Tuesday, 23rd January 2007

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

DD to Telecast Cricket with 7-minute Time Lag

Millions of viewers who don't have access to the Nimbus owned Neo Sports can finally heave a sigh of relief. The Delhi High Court has ruled that terrestrial broadcaster Doordarshan can telecast the ongoing cricket series between India and the West Indies "deferred live" with a seven-minute delay. All India Radio will however, be allowed to broadcast its commentary live, with no time lag.

The consensus emerged after the High Court, in its order issued today, ruled that 50 million viewers (who don't have cable TV access) cannot be denied the right to watch the game. The timing of the ruling is critical since it comes a day ahead of the second One-Day International to be played in Bubaneshwar, Orissa. It may be recalled that millions of viewers missed out on the action Sunday which saw India defeating the West Indies in the first ODI that was played in Nagpur. Source: Indian Television, 23rd January 2007

Shell Backs Ferrari F1 Tie With World's Costliest Ad

Shell is to seal off the City of London and turn it into a mini Grand Prix-style racing circuit, as part of the filming of an ad highlighting its partnership with the Ferrari Formula One team. The TV execution, whose production cost £2m, making it the most expensive ad ever, will promote Shell's high-performance V-Power fuel. It is intended to support Shell's positioning as the most innovative fuel brand.

The ad will feature Ferrari F1 cars racing through some of the world's most famous cities, including New York and Sydney. The London leg of the ad, being created by JWT London, will be shot on 17 February, with the execution set to air globally in March. Ferrari F1 test-drivers will be used to race the cars in all the cities except for the final straight in Sydney. A Ferrari enthusiast and owner of one of the marque's recent F1 cars will drive the final leg.

The Ferrari activity follows last June's "Made to move" campaign. The multimillion-pound global campaign was the first advertising to be run by Shell since the launch of Optimax in 2001. The most expensive ad to date is widely acknowledged to be British Airways' "face" ad from 1989. Source: Brand Republic, 23rd January 2007


INFO DIGEST

Acronyms Defined – On This Page
* BCCI – Board of Control for Cricket in India (cricket)
* ESPN – Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (broadcast)
* ESS – ESPN Star Sports (broadcast)
* SANZAR – South Africa New Zealand Australia Rugby (rugby)
* IBF – International Boxing Federation (boxing)
* JWT – J Walter Thompson (advertising)
Source: Acronym Finder

Info Box – Don King Productions
* Don King Productions has promoted over 500 world championship fights with nearly 100 individual boxers having been paid $1 million or more.
* DKP holds the distinction of having promoted seven of the 10 largest pay-per-view events in history, including the top four: Holyfield vs. Tyson II, 1.95 million buys, June 1997; Tyson vs. Holyfield I, 1.6 million buys, November 1996; Tyson vs. McNeeley, 1.58 million buys, August 1995; and Bruno vs. Tyson, 1.4 million buys, March 1996.
* DKP has promoted or co-promoted 16 of the top 25 highest-grossing live gates in the history of the state of Nevada including the top five: Holyfield vs. Lewis II, paid attendance: 17,078, gross: $16,860,300 (NOTE: Also highest live-gate gross for any event in the history of the world.), date: Nov. 13, 1999; Holyfield vs. Tyson II, paid attendance: 16,279, gross: $14,277,200, date: June 28, 1997; Holyfield vs. Tyson I, paid attendance: 16,103, gross: $14,150,700, date: Nov. 9, 1996; Tyson vs. McNeeley, paid attendance: 16,113, gross: $13,965,600, date: Aug. 19, 1995; De La Hoya vs. Trinidad, paid attendance: 11,184, gross: $12,949,500 (Also garnered the most pay-per-view buys for a non-heavyweight fight at 1.4 million).
* DKP’s “Super Saturday” boxing card featuring three world championships on Feb. 3 will now make history as the biggest fight card ever in the greater Orlando area featuring three world championship matches: undefeated World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion Tomasz “Goral” Adamek will defend his crown against fellow unbeaten and WBC No. 2-ranked contender “Bad” Chad Dawson; International Boxing Federation lightweight champion Jesus “The Matador” Chavez will face IBF interim 135-pound champion Julio “The Kidd” Diaz; and Cory “The Next Generation” Spinks will make a mandatory defense of his IBF junior middleweight title against IBF No. 1-ranked “Smooth” Rodney Jones.
Source: Doghouse Boxing, 18th January 2007


