Wednesday, 4th April 2007

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

Clubs to Contest Champions League Plan

Europe's top clubs are preparing to fight UEFA president Michel Platini's proposals for Champions League play-offs. Platini is proposing a new qualifying round where lowest-placed qualifiers from England, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Portugal would play against each other to give more teams from smaller leagues a place in the group stages but G-14, the grouping of 18 leading European clubs, is drawing up plans to contest the change.

G-14 leaders will meet before the UEFA Cup final in Glasgow next month when it is expected they will formerly endorse their opposition to any such change. A source close to G-14 said: "We expect to get support from the television companies who pay a lot of money to screen Europe' s leading clubs in the Champions League. The Champions League is a very successful product in its current format and it would be a mistake to change it."

Platini has promised to run any proposals by UEFA's new strategic council. However, of the four clubs on the council, AC Milan, FC Barcelona and Ajax are G-14 members while Chelsea is the fourth, and would probably side with G-14. It is understood that G-14 is not threatening a breakaway 'superleague' but added: "We already have a European superleague - it's called the Champions League, and it works very well." Source: Football Insider, Sportcal, 3rd April 2007


INFO BOX

988 Billion Gigabytes of Digital Information to be Created in 2010

In 2006, 161 exabytes of digital information were created and copied, continuing an unprecedented period of information growth. This digital universe equals three million times the information in all books ever written – or the equivalent of 12 stacks of books, each extending more than 93 million miles from the earth to the sun.

According to IDC, the amount of information created and copied in 2010 will surge more than six fold to 988 exabytes, a compound annual growth rate of 57%. While 70% of the digital universe will be generated by individuals by 2010, most content will be touched by an organization along the way – on a network, in a data center, at a hosting site, at a telephone or Internet switch, or in a backup system. Organizations – including businesses of all sizes, agencies, governments and associations – will be responsible for the security, privacy, reliability and compliance of at least 85% of the information. Source: Ken Radio, 20th March 2007


SPORTS SHORTS

* China's phone operators are gearing up as 3G services loom. New cell phone subscribers outstrip new fixed-line users and fixed-line operators China Netcom and China Telecom have decided to cut capital expenditure for 2007. The cuts are intended to improve 3G preparedness. China Telecom has improved cash flow to prepare for the purchase of 3G licenses. The Chinese government has promised 3G services for the 2008 Olympic Games and analysts predict 3G infrastructure construction will complete within twelve months. Source: Telecom Asia, 4th April 2007

* CDMA mobile phone service is expected to be commercially available nationwide in Thailand by the end of the year, with CAT Telecom teaming up with the operator of the Hutch brand to market the service. Hutch CDMA service is currently available in 25 central provinces including Bangkok through Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, a joint venture between the state telecom enterprise and Hutchison of Hong Kong. CAT now has about 15,000 CDMA subscribers while Hutch has 700,000 users in a cellular market of nearly 40 million. Source: Telecom Asia, 3rd April 2007

* AirAsia agreed a three-year sponsorship deal with Formula One’s AT&T Williams team. The airline’s logo will appear on the nose of the team’s FW29 car from this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The Kuala Lumpur-based carrier is already a sponsor of English Premier League club Manchester United, and joins fellow airlines Etihad Airways and Kingfisher Airlines in sponsoring a Formula One team. Source: Sport Business, 3rd April 2007

* Thailand's national soccer team has arranged friendly matches against China and Qatar in preparation of this summer’s Asian Cup competition. China and Qatar, who are also gearing up for the Asian Cup, have been provisionally arranged for May 16 and May 30 respectively. Thailand will also play the Netherlands at the same stadium on June 6. Thailand is one of four co-hosts for the 2007 Asian Cup, alongside Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. The tournament is scheduled for July 7 to 29, with Thailand drawn in a group with Oman, Iraq and Australia. Source: Sportcal, 3rd April 2007

