Thursday, 18th January 2007

WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

UK’s Channel 4 Embroiled in Celebrity Big Brother Storm

Reaction to the alleged racist and bullying behaviour of 'Celebrity Big Brother' contestants intensified overnight with complaints topping a record 14,500, police and MPs getting involved, and Carphone Warehouse reviewing its sponsorship. Public reaction to the episode has been overwhelming and the tally of complaints to Ofcom surged overnight from 7,600 to a record 14,500 by 8.30am this morning. The previous record was 9,000 about 'Jerry Springer: The Opera' in 2004.

Channel 4's press office has put the figure of complaints it has received by last night at 2,000. The controversy appears to have reawakened viewer interest in the show. Last night's audience was 4.5m representing a 18.6% share, compared with Monday night's 3.5m viewers and 14% share.

The furore was sparked by a number of verbal attacks on Indian housemate Shilpa by fellow celebrities Jade, her mother Jackiey, now evicted from the house, boyfriend Jack, disgraced former Miss Great Britain Danielle and ex-S-Club star Jo. Shilpa has been asked whether she lived in a shack and her accent has been mocked by Jade, and when she made food for the group, Danielle said: "You don't know where those hands have been."

Allegations that a bleeped-out comment by Jack referred to Shilpa as "a Paki" have been denied by Channel 4, which claimed the word he used the word "c**t". Jackiey referred to Shilpa as "the Indian" and asked her "Do you live in a house or a shack?". The treatment was yesterday condemned by comedy actress Meera Syal as "vile spectacle" and "bullying".

One person has complained to the police, who will consider whether to begin an investigation. The police have also been made aware of emails received by the 'Big Brother' studios making threats against a number of the housemates. Carphone Warehouse refused to comment yesterday lunchtime, but last night founder Charles Dunstone spoke to the media to say: "We are talking to Channel 4. The sponsorship is constantly under review. We are against racism." Source: Brand Republic, 17th January 2007


INFO DIGEST

Info Box – Advertising Stats
* 52% of very small businesses to increase online spending
* Korean search advertising to bring in US$547 million in 2006
* Mobile advertising to generate $1.9 billion in 2006
* PC in-game ads to generate $400 million by 2009
* Video ads market shares: Yahoo! - 24%, TimeWarner - 14%, Microsoft - 11.4%, Viacom - 8.5%
* Viewed TV ads to decline by 23%
Source: Info IQ

What Beckham is Worth?
David Beckham is set to move to Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy for a record deal worth US$250 million over a five-year contract. Here’s how it breaks down:
* 5 years = US$250 million
* Per year = US$50 million
* Per month = US$4.17 million
* Per week = US$1.04 million
* Per day = US$139,000
* Per hour = US$5,792
* Per minute = US$96.50
* Per second = US$1.61


SPORTS SHORTS

* Fox Sports International (FSI) is handling world sales of the 2007 edition of Asia's top cycling event, Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia. The race starts on February 2 in Langkawi, finishing in Kuala Lumpur on February 11. FSI is distributing all media rights outside Asia. Source Sports Media, 17th January 2007

* China’s Lin Dan took a swipe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for changes in the rules that could now pit the top players against each other early on in a tournament. Seedings in all tournaments in the inaugural Super Series are limited to the top eight. In the Malaysian Open, Lin Dan is drawn to play against Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the first round tomorrow. Taufik is currently ranked 12th in the world and, for the first time in a top flight international tournament, two top players will face each other in the opening round. Source: The Star Malaysia, 16th January 2006

* Singapore's broadcast regulator, Media Development Authority (MDA), has created two types of licenses for IPTV: niche and nationwide. The MDA's new regulations were created with a desire to boost the growth of the IPTV market. Additionally, Singapore Telecommunications' SingNet, a wholly owned subsidiary, has received a nationwide license to broadcast IPTV by the MDA. Source: TV Over Net, 16th January 2007

* The number of digital TV users in China exceeded 10 million at the end of 2006, double the number in 2005. " The number is expected to reach 20 million by the end of 2007," said Wang Yan, general manager of China DTV Media. China now has 92 digital pay channels, said Wang. Source: Advanced Television, 15th January 2007

* Shin Broadband Internet in Thailand has awarded a contract for a next generation Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) push video on demand service in Asia to International Datacasting Corporation to provide IDC's Datacast XD Content Management and Distribution software. Shin Broadband Internet pushes High Definition (HD) movies over the Shin Satellite Ipstar system across Asia to low cost consumer Set-Top-Boxes (STBs) located in user's homes. IDC's Datacast XD software will be used to manage the delivery of this content on this network. Source: Indian Television, 17th January 2007

