soccer reportedly spurned an enhanced offer in 2009 offer of $42 mil /season, in the belief that they can negotiate a better deal. But while an FTA broadcaster may cough up cash for internationals, the FFA knows its staple is the domestic competition. Without Fox's money, the A-League would not be sustainable. A mix of pay and free TV could work, but would it generate sufficient cash? Buckley remains optimistic about building an attractive, competitive and robust A-League now.


BROADCAST & RIGHTS DISTRIBUTION

=>  Singapore Telecommunications will screen Arsenal’s attempts to derail Manchester United’s title charge in 3D, marking the first time a pay-TV operator in Singapore has offered ‘live’ sports programming in 3D. All residential mio TV BPL customers with 3D TV sets can tune in to the match and the 3D initiative is part of SingTel’s push to lead and shape the growing 3D market in Singapore. After the vital Premier League football match is screened on 1 May, mio will offer 3D films such as The Green Hornet and My Soul to Take.


STATS & DATA

=>  Global shipments of connected TVs will significantly grow over the next few years, from 40 mil in 2010 to over 123 mil in 2014, reports IpTVnews. Emerging markets will play a major role – 33% of flat panel TVs sold in China in 2013 will be Internet ready. The connected TV market will become fragmented: as basic connected sets carrying enhanced services such as HbbTV or basic video-on-demand will appeal to consumers who expect TV to remain a passive experience, while more adventurous consumers will seek out configurable apps, sophisticated search and navigation engines, and advanced user interfaces.

=>  Facebook has confirmed traffic details of the social site in India, which is now its second largest country in Asia. Facebook now gets 25 mil active users a month in India. Average time spent by Indian users on Facebook is 3 hrs /month, compared to other internet destinations like Google (1 hr 50 mins /month in India), Yahoo, YouTube (1 hr 20 mins each), and MSN (40 mins). The number of profiles (500 mil, globally) that exist on Facebook are much more than number of websites (90 mil) that are active in the world. There are 250 mil people active on Facebook on any given day. Facebook statistics site Socialbakers puts Facebook in India at more than 24 mil, making it the second largest market in Asia behind Indonesia.


EVENTS

=>  4 Indian women pugilists etched their names with golden letters in the history of Indian Boxing by becoming champions at the inaugural edition of AIBA Women's Youth and Junior World Championships in Turkey. Sarjubala Devi (48kg), Minu Basumatary (64kg) in the Youth Championship along with Lalenkawli (46kg) and Nikhat Zareen (50kg) in the Junior Championships claimed their respective weight category titles.

=>  The Board of Control for Cricket in India has cleared Indian players to participate in the Sri Lanka Premier League, scheduled to launch in Jul, since it does not clash with the Indian cricket board's domestic season. However, on Cricket Australia's T20 Big Bash, the board has denied permission to Indian players to take part since it does clashes with the BCCI's domestic season. The restructured Big Bash will run mid-Dec until late Jan. The Indian national team arrives in Australia for a triangular one-day series in tandem with the conclusion of the Big Bash. BCCI has said that the board would not waver from its policy not to release players from Indian domestic cricket, which runs from Oct to Mar.