Monday, 9th April 2007

SPORTS SHORTS

* Over 20 web portals and sites in China are bidding for the rights to broadcast the Beijing Olympics online and to mobile phones. The International Olympic Committee plans to award separate contracts for live video rights on the Internet and on mobile devices; however one company could get both contracts. Analysts say Sohu.com, which has built and manages the official Olympics web site in China, will face competition from Sina and NetEase.com. Deadline for bids is April 18. Source: Television Asia, 9th April 2007

* Hong Kong’s cross-media interactive television channel, The Interactive Channel - Health and Lifestyle re-launched its simulcast on CABLE TV'S Channel 27 and online at www.tictv.com on April 8. Viewers can participate in all live programmes via the Internet and telephony services including SMS chat room, phone-in hotline, video phone hotline, online voting, and appear on shows via 3G phones, video phones and webcams. TIC-H&L offers a variety of interactive programmes to deliver healthcare and lifestyle information. Source: Television Asia, 9th April 2007

* VOOM HD Networks and the Media Development Authority of Singapore presented television event Singapore Metro BMX Jam, a two-day, free-to-public event featuring BMX's top athletes at the Somerset Skate Park in Singapore on April 7 and 8. The event was shot with eight HD cameras and an extensive HD outdoor broadcast set-up, and will be broadcast on new HD channel Sling HD, which telco SingTel will launch soon. Over 40 international athletes competed in the event. It also received support from Asian Extreme Sports Federation and Singapore Sports Council. Source: Television Asia, 9th April 2007

* IMG Media is producing World's Sexiest Cricketer for STAR News in India. While male viewers are preoccupied with the ICC Cricket World Cup, the 13-part interactive series targets females, enabling viewers to vote for contestants based on physique, hairstyle, smile, dress sense and personality. Titled Crazy Kiya Re in India, it airs twice a day on Saturdays and Sundays, hosted by MTV India's VJ Cyrus Sahukar. Balu Nayar, Managing Director, IMG India said the format is aimed at expanding the audience for cricket in India. Source: Television Asia, 9th April 2007

* The Sun TV group has forged a joint venture with the Malaysia-based Astro All Asia Network Plc to provide direct-to-home services in India. Astro-owned South Asia Entertainment Holdings Limited would acquire 20% stake in Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd for US$166 million, the maximum permissible stake that can be acquired in India. The venture aims to provide direct-to-home satellite TV services in India beginning in the second half of 2007. Sun TV Ltd will also launch a sports and a documentary channel this fiscal. Source: Exchange4Media, Separate/Related News on Indian Television and Indian Television, 7th April 2007

* South Korea's CJ Group is looking to expand into Vietnam's burgeoning entertainment and leisure industry, having operated there for ten years in other business sectors. CJ Group Chairman Jay Hyun Lee said the company plans to develop film studio and entertainment complexes in the city over the next few years. CJ Group has been working with HCM City Television (HTV) to explore the possibility of jointly building a film studio in Cu Chi District. Source: Television Asia, 9th April 2007

* Cable companies and content providers fear the new US-Korea free trade agreement will result in a deluge of U.S. investment in the cable sector and warn that U.S. programming will be more costly and command more screen time. The Korean Cable TV Association slammed U.S.'s demand to open the market as "cultural imperialism," which would result in massive U.S. investment that would swallow the cable TV industry. The association warns prices would be hike for broadcasting rights of properties such as English Premier League, Major League Baseball and Hollywood movies. Source: Television Asia, 9th April 2007

* The Football Association of Malaysia has decided to expand the Malaysian Super League from 13 to 14 teams for the 2007-08 season. The move will mean only one team will be relegated at the end of the current season instead of two, while top two teams will be promoted from the Premier League. FAM’s competitions committee chairman Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainudin Raja Omar said, “There will be no changes to the 11-team Premier League and the top two will go up.” Source: Football Insider, 6th April 2007

* Manny Pacquiao has rounded on his political opponents in the Philippines who are trying to block the broadcast of his upcoming bout with Mexican Jorge Solis. Opposition leader Darlene Antonio-Custodio, who Pacquiao will face off in a local election later this month, wants a blackout on news of the fighter not linked to his election campaign including the broadcast of his fight with Solis for the WBC Super Featherweight title on April 15. Source: Sports Media, 6th March 2007

* Analysts think that Setanta Sports may have overpaid for the rights to the FA Cup and England's home international matches. Setanta has about 250,000 subscribers but needs to hit the 1 million mark to break even. It is planning a marketing push and is spending £15m which is small beer compared with the £70m spent by BSkyB last year. With its channels available on satellite, cable. digital terrestial and TV on the internet, one aim is to reach sports fans who want to watch games at lower prices than BSkyB. Source: Vital Football UK, 6th April 2007