* Serie A returned to action at the weekend, but attendances in the Italian top flight continued to be disappointing. Recriminations from the summer’s match-fixing scandal have seen attendances in Serie A plummet with fans turning away from live football in their droves. This weekend was no exception with only one game managing to attract more than 30,000 fans at the San Siro in Milan, which is shared by city rivals AC and Inter. Source: Football Insider, 17th January 2007

* NFL owners voted in October to play up to two regular-season games outside the USA every year for the next five years, starting with a single game in 2007. The league had identified four priority markets where the first game was feasible from a logistical and broadcast perspective - the UK, Germany, Canada and Mexico (after eliminating China and Japan). Sports Media, 17th January 2007

* The Heineken Cup, Europe’s top rugby union clubs competition, is on the line after France’s top teams said they would be boycotting the 2007-08 edition. Rugby’s Top 14 are concerned about the impact of the Heineken Cup schedule will have on their domestic league. The season’s start is likely to be delayed because France is hosting the Rugby World Cup in September and October. Source: Sportcal, 17th January 2007

* BitTorrent has teamed with Netgear to deliver high-definition movies and TV shows to HDTVs, with BitTorrent working with Netgear on marketing and technology initiatives. Both will promote video downloads streamed to high-definition televisions (HDTVs) through Netgear’s Digital Entertainer HD media receiver, and provide distribution of media files over home networks. Netgear will market BitTorrent’s online marketplace, which is slated to launch in February 2007, in collateral and on its website. Source: Marketing Magazine, 17th January 2007


MORE NEWS

Korea/New Media: T-DMB Heads Outside Seoul

South Korea will extend its terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (T-DMB) service outside of the capital Seoul over the next few months in an attempt to kick-start slowing growth in the market. The platform could launch in major cities as soon as March, extending countrywide in the second half of the year, after the government cut the time it will take to test the broadcasts from 60 to 30 days.

Around 1.8 million T-DMB handsets have been sold in South Korea since launch in December 2005. The free-to-air platform consists of 11 TV, 25 radio and 3 data channels. That compares with the 15-channel satellite DMB (S-DMB) pay service offered by TU Media, which recently topped the one million handset mark.

But reports that growth of T-DMB handset sales have slowed in recent months have dogged the market. One of the factors blamed for the slowdown is the lack of signal outside of Seoul. Source: Rapid TV News, 18th January 2007

China/General: We Are Not 'at War'

China’s sports ministry has rejected a claim by Simon Clegg, chief executive of the British Olympic Association, that the rise of the country as a sporting nation has triggered a ‘war’ with its rivals. Clegg had said: ‘In sporting terms, actually, we’re all at war against China. We’re seeing the emergence of a sporting super state and it’s quite frightening for all the other nations in terms of their preparations and expectations for the 2008 Games.’

At the 2004 games in Athens, China claimed 32 gold medals, just three behind USA in the final standings. However, the organising committee of the 2008 games, which are being staged by Beijing, said: ‘Our job is to create the best conditions so that all athletes from all nations achieve excellence. The Olympics is about promoting mutual benefits and understanding, so these kind of fears are misplaced.’ Source: Sportcal, 17th January 2007

China/Malaysia/General: Grand Prix 'Won't Be Hit by Corruption Scandal'

Organisers of Formula 1 motor racing’s Chinese Grand Prix have insisted that it will not be affected by a corruption scandal in Shanghai, even though Yu Zhifei, general manager of host circuit the Shanghai International Circuit has been embroiled in an investigation into the social security scandal since October last year.

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi, the prime minister of Malaysia, has stressed the importance of Formula 1's Malaysian Grand Prix to the country's economy. He said: 'To put things into perspective, an average of 40,000 international fans - in addition to tens of thousands of local fans - have come to Sepang F1 circuit each year since its inception to catch the Malaysian round of the Formula 1 World Championship.

'Some 600 million more viewed it live via television broadcasts. Effectively, that makes the Malaysian GP the single biggest event to showcase Malaysia to the international audience and to attract foreign tourists.' Source: Sportcal, 17th January 2007

India/New Media: UK Mobile Operator Plans Indian Link-up

Virgin Mobile, the UK mobile phone operator, is planning a tie-up with the Tata Group, one of the biggest conglomerates in India. Tata chairman Ratan Tata is said to be in talks with Virgin about the group becoming an exclusive franchisee of Tata Teleservices, the firm’s telecoms arm and India’s sixth-largest mobile operator.

