Monday, 20th June 2011

BROADCAST & RIGHTS DISTRIBUTION

=>  Taj TV is planning to launch Ten Sports in HD, featuring content from across its three channels - Ten Sports, Ten Cricket and Ten Actions+. Taj is waiting for a clearance from the Information & Broadcast Ministry to launch the channel and pricing has not been finalised. Ten Sports HD will be available on DTH platform as well as on digital platforms of cable operators. UEFA Champions League, Moto GP, Tour De France, athletics, cricket involving India and premium cricket series will be shown on Ten Sports HD. HD subscriber base is expected to rise in India to in the next three years to 5 mil. Taj had launched Ten Cricket HD channels during the on-going India-West Indies series.


EVENTS

=>  200 players will participate in the Badminton Asia Youth U-19 Championships at Uttar Pradesh Badminton Academy (UPBA) , Lucknow from July 2 to 9. The draw will take place on June 28. Mixed team events will be held July 2 to 5, and competitions in individual events will from July 5 to 9. Participating countries include China, Afghanistan, Iran, Jordan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Syria, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Nepal, Lebanon and India.

=>  World Snooker announced format changes of the UK Championship starting from this year, to ensure more matches be televised live. Second only to the World Championship as the biggest ranking event on the snooker calendar, the UK Championship, which will be played in York between Dec 3 and 11 on two tables, rather than the traditional four. Matches will be shorter until the quarter-finals stage - 11 frames, rather than 17, all played in one session. The semi-finals will be best of 17 frames and the final best of 19. The tournament will be televised in the UK by the BBC, across Europe on Eurosport and on CCTV, China.


BIZ & BITES

=>  Japan Credit Bureau International (JCBI) will take primary sponsorship of Vietnam’s national soccer team in 2 years’ time. The deal, reportedly worth US$1 mil /year, will take effect after current contract with Panasonic expires in 2013, covering both the national and Olympic teams. The agreement will include the display of JCBI logos at the national soccer stadium as well as the incorporation of Vietnamese Football Federation (VFF) branding at JCBI merchants. JCBI are looking to extend their presence in Vietnam and will collaborate with Vietnamese banks to release a new VFF branded credit card in August of this year. The card will be accepted at more than 12,000 locations across Vietnam.

=>  The IOC has dealt FIFA a fresh blow after revealing its ethics commission is investigating claims made in BBC’s 'Panorama' that FIFA's honorary president Joao Havelange took bribes. The allegations centre on the relationship between Havelange, now 95 and a member of the IOC since 1963, and ISL, FIFA's marketing partner when Havelange was president between 1974 and 1998. In its 'Fifa: Football's Shame' programme last month, Panorama claimed: "Havelange got a $1-mil bung in 1997. Sepp Blatter [Havelange's successor as Fifa president] knew about it. He did nothing." The IOC revealed that its ethics commission has been in dialogue with BBC producers since Nov 2010, when another Panorama episode claimed Issa Hayatou, president of Africa’s CAF and FIFA vice-president, had taken a £10,000 ($16,095) payment from the now-defunct ISL.