Friday, 12th January 2007

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

Disney to Postpone 'Hungamathon' in Delhi and Kolkata

Following the pandemonium that took place at the 'Hungamathon' (8 -15 year olds) organized by Disney owned kid's broadcaster Hungama TV in Mumbai on 7 January, the channel has decided to postpone the mini marathon slated to kick off in the other two cities of Delhi and Kolkata on 14 and 28 January, respectively.

A scroll running on the channel will indicate the change in schedule. However, a fixed date for the same has not been announced yet, confirms a Walt Disney spokesperson. An official statement issued by the channel prior to the event claimed that they had "received an overwhelming response of more than 90,000 entries across three cities in India, with close to 30,000 entries only from Mumbai." However, later reports say that the organizers, Total Sports Asia, were only equipped to handle 15,000 registered participants.

The Britannia Tiger sponsored 'Hungamathon' was to be planned, promoted and executed by Total Sports Asia in association with the Athletic Federation of India and conducted across the three major metros. However, the unexpected turn out in the number of participants and spectators gave way to a disorderly situation, in which a few children received injuries. This has now put the other two events on hold. Source: Indian Television, 11th January 2007

Biggest 2006 Events Dwarf The Rest

The FIFA World Cup final drew by far the largest audience of any sports event in 2006, while the five biggest live television sports events were miles ahead of the others in the top 10 of the year, according to Initiative Sports Futures.

The final of the World Cup between Italy and France drew more viewers on average and more total viewers than any other event. Italy’s World Cup victory averaged 260 million viewers across the 54 countries surveyed by Initiative’s research, with a total audience of 603 million tuning in to at least part of the match.

The 2006 Super Bowl (Pittsburgh Steelers versus Seattle Seahawks) was second in average viewership with 98 million viewers. The Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Torino was second in total viewers with 249 million. The UEFA Champions League final (Barcelona versus Arsenal) and the final race of the 2006 Formula One season (the Brazilian Grand Prix) come next in the rakings.

After that, there is a substantial fall-off in both average audience and total viewing, with NASCAR’s Daytona 500, with the next-best average audience, drawing less than 25% of the average audience of the F1 event. The next-largest total audience was for the Wimbledon men’s final (Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal) with less than half the total of the Brazilian race.

Initiative Sports Futures said the results present a major challenge to brands. Major sponsors wanting to seek to guarantee maximum exposure from live sport have only a relatively small number of properties to choose from. This puts upward pressure on the sponsorship fees of those events. At the same time, the sponsors need to be more creative in order to stand out from the crowd. Source: Sports Media, 11th January 2007


WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

Beckham Agrees Galaxy Switch

David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and join side Los Angeles Galaxy on a five-year deal. The former England captain will leave Real in June and begin his new career in Major League Soccer in August.

MLS have recently changed their salary cap rules to allow sides to make 'marquee signings' of top international stars. The Beckham deal will see the 31-year-old benefit directly from all his image rights and related sponsorship deals which in the past have had to be shared with his club.

The Real Madrid future of the world's most famous footballer had been shrouded in doubt, especially after coach Fabio Capello this week dropped him from the squad - the first time it had happened to Beckham since he moved from Manchester United in July 2003. Source: Premier League Site, 12th January 2007, see Also Sportcal, 11th Janaury 2007

Beckham Persuaded with £128m Deal with LA Galaxy

David Beckham is set to become the highest earning sportsman in the US after signing a five-year contract worth up to $250m (£128m) with Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy. The former England captain ended months of speculation yesterday by announcing that his largely unhappy three-year spell at Real Madrid will end in the summer, a move that signals the end of Beckham's career in top-flight football and any lingering ambition to regain the England place he lost when Steve McClaren replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson as head coach of the national side last summer.

The blow will be softened, however, by a weekly income of £500,000, comprised of salary, image rights and associated sponsorship, and the challenge of establishing the Beckham brand in a country that has thus far been largely unmoved by the rest of the world's favourite game. Beckham turned down offers from leading clubs in Britain and Italy as well as a new two-year contract with Madrid to move to the US, but claimed last night that he was not motivated by money.

Beckham's move is co-funded by Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns LA Galaxy and the Millennium Dome and has a stake in Beckham's soccer academies in the UK and US, and Major League Soccer, which will use the Englishman's presence to promote the game in the US. It will also be popular with several of his sponsors, including Gillette and Pepsi, both American companies.

