Thursday, 11th January 2007

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

Venezuelan Government Assumes Key Role in Copa America

Jorge Rodriguez, the newly-appointed vice president of Venezuela, has been appointed head of the organising committee for soccer’s 2007 Copa America, the South American national team competition.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez recommended Rodriguez’s appointment after the resignation of previous chief Aristobulo Isturiz and it is taken as a sign that the government regards the tournament as a high priority. The draw for the event takes place on February 14 and the competition runs from June 26 to July 15. Source: Sportcal, 10th January 2007

HANNspree Join Forces with SBK

The Superbike World Championship has joined forces with new sponsor, HANNspree, the Taiwanese manufacturer of LCD TVs. The company originally entered the World Superbike paddock as sponsor of Roberto Rolfo. They expanded that to sponsor the Ten Kate team with Rolfo and Britain's James Toseland.Having only arrived in Italy a year ago they have already made a name for themselves, with unusual shaped televisions! They include models shaped like apples, footballs and even cartons of potato chips.

Kevin Chang, European Chairman of the company explains: "To put it succinctly, HANNspree's success is based on our ability to inject a breath of fresh air into the grey world of electronics. We are confident we can bring that same approach to the world of Superbike, thanks to the high-adrenaline nature of all our events. Entering the world of motorcycle racing and sponsoring the Superbike World Championship is a natural consequence of our philosophy. Superbike World Championship and HANNspree share the same inbuilt fun and excitement." Source: Crash.net, Sportcal, 10th January 2007


WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

Apple Ffinally Enters Mobile Arena with iPhone Launch

Apple launched the iPhone last night, which brings together elements of the iPod, mobile phone, digital camera and wi-fi internet access. Although speculated on for some time, the iPhone was officially revealed at the Apple annual Macworld conference in San Francisco. The widescreen device, which runs Mac OS X, has full iTunes integration and can also sync data with a desktop, including music and videos from iTunes, contacts, calendars, photos, notes, bookmarks and email accounts.

Unlike traditional mobile phones, the iPhone does not have a tiny keyboard, instead it comes with a single button and a 3.5-inch touch screen. The touch screen can be used to navigate between playing songs and videos, displaying pictures, typing instant messages or making phone calls.

At the launch Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, asked the question what is the new killer app? And answered it by saying that making calls was the new killer app. Jobs said: "We want to reinvent the phone. What's the killer app? The killer app is making calls. It's amazing how hard it is to make calls on phones. We want you to use contacts like never before.

The iPhone, which comes in two versions, a 4GB $499 (£257) model, and an 8GB $599 (£309) model with a two-year contract, will be available in the US in June. US mobile network Cingular, owned by AT&T, will carry the exclusive contract to provide network coverage and Jobs said Apple anticipates bringing the iPhone to Europe in the fourth quarter of 2007 and Asia in 2008. Source: Brand Republic, See also Mediaweek, AdAge, Advanced Television, Hollywood Reporter, 10th January 2007


INFO DIGEST

Acronyms Defined – Football Federations
* FIFA - Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Football Association)
* CONMEBOL - Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol (South American Football Confederation)
* CONCACAF - Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football
* UEFA - Union of European Football Associations
* AFC - Asian Football Confederation
* CAF - Confederation of African Football
* OFC - Oceania Football Confederation
Source: Acronym Finder


SPORTS SHORTS

* Italian club Parma FC could be sold for as little as €4 million. The club was a dominant force in the 1990s but has struggled financially since the bankruptcy of parent company Parmalat in 2003, and is currently second-bottom in Serie A TIM having won only two matches all season. Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz was close to purchasing the club in 2005 but the deal collapsed. Source: Football Insider, 10th January 2007

* The English Football Association is set to ask FIFA to put pressure on eight agents to co-operate with the bungs inquiry. Inquiry officials met the FA on Tuesday for the first time since the findings were published of the inquiry into illegal payments. The identities of the eight agents, all of whom have a foreign connection, were handed over to the FA. A request has been made for the FA to ask FIFA to pressurise the agents to open up their accounts so that the money from 17 Premier League transfers can be traced. Source: Football Insider, Sportcal, EUFootball.biz, 10th January 2006

* The US soccer team is to play Guatemala in a friendly on March 28. The match will take place at Pizza Hut Park, the home of Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas, three days after another match against an as-yet-undetermined opponent. Friendlies have already been organised against Denmark in Los Angeles on January 20 and against Mexico in Phoenix on February 7. Source: Sportcal, 10th January 2007

* The main draw has been released for US$200,000 Malaysian Open, the opening tournament for Super Series introduced by Badminton World Federation (BWF). Players will compete in Kuala Lumpur Main Stadium from January 16th onwards. On opening day, the men singles match between World champion LinDan from China against Taufik Hidayat who has won the Olympic title in 2004 will be the match to watch. Hidayat won over Lin Dan in Doha Asian Games and the two rivals have openly traded verbal blows recently. Source: Badzine, People’s Daily, 9th January 2007


MORE NEWS

China/Rights: PGA Tour Embarks On New Channel

The PGA Tour has signed a three-year deal in China with the new Guangdong Golf Channel, launched by Guangdong TV with help from media group Guangdong White Horse. The regional broadcaster went head to head for rights with state broadcaster CCTV for the rights to the American tour. CCTV has launched its own Golf & Tennis Channel.

