Friday, 27th June 2008

DID YOU KNOW…?

Maria Sharapova is back to her old tricks, grunting at levels to match a pneumatic drill. The 21-year-old Russian let out a volley of shrieks and yelps as she played fellow Russian Alla Kudryatseva in the second round of Wimbledon. Using a digital sound level meter, The Telegraph recorded maximum decibels of 103.2, louder than a motorcycle or a lawnmower. She grunted loudly as she lost the first set, but her noisiest offering came as she served for the first time in the second set. Her opponent remained silent throughout, going on to win the match. The Telegraph UK, 26th Jun 2008


INFO BOX

8.62 Million Wireless Subscribers added in May 2008

Total 8.46 million telephone connections (Wireline and Wireless) have been added during May 2008 as compared to 8.00 million connections added in April 2008. The total number of telephone connections reaches 316.97 million at the end of May 2008 as compared to 308.51 million in April 2008. The overall tele-density is 27.59% at the end of May 2008 as against 26.89% in April 2008.

The total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & WLL(F)) base stood at 277.92 million at the end of May 2008. A total of 8.62 million wireless subscribers have been added during the month of May 2008 as against 8.21 million wireless subscribers added during the month of April 2008. In the wireline segment, the subscriber base has slightly decreased to 39.05 million in the month of May 2008 as against 39.21 million subscribers in April 2008. Indiantelevision.com, 26th June 2008


SPORTS SHORTS

* The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Philippines has served its first ever temporary restraining order (TRO) against a pirate cable operator – Turtle Cable, a company in Baao, Camarines Sur province – for copyright infringement. This latest move by the IPO has been applauded by the international pay-TV industry. The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) welcomed the decision. "This is the first time we have brought a cable piracy case to the IPO, and we are pleased that the IPO administrative judge has recognized the validity of the TV industry’s concerns about protecting our intellectual property," said Simon Twiston Davies, Chief Executive Officer of CASBAA. AdvancedTelevision.com, CASBAA.com, Rapid TV News, Worldscreen, 27th June 2008

* The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has rejected ESPN's contentions, seeking to allow it to make mandatory for DTH operators to offer its channels in the entry level pay tier, while working out pricing on a mutually agreeable basis. ESPN, involved in legal spat with DTH operator Tata Sky, had asked Trai through its new Reference Interconnect Offer (ROI) its intention to make it compulsory for DTH operators to take all three channels — Star Sports, ESPN and Star Cricket — collectively in their base package. Sports City, 26th Jun 2008

* MediaCorp's Caldecott Productions International (CPI) will be launching its HD channel Caldecott HD on internet and IPTV platforms such as Babelgum, Joost, Factual TV, ClixSmartv, WOWtv within the next few months. "The first 18 months were best analogous to paving roads in territories where there were none before. Right from the start, our mission was different because we wanted to find original stories that have an untainted voice in the storytelling technique," Hee Yah Ong, managing director and executive producer for CPI, said. Marketing-Interactive.com, 26th June 2008

* Speculation of Malaysia-based Astro buying out Star's 25.9 per cent stake in Balaji Telefilms lifted the shares of the television production house to as much as 9.44 per cent, but the stock closed Thursday only 0.66 per cent up to Rs 199.35 on the BSE. Balaji Telefilms and Star executives refused to comment, but the market has carried their uneasy relationship to speculate on the possible buyers. The names that have been doing the earlier rounds are Reliance ADAG and Eros International. Astro has shown aggression in the Indian media market and holds stake in Red FM and in Sun Direct, the DTH venture of Kalanithi Maran's Sun Group. Indiantelevision.com, 26th June 2008

* Discovery Networks India (Discovery) is set to air Ultimate Olympics, a one-hour, four-part series, from 14 July. The series will be aired every Monday at 9 pm. Ultimate Olympics aims to take a look at the "innovation, endeavor and commitment" that China and her athletes are pouring into hosting and participating in the sporting event. The series, produced by Discovery’s international production, has been in the making for the past 18 months. Indiantelevision.com, 26th June 2008

* UEFA’s new approach to providing video content for the official website of Euro 2008 was essential to ensure that it kept up-to-date with today’s methods of media consumption. All 31 matches have featured live video streaming, as well as near live mobile clips, edited video on demand (VOD) highlights and live coverage direct from the stadia in multilingual format. Euro2008.com also offers highlights and full replays of games, as well as interviews and analysis. 173 matches that have been played in the Finals since 1960 are also available. All matches have been streamed live thanks to partnerships with broadcast partners on a subscription basis, along with match highlights and interviews. Sports Media, 26th Jun 2008

* A1GP World Cup of Motorsport plans to offer world feed TV broadcast in high definition. A1GP is carried by more than 45 broadcast licensees, reaching nearly 180 countries and territories around the globe, but under the new plans they will all now be given the option to receive A1GP's host broadcast in high definition. Broadcasters without high definition channels will still be able to receive the standard definition feed. Pictures will be from 60 cameras situated around the track, in the pits and on the A1GP cars, manned by a crew of 130 production staff and engineers. Sports Media, 26th Jun 2008