* Zee TV has applied to the BCCI to start a new Indian cricket league that would run parallel with BCCI’s own leagues and tournaments. Zee claims the purpose of the League, in which it is prepared to invest $23 million, is to create a new pool of talent upon which the BCCI can draw. The new league would have six teams in its first year, rising to 16 by the third year and would offer prize money of $1 million. It would adopt the abbreviated Twenty20 format of the game, before progressing to the one-day match format. Source: Sportcal, Agencyfaqs, Exchange4Media, Indian Television, 3rd April 2007

* The NFL has called off its pre-season exhibition game between Seattle Seahawks and New England that was scheduled for August in Beijing. The China Bowl was to be the only international game of 2007, but has now been postponed due to indication that NFL was already devoting enormous resources staging a game in London in October 2007 and did not want to risk cutting corners on either project. As a result, the Chinese game will be played at a later date in summer of 2009. The league is also currently setting up an office in Beijing. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 3rd April 2007

* Sepp Blatter will be elected for another four years as president of FIFA next month after no challenger to his position stepped forward. The deadline for nominations has passed with no rival being put forward to stand against Blatter, who has been president of football's world governing body since 1998. Blatter was nominated by 66 of FIFA's 207 member associations and no challenger has emerged. He will be sworn in during the FIFA Congress in Zurich on May 31 for a third term in office until 2011. Source: Football Insider, Sport Business, Sports e-Media, 3rd April 2007

* Sepp Blatter is reported to be planning a cull of the organisation’s senior management following his expected re-election next month, after it was confirmed that he would be unopposed in the election. Blatter will begin by ousting general secretary Urs Linsi, according to the Guardian newspaper. Blatter is also set to refer allegations of corruption against executive committee members to the body’s recently-formed ethics committee, as he bids to tackle a series of smears against Fifa. Source: Sportcal, 3rd April 2007

* Eurosport will again produce and broadcast the 2007 ULEB Cup Final in Charleroi, Belgium on Tuesday, April 10. The pan-European TV channel will move over 50 people on site to air the Lietuvos Rytas vs. Real Madrid game through Eurosport 2 and reaching more than 22 million households across Europe. Eurosport has broadcast 56 games and more than 400 hours of ULEB Cup action during the last year, allowing improved quality and distribution, which allows five continents - Europe, Africa, America, Asia and Australia - to follow this Final. Source: Sports e-Media, 3rd April 2007


MORE NEWS

Japan/Broadcaster: SkyPerfecTV Grows, But Slowly

Japan’s SKYPerfecTV had 3.6 million individual subscribers at the end of March 2007, an increase of 10,139 – its second-best monthly growth since June 2006. With 45,987 new individual subscribers signing up during the period and 35,848 individual subscriptions lapsing, churn stood at 11.9% on an annual basis. Including provisional subscribers, the company had a total of 4.23 million subs. The platform has grown slowly since reaching 3.5 million subscribers in June 2003, with net additions in some months as low as 2,000.

At the end of March, subscriptions to the 189-channel SKYPerfecTV service stood at 3.2 million, down 6,137, while those to the 75 TV and data channel e2 by SKYPerfecTV which also includes high-definition services, rose by 13,152 to reach 357,406 individual subscriptions. In total, SKYPerfecTV had 3,559,417 individual DTH subscriptions.

SKYPerfecTV merged with satellite services provider JSat earlier this week on April 2. As part of the merged company’s new management plan, it is targeting 8 million subscribers by 2012. Most of that growth – 3.6 million – is expected to come from the core SKYPerfecTV platform, with communications satellite platform e2 by SKYPerfecTV targeted to reach 1.8 million subscriptions by the end of 2011, up from 360,000 currently.

But SKYPerfecTV has already entered the alternative distribution market, with not a huge amount of success. Its SKYPerfecTV!HIKARI optical fibre platform, which launched in February 2004, ended March with a total of just 28,067 subscribers. During March, it signed up 3,452 new subscribers and lost 238, a net increase of 3,214. Churn rate was 11.5%.