Intriguingly, Beckham's debut for LA Galaxy could come against current English champions Chelsea, who considered signing him last summer. The London club have a commercial agreement with AEG and are likely to meet one of their clubs on a pre-season tour this summer. It is a game that will attract huge attention and provide the first return on LA Galaxy's huge investment in Beckham. Source: The Guardian, 12th January 2007


INFO DIGEST

Acronyms Defined – Tennis
* WTF - World Tennis Federation
* ATP - Association of Tennis Professionals (Men’s)
* WTA - Women's Tennis Association
* FFT - Fédération Français de Tennis
* AELTC - All England Lawn Tennis Club
* USTA - United States Tennis Association
* Clever Australians don’t need an acronym for Tennis Australia
Source: Acronym Finder


SPORTS SHORTS

* World Wrestling Entertainment’s WWE Raw on USA Network pulled the largest audience of any programme on American cable during the week ending January 7. The two episodes shown back to back on Monday night ranked number one (5.1 million viewers for the 22:00 show) and number two (5.0 million for the 21:00 show) of the week. Source: Sports Media, 11th January 2007

* SingTel is revamping its look and feel with a new multi-million dollar campaign for its 'generation mio' product line. 'Generation mio' refers to SingTel's latest product, the mio, a box converging mobile, fixed-line and broadband connections onto a digital platform. In addition the telco launched new service plans as it prepares to launch a slate of next-generation products, including pay-TV. The campaign eschews SingTel's usual red and white look for a more contemporary, consumer-friendly air. Source: Brand Republic, 11th January 2007

* In Malaysia, the annual cumulative viewership for ESPN Star television channels was over 276 million households, according to ESPN Star managing director Jamie Davis. ESPN Star Sports has just extended its agreement with the English FA Premier League to deliver exclusive live coverage in Malaysia until 2010. Much of the viewing of the Premier League is out of home in Malaysia, where out-of-home viewing is very high. Source: Sports Media, 11th January 2007

* Italy will play Romania in their first friendly match of the year. The game will take place in Siena on February 7. Meanwhile, Mexico has committed to play six friendlies in the USA during 2007. The national team will take on the USA on February 7 in Phoenix, Venezuela on February 28 in San Diego and Ecuador on March 28 in Oakland. The opposition and venues for the fixtures on August 22, September 12 and October 17 have yet to be determined. Source: Sportcal, 11th January 2007

* The Breeders' Cup thoroughbred showcase is expanding to a second day of races. Three US$1 million races and another day of racing will be added beginning with the 2007 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on October 26-27. ESPN will show all the races (now with a total US$23 million in purses). Source: Sports Media, 11th January 2007


MORE NEWS

Pakistan/Business: Taj TV appoints Tower Sports

Taj TV has appointed Tower Sports Pvt Ltd as an advertising and distribution sales agent in Pakistan. Tower's sales team will be required to build upon the growth of Ten Sports' business in Pakistan. They have commenced their advertising sales efforts with the Pakistan tour of South Africa, to be broadcast live on Ten Sports on the Pakistan beam from 11 January.

This is in addition to the sale of Ten Sports to cable operators, which Tower Sports has handled since the middle of last year. The operations are headed by Faraz Ansari, who was previously head of ad sales for Pakistan general entertainment channel TV One.

Cricket on the channel in Pakistan in 2007 includes the South African tour to Pakistan and the Pakistan tour to South Africa as well as the England tour to Sri Lanka. In 2007, the channel will also broadcast the Champions Trophy hockey, the Champions League football, US Open Tennis, the USPGA golf tour and WWE wrestling every day of the year.

2007 will also see the launch of a series of programmes by Ten Sports for the Pakistani audience. This includes a regular cricket show and a series based on Pakistani cricket of the past, as the channel looks to build on its ratings lead in the country.

Over the past 4 years Ten Sports has built up a significant leadership position in the sports channel space in Pakistan. “Bringing all of our operations under one roof in Tower Sports was a logical step in order to serve our clients better and take our business to the next level" commented Taj TV/ Ten Sports CEO Chris McDonald. Source: Indian Television, 11th January 2007

Mid-East/General: Abu Dhabi To Host Cycling’s Race Of Champions

Abu Dhabi is to host cycling’s US$1m Race of Champions in November 2007. The capital of the Arabian Gulf state of the United Arab Emirates, will host the race, a challenge pitting the individual winners and teams of the sport’s three most prestigious European tour events into direct competition, for the first time in the Middle East.

An initiative of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), the Abu Dhabi Cycling Race of Champions - a 204 kilometre three stage event – will see cycling’s elite battle through a challenging mountain stage up Jebel Hafeet, the emirate’s highest point at nearly 4,000 feet which backdrops the garden city of Al Ain, flanked by two flat stages through the capital’s main highways.