SPORTS SHORTS

* The World Superbike Championship has been dropped to 13 rounds after plans to run an event in Turkey were dropped. The owners of the Istanbul circuit were unable to agree a contract in time with the sport's governing body and the rights holders. Britain will host three rounds - Donington Park on April 1, Silverstone on May 27 and Brands Hatch on August 5. The series opens in Qatar on February 24. Source: Sporting Life, 22nd January 2007

* Chinese authorities have left ESPN Star Sports (ESS) off the list of foreign channels available in hotels in the country. ESS is not included among the 31 foreign channels approved by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. The only sports channel on the list is Eurosport News. ESS said it is working to reach a new agreement with the regulator. Source: Sports Media Daily, 22nd January 2007

* China’s Sohu.com was today announced as the exclusive website and wireless partner of Team China Football. Sohu in partnership with Infront China will develop the official website (http://www.teamchina.com.cn/), and offer a range of Team China related exclusive content and services to fans in the run-up to the FIFA Women's World Cup 2007, the 2007 Asian Cup and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The agreement runs for two years until the end of 2008. Source: Sports e-Media, 22nd January 2007

* China Mobile Communications has announced an agreement with Millicom International Cellular to purchase 88.86 per cent of the outstanding shares of Paktel, a mobile communications operator in Pakistan. The transaction implies an enterprise valuation for Paktel of $460m. Completion of the transaction is subject to receipt of regulatory approvals. If such approvals are obtained, completion is expected in late February 2007. Source: Digital Media Asia, 22nd January 2007

* The 2007 Korea Open Badminton will start with most of the world's top 10 players competing to grab the world's biggest prize money. The tournament, officially called BWF Super Series-Yonex Korea Open 2007, will be staged from Jan. 23-28 at Jamsil Stadium, participated in by 337 players from 32 nations, the Korea Badminton Association said. The Korea Open offers a prize money of US$300,000, the biggest among international tournaments. Source: Yonhap (Korea), 23rd January 2007

* Los Angeles-based Bennett Media Worldwide is distributing the four-event Honda Ski Tour internationally as four one-hour specials. The shows will be produced by Bennett Productions in high-definition and broadcast on ABC in the USA, with the first one, in Sun Valley (Idaho), going out this Saturday. The tour features half-pipe and skicross competitions, with over $US500,000 in prize money on offer. Source: Sports Media Daily, 22nd January 2007

* Major League Baseball is reported to be set to sign a deal with US satellite broadcaster DirecTV for a package of out-of-market games. DirecTV has agreed to pay $700 million over seven years for the package, according to US media reports. The deal makes DirecTV the exclusive home of Extra Innings, which had until now also been available via cable. Extra Innings lets subscribers, for a fee, watch about 60 games a week from other local markets except their own. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 22nd January 2007

* Supersport, the South African pay-television broadcaster, is reported to be considering legal action over a controversial decision by the New Zealand Rugby Union to rest 22 national team players from the first seven rounds of this year’s Super 14, the competition for provincial rugby union sides in the southern hemisphere. Supersport is in the third year of a five-year, $420-million deal with Sanzar, the umbrella body representing the rugby unions of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, for Tri-Nations and Super 14 games. Source: Sportcal, 22nd January 2007

* Chancellor Gordon Brown on Friday launched the Premier League’s international development strategy in India. Brown spoke after a three-year partnership was agreed between the Premier League and Magic Bus, a Mumbai-based sports development charity which works with 4,000 deprived children. The Premier League has two similar pilots planned in Egypt and South Africa for later this year. Source: Football Insider, 22nd January 2007


MORE NEWS

India/Business: Nimbus Attracts $125 Million of Inverstment

Nimbus Communications Limited has attracted an investment of Rs. 552 crores (around $125 million) from 3i, Cisco and Oman Investment Fund (OIF). The investment will largely be deployed to fund sports rights acquisitions, develop global sports events, finance Indian language and international film production and distribution, develop further digital content production for wireless and VOD/IPTV platforms and expand the broadcasting operations.

The deal is among the largest private equity investment in Indian media & entertainment sector. 3i’s investment is its second in Nimbus while the deal marks the entry of OIF into the Indian market and Cisco’s continued strategy to invest across the Indian content industry.

