Wednesday, 11th April 2007

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

F1 Team Rights Go Up For Grabs

Dutch media agency Media Republic has teamed up with Spyker F1 to offer the four main exposure points on the team’s car to the highest bidder. Bidding went live on midnight last Friday – but by first thing this morning, no-one has been tempted to put in a bid. The four sections ranged in starting price from 500,000 to 3m euros.

Bas Verhart, CEO Media Republic, said: “Spyker Formula One is a challenger brand with global potential. We believe there are many people out there who'd like to be involved 'from the beginning' of this long-haul success story. Of course we're expecting some corporate interest, but we also think that this is a unique opportunity for all those eccentrics and philanthropists out there, who want to propose marriage in-style, support their chosen charity or highlight just causes.”

It is believed to be the first time F1 sponsorship has come under the virtual hammer on the hugely popular site. The auction runs until midnight, April 16. To visit log-on to the page at Ebay. Source: Sport Business, 10th April 2007


WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

Ronaldo to Star on The Simpsons

AC Milan striker Ronaldo will star in one of the new episodes of the 18th season of The Simpsons on FOX. Ronaldo will appear in the episode to be aired on April 22 in the USA as a friend of Homer, and will lend a hand to Lisa`s football team. Ronaldo recorded his voice-overs in Portuguese, English, Dutch and Spanish. The Brazilian former Real Madrid forward is a popular figure for cartoon-makers, having two years ago been offered a role in the Garfield 2 film. Problems over the timetables prevented the player from taking part in that particular project. Source: Football Insider, 10th April 2007

Romario's Quest For Landmark Strike Proves Lucrative For Clubs

Brazil legend Romario’s attempt to reach the 1,000 career goals landmark has proved highly lucrative both for his club, Vasco da Gama, and their rivals. The last four games that Romario, who is currently just one goal away from the landmark, has been involved in have reaped US$1.263 million in gate receipts. The 41-year-old striker has taken part in two Copa do Brasil games against Gama and the Campeonato Carioca derbies against Flamengo and Botafogo. The first Gama game, with Romario on the 998-goal mark, brought in the lowest amount of gate receipts of $204,641.

Against Flamengo, the 1994 World Cup winner scored his 999th goal and that game brought in $358,594, while expectation concerning the 1,000th goal made fans pack out the Maracana stadium for the Botafogo derby. That game brought in $457,438, while the last match against Gama, also at the Maracana, left the teams with $242,740. Even if teams deduct taxes from the total brought in, the total amount generated is larger than the sponsorship deal Vasco signed with the BMG bank, which is worth $740,000. Source: Football Insider, 10th April 2007


INFO BOX

Top Broadband Countries
Source: Info IQ, 10th April 2007

The number of broadband subscribers worldwide topped 281.3 million in 2006, representing growth of 31% for the year, according to a report from Point Topic. The top-ten list of broadband countries shows little change although China continues to close the gap on the US, down to 5.4 million from 8.6 million a year ago, after adding more than 14 million lines in 2006.

However, France achieved the highest growth in 2006 with over 40%. Although other countries outside the top 10 are growing faster in percentage terms (India with 152%, Turkey 88%) the net adds in the 'Top 10' broadband world generally continue to outstrip other countries.

Worldwide, DSL remains the most popular broadband access technology with a 65.7% market share. DSL accounts for 87% of all broadband subscribers in the Middle East and Africa - the fastest growing broadband region - and 82% in the European Union (EU). The EU added 17.5 m illion DSL subscribers in the year to maintain its position as the world?s number one broadband and DSL region.