The Abu Dhabi Cycling Race of Champions will be staged annually in the UAE capital for the next five years. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 11th January 2007

Asia/General: Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 Goes to Asia

The Notice of Race for the 2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race has been published. Eleven ocean legs and eight In Port races are scheduled, with the race beginning on 4 October 2008 with an In Port race in Alicante, Spain, with a slated finish around 20 June 2009 in the Baltic Sea. The total race distance for the tenth edition of one of the sailing world's grandest events will be approximately 39,000 miles.

The scoring system remains the same as the previous race, with each boat receiving points equal to the number of boats starting the race minus those placed above her in each offshore leg. The same formula applies in the In Port races and at the scoring waypoints, except the number of points is halved. In Port races will be held in Alicante, Middle East, South East Asia, China, Brazil, North East USA, Western Europe and Sweden.

The crew must consist of seven to eleven members, except for a team including five or more women when the maximum is increased to 12 members, or for an all female crew, for which the maximum crew size is 14. At least 30% of crew members must be under 30 before the start of the race, unless all the crew are aged 50 or above.

The Volvo Ocean Race is an ISAF Special Event. For more information on the Volvo Ocean Race, the Volvo Open 70 and the teams competing, visit the official Volvo Ocean Race website - http://www.volvooceanrace.org. Source: Sail World, 11th January 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: German Soccer to Bring Rights Tender Date Forward

The DFL, the German Football League, is planning to issue a tender for the next top-tier Bundesliga broadcast rights contract this year, even though existing deals do not expire until the end of the 2008-09 season. By bringing the date forward, the league aims to avoid a clash with the tender for Germany’s home international matches and the DFB Pokal, the national knockout cup competition.

ARD, the German public-service broadcaster, is paying €100 million ($129 million) a year for its Bundesliga highlights rights under the present contract. DFL chiefs are said to be worried that the broadcaster, which has a joint €390-million deal ending in 2009 with fellow public-service network ZDF for the international team and DFB Pokal rights, might not be able to afford to renew the two high-profile soccer properties at the same time.

DFL president Werner Hackmann and managing director Christian Seifert plan to discuss with the European Union competition commission the feasibility of bringing the date forward. The DFL negotiated new three-year deals in December 2005 for the 2006-07 season onwards, handing the pay-television rights to cable consortium Arena for an annual sum of €230 million, and splitting the highlights rights between ARD, ZDF and DSF, the privately-owned sports broadcaster. Source: Sportcal, 11th January 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: MediaZone Rolls Out ‘Social TV’ Sports

California-based MediaZone is launching a new shared ‘Social TV’ broadband platform that enables communities to form and interact with each other around professionally-produced video. The idea is to give users the interactivity of the Internet with the quality and reliability of traditional television. The platform (the beta version is accessible at SocialTV.MediaZone.com) introduces features such as chat with others watching the same show.

MediaZone will offer several sports channels with these features including branded services Extreme Sports Entertainment and KickXSSports (martial arts) and its own MediaZone: Extreme Sports and MediaZone: Wrestling. Future versions of Social TV will include subscription and pay-per-view options.

MediaZone is a division of MIH, the electronic media arm of South Africa’s Naspers group, which owns SuperSport in South Africa and technology companies Irdeto and Entriq, among others. The company unveiled the new platform this week at the Consumer Electronics Association’s International CES show in Las Vegas. Source: Sports Media, 11th January 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: Here Comes Apple TV

Apple yesterday revealed Apple TV (often referred to as iTV), a wireles device that will allow consumers to play iTunes content, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts, from a Mac or PC on a TV. Users will be able to browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using the Apple Remote. Apple TV connects to almost all modern widescreen televisions, and will be shipping in February for just $299.

Apple TV has a 40GB hard drive to store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each and is capable of delivering high-definition output. It is easy to connect to a broad range of TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort wireless networking, Apple TV can auto-sync content from one computer or stream content from up to five additional computers right to your TV without any wires from up to 30 feet away.

Apple TV requires iTunes 7 or later running on a Mac with Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or later, or a Windows PC with Windows XP Home/Professional (SP2). A wireless network using AirPort, AirPort Extreme or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking required. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended. Apple TV requires an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen TV. iPod games will not play on Apple TV. iTunes is available in the US and select countries. Source: TV Over Net, Digital Media, 11th January 2007, see also comment by Wayne Friedman on Media Post, 11th January 2007