The venture, which could be operating as soon as April, is expected to involve creating a business owned partly by Tata Teleservices. With a population of 1.1 billion of which only 12 per cent, or 140 million people, are mobile phone subscribers, India has huge potential as a mobile phone market. Tata Teleservices, which operates under the Tata Indicom brand, has 8.6 million customers, a 7-per-cent share of the market.

It is thought that a tie-up with Virgin is aimed at attracting more young users. Virgin Mobile, which does not have its own network, already operates in the USA through a joint venture with Sprint. Virgin’s UK group, which has merged with cable operator NTL, uses the network of T-Mobile, the German-owned mobile business. Source: Sportcal, 17th January 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Telemadrid in TV Soccer Proposal

Spanish regional TV broadcaster Telemadrid and Caja Madrid bank are creating a new joint-venture to manage the TV broadcast rights for two important local soccer teams, Atlético de Madrid and Getafe. The agreement has to be ratified by Telemadrid’s board, which is likely to happen next week.

Telemadrid's general manager Manuel Soriano says the rights will cover the seasons 2009-2013. La Delegación del Consejo de Administración de RTVM (the public regional company running Telemadrid) will make their decision, including the shape of the management board, next Tuesday.

TV rights for the upcoming seasons until 2009 are shared by the producing company Mediapro, which is the largest shareholder of the laSexta channel and Sogecable, owner of the Canal+ Spain, Digital+ and Cuatro operations. If the Telemadrid/CajaMadrid plans come to fruition it would mean the emergence of Telemadrid as a major presence in the market for soccer rights. Madrid residents are reputed to be amongst the most passionate fans of televised football in Spain. Source: Rapid TV News, 18th January 2007

Elsewhere/General: MLS to Continue Prudent Approach

High-profile footballers looking to cash in on a lucrative move to Major League Soccer (MLS) have been warned the League will not sacrifice its “fiscally responsible” approach. In the wake of the announcement of David Beckham’s astronomical £128 million, five-year deal with Los Angeles Galaxy last week, a string of top Europe-based players have been linked with a move to MLS.

However, Nick Sakiewicz, a founding executive of the MLS back in 1995, insists the League has traditionally been prudent in transfer dealings, and the Beckham contract is unlikely to represent a significant change in tact. “We are a League that is very fiscally responsible and tightly controlled in terms of the money we spend and invest. It continues to take discipline on our side to be very strategic about players that we sign.”

Sakiewicz is presently president of the Soccer New York arm of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). AEG is one of the most influential companies in United States soccer, and owns the LA Galaxy, Chicago Fire and Houston Dynamo franchises and last week sold DC United. Sakiewicz enjoyed a playing career of his own during the 1980s, including spells on the books of French side Nantes and Portuguese team Belenenses. Source: Football Insider, 17th January 2007

Elsewhere/General: Super 14 Sides Eye London Date

Two of the foremost provincial rugby union sides in the southern hemisphere could be set to play a money-spinning 2008 Super 14 fixture in London. The Vodacom Stormers, which represent South Africa's Western Province, are considering an event organiser's proposal to take next season's home game against New Zealand's Canterbury Crusaders to the English capital.

Should it go ahead, the game would be the first to take place outside the participating countries and could expect to generate huge revenue through ticket sales to London's sizeable expatriate population. The Super 14 is the annual competition involving provincial sides from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The Crusaders, six-times winners of the competition and one of the most ambitious of world's rugby franchises, have given their backing to the principle behind the plan. Such a drastic change of venue would require the approval of the New Zealand Rugby Union and Sanzar, the organising body for the Super 14. Source: Sportcal, 17th January 2007

Elsewhere/Programming: FSN Launching Fight League

FSN, the umbrella for Fox’s regional sports networks, will carry the new International Fight League (IFL), which starts its first season of 11 dates on Friday. The IFL is the world’s first team-based professional mixed martial arts league. FSN has acquired multi-year rights to televise 22 one-hour late night event programs, produced by the IFL, beginning in the second quarter of this year.

FSN also has the right to produce related ancillary programming, pay-per-view events and video-on-demand product. FSN and the IFL are setting up a joint venture to deliver IFL content via the Internet, broadband video and mobile. In addition, New Corporation’s new broadcast network MyNetworkTV is planning to broadcast 22 two-hour IFL-produced programs to begin in mid-2007.

