Tuesday, 19th July 2011

RIGHTS FEES

=>  Tour de France teams are pressuring the Amaury family, owners of the 108-year-old cycling race, to share TV-rights income for the first time. Most competitors support lobbying for some of the TV income from the Amaury Sport Organisation, although French squads are wary of confrontation because they risk having their invitation to ride withdrawn. ASO gets as much as $200 mil from TV rights. ASO has controlled the TdF since the 1940sand also runs the Dakar rally and the Paris marathon. Tdf is broadcast in over 180 countries and gets 60% of its income from TV rights, The Tour differs from other competitions because organizers don’t give teams a share of TV money.


BROADCAST & RIGHTS DISTRIBUTION

=>  Neo Sports has acquired rights to all matches from the forthcoming 2011 Rugby World Cup. Neo Sports will show all 48 games from the tournament in New Zealand. The 2011 World Cup begins at Eden Park in Auckland on Sep 9, when the hosts play Tonga, and concludes with the final at the same venue on Oct 23.

=>  The Outdoor Channel Asia has secured a partnership with the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship (ISC) and the Asian Surfing Championship (ASC) to air the competitive events throughout Asia-Pacific. As a result of the deal, the Outdoor Channel is the exclusive pan-regional broadcaster of both championships in Asia. The channel will air all 16 ISC events and the seven ASC events held in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan during 2011/12.


NEW MEDIA

=>  The June 2011 monthly Global Video Insights Report from Vuclip revealed a surge that makes iPhone the most popular mobile video device. Nokia and BlackBerry devices have traditionally been the most popular in terms of mobile video views, but Apple’s flagship device has taken top spot for the first time, measured by aggregate total video views by device. iPhone has become the leading smartphone for mobile video in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, two of Vuclip's top 10 countries for mobile consumption. It is the top device in Singapore where iPod Touch and iPad were on the top 10 devices for video consumption. The iPhone is now also the top device in China due to consumption of local film and TV content.


STATS & DATA

=>  Asia-Pacific advertising spend is expected to grow 5.9% this year, helping to push global adex levels back to pre-crisis 2008, say ZenithOptimedia. Between 2010 and 2013, advertising in Asia-Pac is forecast to grow 7% a year – or 10.7% excluding Japan. Global adex is forecast to reach US$471 bil this year. Forecasts for the region are up from 10.5% to 11.4%, driven by China (11.7% growth to 13.4%) and Malaysia (from 10% to 12.3%). The worst-hit regions are the Middle East and North Africa. Internet is the fastest-growing medium (14.2% a year) between 2010 and 2013, while TV will contribute the most new ad dollars at 49%. TV is the second fastest growing medium at 6.2% a year with adex forecast to grow by US$35.4 bil, to US$215.0 bil between 2010 and 2013. TV attracted 40.1% of spend in 2010, up from 37.3% in 2005, and “is forecast to attract 41.4% in 2013.

=>  Over a quarter of TV households worldwide, or 387 mil homes, are expected to have subscriptions to triple-play services by 2016, says Digital TV Research in the Triple-Play Forecasts report. Penetration will reach 25% by 2016, up from 7.1% reported at end 2010. Asia-Pacific subs will represent 58% by 2016, up from 35% at end-2010. China alone will make 147 mil additional subs, supplying 44% of global subs while India will see 18 mil subs. The 2016 3P penetration forecast represents 387 mil homes, up from 96 mil at end-2010. Triple-play revenues will reach $170 bil by 2016, representing $100 bil more than 2010. The U.S. will account for $39 bil of the additional revenues, with Japan up by $9 bil and China increasing by $8 bil.


EVENTS

=>  ASEAN says they will lodge a collective bid to host soccer's 2030 World Cup, and have already met to discuss ways to implement a unified visa to ease travel within the region. ASEAN foreign ministers are due to meet in Indonesia tomorrow to discuss pooling of resources. ASEAN was formed in 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and over the years have expanded to include Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam. Of the 10, only Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have yet to implement a visa-free policy. There would be challenges to a collective bid for the 2030 World Cup and ASEAN are up against competition from Uruguay and Argentina, who are preparing a joint bid to mark the centenerary of the first World Cup, held in Uruguay, and possibly China.

=>  The IAAF and Dentsu have teamed up to launch the Federation’s first-ever centralised licensing programme, which gives fans opportunity to buy official goods online. Adidas and the UK’s Great Branding Co have worked together on the product design, production and distribution. The licensing programme will be developed within the framework of the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea next month. Daegu 2011 official licensed products will be available on www.merchstore.net/IAAF_2011 and will also be sold on site in Daegu. The IAAF said the licensing programme will be rolled out for other IAAF World Athletics Series events after Daegu 2011.