SPORTS SHORTS

* Malaysian national news agency, Bernama, may soon have its own TV channel soon. A member of parliament had proposed that Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) provide a third channel specially for Bernama's audio-visual unit or Bernama TV to help strengthen the influence of the electronic media in the provision of news in the country. From 15 April, Bernama TV will take over broadcast of news on Astro live from the agency's headquarters. The news would be broadcast in four languages - Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil. Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcast Union, 9th April 2007

* Interactive TV solutions provider NPTV and Malaysian content provider, Vision New Media, have established New Vision Partners, a joint venture, to address content and technology needs of the burgeoning mobile market in Asia. The company will provide solutions to create instant, downloadable, rich-media applications that work on all Java-enabled mobile phones. The applications will benefit from the Bando Player for Mobile (BPM) technology. Creating a fully customisable player will allow all manner of applications to be deployed, regardless of handset manufacturer or operator. Source: Advanced Television, 10th April 2007

* The China Baseball League returns for its fifth season later this week with Japanese support in the form of Softbank Group as league organiser and partnerships between each of the league’s six teams and a team from the Nippon Baseball League. Chinese officials believe that the development of the league will help to improve the competitiveness of the national team, which is due to compete in next year’s Beijing Olympic Games. Source: Sportcal, 10th April 2007

* China's national soccer team is to play three friendly matches in USA in the run-up to this year's Asian Cup. The team will play one match against the US national team, plus matches against Major League Soccer sides the Colorado Rapids and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Asian Cup, which takes place every four years, is scheduled for July 7 to 29 this year. Source: Sportcal, 10th April 2007

* The Deutsche Fußball Liga has reported international television revenue for the Bundesliga in 2006-07 increased 25% from the previous year while its number of territories was up by about 15% to over 150 countries. More than 2,300 matches and a total of 285,000 minutes of coverage were carried internationally. The current season is the first in which Sportsman Media Group has handled foreign sales, on behalf of international rights-holder Bwin Interactive Entertainment, which has international TV, internet and mobile rights for three seasons. Source: Football Insider, 10th April 2007

* Television rights, according to figures released by the IOC, will generate more than US$1 billion from the 2010 Winter Olympics. And between Vancouver's 2010 and London 2012 Games, broadcasters will collectively pay US$3.8 billion for exclusive rights to carry the Games. The 1996 Atlanta Olympics television rights fetched US$935 million while TV agreements for the 1976 Olympics saw broadcasters pay a grand total of US$35 million. Source: Canada.com, 10th April 2007

* ESPN will target American sports viewers unfamiliar with soccer, with coverage of Major League Soccer this season. ESPN will air MLS in primetime on ESPN2 every Thursday, attempting to bring soccer into the mainstream. It is a landmark year for MLS, with David Beckham making his debut season for Los Angeles Galaxy. ESPN producer Tim Scanlan said: "Fans who regularly tune in to ESPN to check out the sports world will get to sample this." ESPN's MLS advertising slogan reflects the strategy: "You're a fan. You just don't know it yet." Source: Football Insider, 10th April 2007

* The official website of the Augusta Masters golf tournament, and CBS SportsLine said the first three days of live streaming video from the 2007 Masters served nearly four million streams of live golf action. Average time spent viewing video programming was approximately three hours per visit. The Masters Extra and Amen Corner Live streams delivered over 45 hours of live video free of charge. Masters Extra was produced by CBS Sports, while Amen Corner Live was produced by CBS SportsLine. Source: Sports Media, 10th April 2007

* Seychelles will host the Intercontinental Rugby Super Cup in February 2009. The rugby 13 will be the grand final between champions of Australia and England but before the decisive encounter, there will be two other matches, one involving the Seychelles national side. The IRSC is to be aired live worldwide, giving Seychelles two hours of publicity on channels like the BBC and Sky TV. Local station Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) will film and broadcast the IRSC with the assistance of foreign TV companies. Source: Seychelles Nation, 10th April 2007


MORE NEWS

Don King: 'Beast from the East' Gunning for Rocky's Record

The giant Russian, Nikolay Valuev, has a lot more at stake than simply his WBA heavyweight title when he takes on the Uzbek challenger, Ruslan Chagev, this Saturday. The 2.13m tall St Petersburg native is also closing in on one of the most impressive records in boxing -- Rocky Marciano's 49-bout winning streak. Valuev has won 46 bouts, including 34 knock-outs, with one no contest and no defeats in a career that began in 1993.