MyNetwork TV was launched in late 2006 after CBS and Warner created the CW Network, merging their WB and UPN networks. The name My Network TV was chosen to echo the group’s MySpace.com website. The IFL operates as a single entity with 12 teams - 10 in the USA (including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles), and the others in Tokyo and Toronto. Source: Sports Media, Broadcasting & Cable, Mediaweek, 17th January 2007

Elsewhere/Business: IMG Media Completes Agency Acquisition

IMG Media, the media arm of the international sports agency, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the CSI Sports group of companies (formerly Octagon CSI) from CSI Sports’ management team. The agency had recently been the subject of a management buyout from former parent company Interpublic, the US advertising giant.

CSI’s strengths lie mainly in soccer and cricket, with its clients including: the Football Association, English soccer’s governing body; the Football League, the second-tier English soccer league competition; the England and Wales Cricket Board; Cricket Australia; New Zealand Cricket; Cricket South Africa; and Zimbabwe Cricket.

IMG Media’s own soccer and cricket activities have previously been relatively limited, with its main involvements this year being marketing the rights for soccer’s Scottish Premier League and France’s Ligue 1. Source: Sportcal, 17th January 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: Skype Creators to Launch Online TV Service

The co-founders of Skype, the internet telephone service, have developed a new service offering high-quality live television over the internet. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who sold Skype for $2.6 billion to auction website eBay in 2005, will fully launch the new ‘Joost’ service within six months.

Fredrik de Wahl, the venture’s chief executive, said that Joost will combine the best features of television with the strengths of the internet, such as the ability to create personalised channels, chat to others viewers and reschedule programmes on the move. ‘With Joost, we've married that consumer desire with the industry's interests.’

Most of its revenues will come from advertising, with viewers forced to watch targeted spots. Joost users will be able to watch established channels or choose from a large content library according to their mood and interests, using special search and filtering software. De Wahl said ease of use was the key. Source: Sportcal, 17th January 2007, see also Media News on 19th December 2006


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

The Honeymoon for User Generated Content is Over

The user generated online video market (UGOV) exploded in 2006 and by the end of the year, user generated videos made up 47 per cent of the total online video market in the US. By 2010 more than half (55 per cent) of all the video content consumed online in the US will be user generated, representing 44 billion video streams.

Although accounting for more than half of all online video content consumed – user generated videos will make up just 15 per cent of total revenues. These are the latest findings from Screen Digest, the media analyst firm, which today releases its latest report on the UGOV market. Advertising will be the principal source of revenue for UGOV sites. In the US ad revenues will grow from $200m in 2006 to almost $900m by 2010. This represents only 15% of all online video revenues.

So whilst there is no shortage of consumers ready to use these sites, the key challenge facing the many companies that now operate in the UGOV arena is finding a business model that will make them financially viable. There are five business models currently being used to make money from UGOV: - Advertising - Content Licensing - D Commerce (digital sales and rental of premium movie and TV content)- Subscriptions- Technology Licensing

Site owners and advertisers could struggle to find cost-effective advertising means on millions of videos. Whilst experiencing a period of trial and error searching for the right advertising formats, the sites risk losing their 'cool' factor as users are turned off by finding mainstream advertising on their personal videos. So far advertising looks like it will become the business model favoured by most players, but returns will be slow to materialise.

Screen Digest Senior Analyst and the report's author, Arash Amel said "2006 was a phenomenal year for UGOV, with exceptional growth in the number of UGOV streams and with Google's $1.6bn acquisition of YouTube. Yet, it's proving rather difficult for UGOV sites to monetize their video streams." “UGOV sites need to diversify to survive. With the dominance of YouTube and MySpace Video, smaller sites need to offer something different.”

Emerging alternative offerings include online editing, revenue sharing with content producers and hybrid services which offer premium and user generated content. The popularity of user generated video online reflects what the Internet has emerged to be all about – empowering and connecting people. Using UGOV anybody can make, mix, remix and edit their own videos and distribute them at the click of a mouse to millions of potential viewers.

Having missed out at the start on other digital revolutions, media players have been quick to sign up to this phenomenon. Whilst the major acquisitions of YouTube by Google, and MySpace by News Corporation were enjoying media attention in 2006, other key players were quietly entering the same space, either through acquisition or new business initiatives. Sony, Time Warner, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Turner, Comcast and Viacom are now all poised to maximise the opportunities posed by UGOV in 2007 and beyond.

UGOV in Europe remains a fledgling industry in comparison to the US market. Amel believes that we'll see localised versions of the big names like MySpace appearing alongside new regional sites. In 2007 expect to see videos on Sumo.tv, YourkindaTV and Putfile in the UK, MyVideo and Clipfish in Germany, DailyMotion, YooTribe and Wideo in France and Flurl Media in Belgium. Source: Screen Digest, 17th January 2007