According to a CII-KPMG report, the entertainment industry in India is projected to grow by 20 per cent year-on-year to touch US $ 13.5 billion (approx Rs. 59, 500 crores) by 2010. Television will form the largest chunk in the entertainment industry, constituting over 60 per cent revenues, at $ 8.4 billion (approx Rs. 37,100 crores) by 2010. The KPMG projections forecast film industry revenues at US $ 3.25 billion (approx Rs. 14, 300 crores) in 2010.

The sports events, sports TV production and sports broadcast sector is considered to be the fastest growing sector and is expected to grow to US $ 1.8 billion (approx Rs. 7.920 crores) in 2010. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, Indian Television, Finance Asia, 22nd January 2007

India/General: Domestic Twenty20 Cricket to Debut in India

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is set to follow a global trend and incorporate a Twenty20 tournament into its domestic cricket calendar. The competition will be similar in format to the existing one-day Ranji Trophy with teams competing in two round-robin leagues and the top sides in each contesting the final.

The competition will take place in the last week of March or the first week of April, according to BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah. Meanwhile, India have invited Australia to play in a potentially lucrative one-day series in North America later this year. New York and Toronto have been earmarked as possible venues but it is uncertain whether the BCCI will accede to a likely demand from Cricket Australia for an equal share of revenues.

It is thought that each fixture in the seven-match series could generate up to $6 million. However, there are also concerns over scheduling, with Australia already committed to a tour of Zimbabwe in June, between the end of the World Cup in April and the inaugural Twenty20 world championship in South Africa in September. Source: Sportcal, 22nd January 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Clubs Sell Television Rights

Regional station Telemadrid has joined forces with Madrid’s biggest savings bank, Cajamadrid, to acquire the television rights to two local clubs in football’s Primera División. The partners have agreed to pay a total of €306 million for the rights to Atlético Madrid and suburban team Getafe for the five seasons from 2009-10 through to 2013-14. Atlético is to receive €230 million and Getafe €76 million.

Telemadrid (TVM) reaches a catchment area of 5.746 million viewers (out of Spain’s total of 42.022 million). TVM is part of the consortium of regional channels, FORTA, which no longer has the rights to league football. Members used to be able to show one live match per week. National network La Sexta now has the Saturday evening match. TV3, another FORTA member, has a deal to show FC Barcelona games in Catalonia. Source: Sports Media Daily, 22nd January 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Channels React to Rugby Boycott

French broadcasters have warned that they do not intend to carry the European Rugby Cup (ERC) if French clubs go though with a boycott of next season’s tournament. The Ligue National de Rugby (LNR) said last week that its teams would not take part in next year’s edition of the competition - known as the Heineken Cup outside France (which bars the beer sponsorship) - because of ongoing disputes over the international calendar and the division of revenues.

After the LNR’s surprise decision, the television companies sent a letter to the organisers of the ERC reminding that their contract has a clear exit clause allowing them to pull out, L’Equipe reported. However, the television executi ves said that they did not see the LNR’s decision as final.

France TV pays €11 million per season for ERC rights under a four-year deal running until 2010, while Canal Plus chips in another €1.4 million annually. France TV shows one live ERC match on Saturday and one live match on Sunday on France 2, plus a Sunday highlights show on the same channel. Games are also shown on digital terrestrial channel France 4. Canal Plus shows up to three live matches per week (France TV gets first choice) on Canal + and Sport +, plus a weekly magazine. ERC matches are also shown on the UK’s Sky Sports, S4C in Wales and RTE in Ireland. Source: Sports Media Daily, 22nd January 2007

Elsewhere/General: Heavyweight Champion to Defend Titles in Germany

Russian boxer Vladimir Klitschko will defend his IBF and IBO world heavyweight titles against Ray Austin of the USA in Mannheim, Germany on March 10. Klitschko last fought on November when he stopped the American fighter Calvin Brock in the seventh round of their contest at Madison Square Garden in New York.

British light-welterweight Ricky Hatton is set to take on Mexico's Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas in June after both emerged victorious from fights in the Nevada city on Saturday night. Hatton defeated Colombia's Juan Urango on points while Castillo won a split decision over Cameroonian Hernan Ngoudjo. Source: Sportcal, 22nd January 2007