The platform has been marketed to detached homes as well as apartment buildings since April 2006. But targets for the service remain low. Management want just 800,000 individual subscribers by 2011. And again, the service has been growing steadily but unspectacularly, with total net additions generally between 1,200 and 2,200 most months for the last year. Source: Rapid TV News, 3rd April 2007

Korea/Broadcaster: Changes to Media Industry as Korea-US FTA Concludes

After 10 months of tough negotiations, the US and South Korea were finally able to reach a free trade agreement (FTA) minutes before the 1 pm, April 2 deadline. Amidst various issues dealt with, South Korea has agreed to open domestic markets to a number of U.S. exports including the screen quota sector.

Korea also announced that it will push to open the country’s broadcasting sector in a phased manner. This c omes after AOL Time Warner chairman, Richard D. Parsons, and South Korean President, Roh Moo Hyun, privately met during the FTA negotiations, sparking much controversy in the local media broadcasting world.

The controversial issue came from Time Warner’s announcement of plans to launch a Korean-language dubbed CNN broadcast channel with local media company and cable TV operator Joongang Broadcast Corp, which has four cable channels in Korea including Q-Channel, J-Golf, Cartoon Network and the History Channel, the latter two of which come from joint partnerships with Time Warner.

Current broadcasting laws in Korea prohibit foreign-language TV news shows like CNN from broadcasting their original content that has been dubbed in the Korean language. The laws were put in place to protect the local TV audience from being influenced by foreign opinion as well as to prevent local TV studios from being overrun by foreign giants. Source: Entertainment Asia, 4th April 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Highlights Go To Public TV

France 2 will be the new home of highlights of Ligue 1 football starting next season. Public broadcaster France Télévisions will pay Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) €24.5 million a season to deliver new magazines also covering Ligue 2. The new France 2 Foot is scheduled to kick-off on July 29.

TF1 has been the home of highlights for nearly 30 years and currently pays €19.0 million for the action showcased in its Téléfoot show on Sundays. TF1 cut the rights fee to €14.1 million in its offer to take the programme forward.

The LNP, meanwhile, awarded live Ligue 2 match on Monday nights to incumbent, Eurosport. Eurosport was the only bidder, offering €10 million a season. Eurosport also bid €3 million for a Friday night match but the league decided the bid was inadequate and did not award the rights. Eurosport currently pays €15 million for Ligue 2 rights. Sportfive beat out Endemol, Host Broadcast Services and Media Pro to produce Ligue 2 coverage. Source: Sports Media, 3rd April 2007

Elsewhere/General: Motor Racing Meets Soccer in Revived Race Series

Two of the biggest-earning sports, motor racing and soccer, are being brought together in a revival of a concept for a new motor racing championship. Italy’s AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven from the Netherlands, Portugal’s FC Porto and Olympiakos of Greece are among leading European clubs that have already signed up as partners to the Superleague Formula championship.

The series is scheduled to start next year using F1-style cars, each representing a major football club and carrying the club’s colours. The competition would bring revenue to the clubs through licensing agreements, sponsorship and television rights. The championship is to start initially as a six-round European series, with a 20-car grid. However, the intention is for the Superleague to become as global as Formula 1.

Alex Andreu, a Spanish sports marketing specialist who has developed the idea of the competition with the UK’s Robin Webb, said an average top club could raise between €14 million ($18.7 million) to €18 million from a five-year contract in the series. He told Sportcal.com: ‘The competition will be financially viable because it will attract a new audience to motor racing. We’re targeting 18 to 40-year-old football fans, not petrolheads.’

Andreu estimates that there are 150 million soccer fans in Europe and South America representing a potentially large audience for Superleague Formula. He said that if 5 to 10 per cent tune in for the motor racing series than it will be viable for two years, although the audience will need to grow after that. Superleague said that other clubs in talks over becoming involved included Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia (Spain), Inter Milan (Italy), Boca Juniors (Argentina), Flamengo (Brazil), America (Mexico), Suwon Bluewings (South Korea) and Shanghai Shenhua (China).

The main partners are Spanish businessmen, including the son of former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, and the Havas Media group. Superleague Formula is also working alongside communications consultants Imagination, and advertising firm TBWA, part of the Omnicom group. They expect to make a loss initially, with a profit forecast from year three. Source: Sportcal, 3rd April 2007