That it took him more than 10 years to reach the top of his game is testament to his staying power and his improvement over the years. When he first came to global attention ahead of a WBA title challenge against American, John Ruiz, in December 2005, he was seen as a circus act -- a giant with little skill and a lack of power given his imposing size.

However, since that dubious split decision victory - most observers felt that Ruiz, a champion of jab and grab boxing, had done enough to take the fight - Valuev has gone on to prove he does have the skills to take on and beat top fighters in the division. Stoppage victories over well-respected Americans: Owen Beck, Monte Barrett and Jameel McCline, have demonstrated that there is more to Valuev than simply a money-spinning freak show.

And now the Beast from the East has one eye on Marciano's record which was set between 1947-1955. "Breaking the record would mean a lot to me. Rocky Marciano is a legend, as is his record," said Valuev. "I really want to get my name down in the record books, especially because I have got so close now."

Should Valuev overcome Chagaev, as is expected given his 29cm height advantage, not to mention a weight superiority that may well top 45kg, Valuev is expected to try to set up a fight against current IBF title-holder Wladimir Klitschko. Valuev's co-promoter Don King stirred up the clamor for a Valuev-Klitschko showdown recently when he claimed a fight off was needed.

"Absolutely! That's the only way to give the public something they can relate to and identify with," said King. "They must be able to know who is the champion. Right now they're very confused and so am I. He's [Klitschko] on the list. I want Klitschko like a rare steak or roast beef," King said. "Nikolay Valuev told me: I want him Mr King, I want him. He has a great appetite and it's insatiable."

However, any such fight is fraught with problems due to various contractual obligations. "Of course our managements would have to reach an agreement," added Valuev. "A stumbling block would also be the TV stations. Klitschko is with RTL and I am with ARD. They would have to find a solution." Source: Taipei Times, 11th April 2007

Thailand/New Media: Carriers Dispute Access Charges in Court

Thai mobile operator DTAC reiterated it would continue not to pay access charges to TOT, forcing the state telecom enterprise to take legal action to find a fair resolution. But the Norwegian company bowed to the TOT board's demand that it pay access charges for three million new numbers recently allocated by the National Telecommunications Commission, in the form of a bank guarantee or a letter of credit.

DTAC has also pledged to withdraw the lawsuit it filed against TOT over the latter's blockage of its three million numbers due to its failure to pay access charges to TOT. DTAC had sought more than 100 million baht ($3 million) in compensation from TOT for potential business losses. Sigve Brekke, the chief executive of DTAC, said his company would continue not to pay access charges to TOT for its old numbers worth 800 million baht ($25 million) per month unless a court orders it to do so.

Private operators have argued that the new interconnection fees, the rates they charge each other to handle call traffic across networks, take precedence over the access charges. But TOT, which earns more than 12 billion baht ($367 million) a year from the access charges, has been reluctant to adopt the interconnection system approved by the NTC. DTAC owes TOT 3.6 billion baht ($110 million) in charges going back to November 17 last year. Source: Bangkok Post on TelecomAsia, 11th April 2007

Elsewhere/General: WMG Teams Up With National Governing Bodies

Three major US governing bodies covering swimming, gymnastics and track and field have entered into a marketing partnership with the Wasserman Media Group. The deal will see WMG become the long-term exclusive marketing partner of USA Gymnastics, USA Swimming and USA Track & Field. Aside from sponsorship, event and marketing opportunities, WMG will also develop digital platforms to broaden distribution and original programming. The three bodies will work together to secure deals.

WMG will build and manage individual online community portals for each sport within the company's online sports network, Sportnet. Casey Wasserman, chairman and CEO, WMG, said: “It is a privilege to be in business with three of the leading national governing bodies in the United States. Through an evolving and fragmented marketplace, this group has joined together with the vision and leadership necessary to take their organisations to this next level.” Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 10th April 2007