* In 2005, NASCAR renewed a deal through 2014, with Fox carrying the first 13 Nextel Cup races, TNT carrying the next six, and ABC and ESPN broadcasting the final 17 events starting in 2007. The deal was reported to be worth approximately $4.48 billion. Some analysts project the international broadcast deals soon could add another $1 billion to that amount. The NASCAR lured Juan Pablo Montoya from the F1 circuit last year, and is being watched in more than 150 countries and broadcast in 32 languages. Source: TV Week, 9th April 2007

* In Germany, TV rights for Euro 2008 look certain to be awarded to free-to-air television instead of pay-TV. Premiere had tipped ARD and ZDF, the public-service broadcasters, to win all or the majority of rights, with commercial broadcasters RTL or Sat.1 perhaps acquiring the remainder. Sportfive ‘had Premiere in mind as a strong bidder’ but Uefa had ‘failed to create the package properly by not offering exclusivity after the group stages.’ The decision has left Sportfive struggling to secure the €150 million ($200.5 million) it is seeking from for the German market, with ARD and ZDF refusing to pay a price that they regard as over the odds. Source: Sportcal, 4th April 2007

* Premiere paid €200 million for both the German all-TV rights for Champions League for three years from this season onwards, despite having no free-to-air outlet of its own. Initially it turned to DSF, the privately-owned sports broadcaster, to make 13 live matches available on its free-to-air platform. DSF’s free-to-air coverage excluded matches involving German teams after the group stage. Broadcasting the high-profile game on Sat.1 enabled the match to be seen by an average of 9.43 million viewers and gave significant exposure to Premiere’s Champions League branding and production. Source: Sportcal, 4th April 2007

* Plans for a friendly between Brazil and England have advanced. Brazilian assistant coach and former star Jorginho told reporters, "It is confirmed that we will play a friendly against England sometime between April and June." Jorginho was in Venezuela ahead of their first match in Copa America 2007. In addition to a warm-up against England, Brazil will play two other friendlies in Europe before defending the Copa they won in 2004. The English are currently struggling to qualify for Euro 2008 and their next date is June 6 against Estonia. Source: AHN Global News, 4th April 2007


MORE NEWS

China/Broadcaster: Launch of High Def Broadcasts in October

China Central TV will start broadcasting high-definition programmes in October, and the Chinese standard on terrestrial digital broadcasting will be implemented in August, according to Zhang Haitao, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). Zhang said SARFT had formed six working groups in cooperation with several other ministries to implement the terrestrial digital broadcasting standard.

China will provide digital TV, high-definition TV, mobile TV and Internet protocol TV as scheduled before the Olympic Games kick off in seven host cities next year. There are more than 360 million TV households in China and 140 million families have cable TV, but there are only 12 million digital TV users. China Daily notes the transition to digital TV may be difficult because many Chinese households already get more than 30 satellite channels and will not want to pay more for similar programming. Source: Television Asia, 9th April 2007

Japan/New Media: Digital Broadcasts to Cell Phones on the Rise in Japan

Almost 10 million people, or about 10% of Japanese cell phone users, will be watching One Seg distribution of digital terrestrial TV signals by this summer as sales of 3G cell phones more than doubled in February over January, totalling about 5 million, according to Japan Electronics Information and Technology Association (JEITA). One Seg means one of 13 segments of digital terrestrial broadcasting frequencies used for distribution to cell phones, was launched in April 2006 by all three cell phone carriers.

KDDI expects more than 70% of all cell phones sold each month will be One Seg models. So far, TV signals received by One Seg terminals are all from digital terrestrial broadcasting, using the same programmes and commercials: thus there are no additional revenue streams for broadcasters. But by the end of 2008 programmes proprietary to One Seg are expected to be decontrolled, creating new business opportunities. Source: Television Asia, 9th April 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: UEFA Reports On Media and Marketing Boom

UEFA’s director of marketing and media rights Philippe Le Floc’h reported on the successful implementation of centralised media and marketing rights for the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup. UEFA announced details on Wednesday of far broader distribution of matches, better promotion, higher revenues and a prominent group of broadcaster and sponsor partners with respect to the new package.

The centralised package includes the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, which start with the first leg matches, semi-finals and final as well as the UEFA Super Cup. The main features of the new three-year cycle for media and marketing partners include a substantial increase in the number of televised games available to fans in Europe and across the world and TV rights being sold to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Live simultaneous Internet streaming of UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup matches on broadcasters’ websites has also been introduced, while Carlsberg, Vodafone, Toyota, Intersport, Canon and Banco Santander have all signed sponsorship deals. Le Floc’h said: “Feedback on the centralised concept has been encouraging with many stakeholders welcoming UEFA’s vision including the clubs, broadcasters and sponsors.” Source: Football Insider, 9th April 2007

Elsewhere/Business: Foreign Ownership Potentially Dangerous

The increasing trend of foreign investment within the Barclays Premiership could damage the long-term stability of the game should owners not “commit the right resources to the business”. Several top-flight clubs are now in the hands of foreign investors, with American tycoons Tom Hicks and George Gillett the latest to takeover at Liverpool. The Premier League maintains that, provided the intentions of new investors are sound, there should be no cause for alarm.