Thierry Pascal, the PGA Tour’s director of international television said, “The emergence of dedicated golf channels around the world seems to be the trend.” He cited developments in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Scandinavia. The PGA Tour will be co-ordinating the World Golf Championships World Cup at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen in 2007 and 2008. The edition in November of this year will be the first under the umbrella of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Source: Sports Media, 10th January 2007

China/General: Snooker Event Secures Future

The China Open snooker event will continue to take place for at least the next five years under a new agreement between World Snooker and the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association (CBSA) - with state broadcaster CCTV’s sports channel continuing to show the event. The audience for the 2005 China Open final on CCTV 5 was 110 million people, according to World Snooker.

The CBSA will underwrite the staging and prize money costs of the tournament, and in return will be able to sell commercial rights for the event via International Sports Limited as the official promoter. Jiang Heping, head of CCTV Sports, said: "Snooker remains a leader in terms of our viewing figures. We look forward to seeing more Chinese stars coming to the forefront." Source: Sports Media, 10th January 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: FA Prepares to Launch TV Rights Tender

The Football Association, English soccer’s governing body, is to hold an auction for the television rights for England’s home international matches and the FA Cup knockout competition next month, with a target of bringing in more than £400 million ($776 million) over the four seasons beginning with 2008-09.

The target compares with the £80 million a season it gets for its rights under the present deal with public-service broadcaster the BBC and pay-television’s British Sky Broadcasting. The FA hopes to persuade commercial broadcasters, including ITV, Five and the cable operator NTL to join the bidding, according to the Times newspaper, after BBC viewing figures for the FA Cup were up 26 per cent last season.

Meanwhile, figures for last weekend’s third round games were up 3 per cent on a year ago, led by the 7.4 million viewers that watched the BBC’s coverage of Arsenal’s victory over Liverpool on Saturday. Source: Sportcal, EUFootball.biz, Advanced Television, Sport Business, 10th January 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: Yahoo TV on Akimbo

Akimbo, an Internet video-on-demand service for TV, announced that it is working with Yahoo! to bring Internet video directly to the TV. Akimbo subscribers will be able to browse a selection of popular videos updated regularly from the Yahoo! Video service, access titles for free and watch them on TV whenever they want.

Yahoo! hosts and serves hundreds of millions of music, news, sports, movies, and television videos per month. Yahoo! Video combines these assets with content from across the Internet, enabling users to determine what videos are most important to them. The Akimbo Service features more than 14,000 movies, TV series and unique shows from over 200 content partners for watching on-demand on television. Source: Advanced Television, Washington Post, 10th January 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: Skype Launches Desktop Internet Phones

The global internet communications company Skype is setting internet conversations free with the debut of the Skype desktop internet phones, bringing more flexibility in how users place Skype internet calls. The two new desktop internet phones launched are IPEVO’s Solo.1 and TOPCOM’s Webt@lker 5000 with Skype.

This new class of devices is understood to enable consumers and small business users to call other Skype users, mobile phones or landlines via broadband internet connections, without needing to be directly connected to computers. The company informed that the user interface on these phones would be familiar to anyone who has used Skype on a computer and includes exactly the same calling features.

With built-in Skype software and 2.4-inch colour screens, these devices let users select, manage or add new contacts, as well as perform other contact list operations. Users without Skype accounts can also register for Skype through their device.

In addition to free Skype-to-Skype calls, these devices bring Skype’s features, including SkypeOut (cheap calls from Skype to traditional landlines or mobiles), SkypeIn (a number that lets users receive calls from landlines and mobiles on Skype) and Skype Voicemail right to users. The new internet phones will both be available from March this year. Source: Digital Media Asia, 9th January 2007

Related News: Skype, the free VOIP provider which was sold to eBay for £1.3bn, are said to be investing in a global broadband tv rollout this year. Codenamed The Venice Project, it promises programmes supported by advertising revenue. Reportedly, the service is being tested by 6,000 people now. Skype's founders say it is possible to serve "tens of millions of users" once it is up and running. ADOI Malaysia, 11th January 2007

Elsewhere/General: American Football Remains Most Popular US Sport

NFL American football was easily the most popular sport in the USA in 2006 but has a less dedicated following than was the case a year earlier, according to a new poll carried out by Harris Interactive. 29% of adults who follow more than one sport said that professional football was their favourite sport, down from 33% in 2005.

Baseball and college American football remain unchanged on 14% and 13% respectively, while motor racing fell by two percentage points to 9%. The biggest gain was made by men’s professional basketball which increased by three points making it the favourite sport of seven per cent of adults. The survey was conducted online between December 12 and 18, 2006 among 2,309 adults, of whom 1,219 follow more than one sport. Source: Sportcal, 10th January 2007