Foreign ownership in the English top flight is nothing new. Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed bankrolled Fulham’s rise from the old Second Division to the Premiership, while an Icelandic consortium took control of troubled West Ham United earlier this season. Wimbledon, though, saw its brief ownership by Norwegians end in relegation in May 2000 - and eventually a controversial move to Milton Keynes.

Vinay Bedi, football analyst at Brewin Dolphin, feels that is only a good thing when the football clubs are proving to be profitable. He said: “The long-term danger would be that they lose interest and do not commit the right resources to the business. The clubs could be left to fester under ownerships who are not interested in them or have moved on to their next project. So, there could be fire sales as clubs are passed to new owners when in 10 years, revenues may drop and the Sky TV packages are no longer lucrative.” Source: Football Insider, 6th April 2007

Elsewhere/General: MLS Launches Beckham Era in 2007

Major League Soccer kicks off its 2007 season on Saturday with its new star attraction - David Beckham - waiting in the wings. Beckham's leap from Real Madrid to the Los Angeles Galaxy - for a breathtaking compensation package worth a total of US$250 million - was front page news across the United States.

The former England captain won't join his new team until sometime after his contract with Real runs out in June. But already Beckham and his wife Victoria, long tabloid fodder in England, appear on their way to making themselves at home among the celebrities of Hollywood. Victoria Beckham, the former Spice Girl, is to be the star of a new TV reality show chronicling her move to Los Angeles.

Beckham's profile is just what the MLS, struggling for attention in the US market, was hoping for when it approved the designated player rule - the so-called Beckham Rule - which allows clubs to break their salary cap to sign one major player. "You can't get any bigger than David Beckham," Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas said. "You have to pay for it, but the international attention that Galaxy and the league has got is unprecedented."

The move has also brought Mexico's Cuauhtemoc Blanco to the Chicago Fire. He too is not expected to make his MLS debut until July at the earliest, after Mexico completes competition in this summer's CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Copa America in South America.

The addition of marquee internationals isn't the league's only move in its effort to join the elite ranks of world football. A partnership with the German Bundesliga and a recent deal between the Colorado Rapids and Arsenal are signs of a league looking for respect from established footballing countries. There also is the launch of the SuperLiga, which will attempt to recreate the storied United States-Mexico rivalry at the club level. Source: China Daily, Commentary by Ridge Mahoney on Soccer America, 6th April 2007


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

Latest Violence Likely to Cost Italy 2012 European Championships

Quentin Tarantino would no doubt have been delighted by the horrendous scenes of gratuitous violence in Rome's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night had they been for his latest movie. Unfortunate the display of what at times appeared to be pre-meditated brutality was the real thing as Manchester United fans were beaten and batoned by Italian riot police. It was gut-wrenching viewing as police went over to United supporters laying on the ground and beat the unarmed fans with batons.

And what will happen to these legalized thugs? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Those representing the law are sadly also above it. Yes, there will be a UEFA investigation, but European football's governing body admitted it has no control over police forces. Italian law says police are responsible for public order inside stadiums. "Stadia in Italy are municipal stadiums, they are not the property of the club. We are definitely in favor of soft policing, which is clearly the use of stewards who we know can handle a difficult situation probably better than riot police," said UEFA spokesman William Gaillard.

For the second successive Champions League tie, United supporters felt the too strong arm of the law after the French authorities had attacked visiting fans at the tie against Lille last month. In Rome, the police allowed the home fans to almost do what they liked but put the baton in on United supporters indiscriminately according to one eye witness.

Roma could be charged if it is judged to have failed in its security arrangements, while United could be in trouble if its fans are found to have a played a significant role in provoking the police's reaction. Thirteen United fans required hospital treatment. One female supporter was seen being pushed in the face by a policeman while another was repeatedly struck with a baton as he lay on the ground.

The biggest problem inside the ground, apart from the bullies in uniform, was that it was not all-seat. In its wisdom UEFA has already chosen Rome as the host for the 2008 Champions League final and is unlikely to reverse that decision. But it will insist the Olympic Stadium fully conforms to its standards with individual seats rather than numbers painted on benches, which is effectively little more than glorified terracing. It was the ability to run along large areas of the "seating" that saw Roma fans start the trouble on Wednesday by hurling missiles (there were no security searches as spectators entered the stadium) at United fans -- had the stadium been all-seat in the accepted sense they would not have had such freedom.

Incredibly there was no visible police presence among the home fans despite their reputation. They were all in the visiting supporters' area and waded in with their batons, hitting the victims rather than the perpetrators. While the Champions League final may be going to Italy the latest outbreak of violence could cost the world champions the chance of staging the 2012 European Championship. Christopher Davies comments on The Japan Times, 7th April 2007