* The F1 season will stretch to 19 races in 2009 after a race in Abu Dhabi was added to the calendar. The season will start later than normal in Australia on 29 March and will end in Abu Dhabi on 15 November. The FIA published the draft calendar after a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council. There will be four back-to-back races, starting with Australia and Malaysia. F1 has only once before had a 19-round championship, in 2005, but earlier this year, team bosses backed plans to expand the calendar to 20 races a year. India and South Korea are hoping to make their debuts in 2010 while F1's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone would like to include Russia and the United States. Sports City, 26th Jun 2008

* The PGA Tour unveiled a new competition that will see golfers challenge the game's most celebrated holes with the winner receiving $1 million (506.5 million pounds). The Kodak Challenge, which will debut in 2009, will combine the PGA Tour's most famous holes into a year long 18-hole event that golf officials hope will help maintain fan interest later into the season after the majors and FedEx Cup is completed. The player who posts the lowest score relative to par on 18 of the Challenge holes will receive the $1 million prize. Details have not been finalised but the Challenge is expected to include a minimum of 24 tournaments. Sports City, Sportcal, 26th Jun 2008


MORE NEWS

Global/Broadcast: Storms Knock out Euro 2008 TV Feed

A violent thunderstorm in Austria caused a power cut at the Euro 2008 International Broadcast Centre in Vienna last night, resulting in television broadcasters worldwide losing their signal at several points during the Germany-Turkey semi-final. During the second-half, television and internet images cut out several times, resulting in viewers missing key moments of the match, as Germany took a 2-1 lead, then conceded an 86th minute equalizer, before defender Phillip Lahm scored an 89th minute winner.

In a statement, Uefa said, “Tonight the television signal in the International Broadcast Centre for the Germany-Turkey game has been interrupted several times in the second half due to technical reasons which are currently being investigated, in particular to evaluate the impact of the violent electrical storm over Vienna at that time.”

Uefa was initially unable to explain why two broadcasters, Swiss public-service broadcaster SRG and Middle-East broadcaster Al-Jazeera, were able to maintain coverage throughout the second-half. It later transpired that SRG was able to access a feed sent to Swiss stadiums. SRG also provided the feed to German broadcaster ZDF for 15 minutes.

The heavy rain, high winds and lightning also resulted in the evacuation of a fanzone in Vienna, during which two people were injured after being trampled in the rush to leave. The order to close the fan zone was given after the storm winds exceeded 100 kilometers per hour. Sport Business, Sports City, 26th Jun 2008

The BBC and ZDF are among the broadcasters said to be considering filing formal complaints with UEFA after a power outage disrupted the broadcast of last night’s Euro 2008 semi-final match between Germany and Turkey. Almost 20 minutes of last night’s gripping match, watched by a reported 30 million viewers in Germany alone, went unaired in the second half, including Miroslav Klose’s goal that put Germany ahead, followed by Turkey’s equalizer. The feed returned in time for Germany’s final 3-2 winning goal, before going down again at the end of the match. Worldscreen, 26th Jun 2008

China/New Media: CCTV.com Wants More Olympic Internet Deals

CCTV.com, the internet arm of the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, has said that it is looking to agree deals with more Chinese websites for internet coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing after signing sub-licensing deals with a trio of companies, including the Sohu.com portal.

It emerged earlier this month that Sohu, already a partner of the games, had acquired webcasting rights from CCTV.com, but deals have also been agreed with two more domestic websites – Pps.tv and Uusee.com. CCTV.com is reportedly negotiating with another eight commercial websites and over 100 local government websites and a final list of internet partners is to be revealed at the end of this month, a CCTV.com spokeswoman told the China Economic Times newspaper.

The Pps.tv and Uusee.com deals are similar to the Sohu deal, the spokeswoman said. Sohu will be able to offer live webcasts and video-on-demand coverage of the games, providing what it claims will be ‘total coverage of Chinese representatives, athletes, teams and Olympic champions at least 60 seconds ahead of any other website.’

There was controversy over CCTV’s initial acquisition of the internet rights for China last December, with accusations that it acquired the rights for well below the market value, thanks to the intervention of the Chinese government. It was claimed that the International Olympic Committee had been intent on an open bidding process, but that Sohu.com and Sina.com withdrew their bids under threat from the government. Sportcal, 26th Jun 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: ARD Questions Soccer Rights After Sat.1 Uefa Deals

ARD, the German public-service broadcaster, has warned that soccer rights are running the risk of becoming too expensive after losing out to Sat.1, the commercial network, in the race to secure rights to soccer’s top European club competitions. Sat.1 recently completed a deal for rights to the Uefa Champions League, the top-tier European clubs tournament, and the second-tier Uefa Cup from 2009-10 onwards, and Fritz Raff, ARD’s chairman, reacted in an interview by saying that ‘there is a danger in the air that soccer, as a product, will become too expensive’ and that ‘there are too many expectations on behalf of the rights holder.’

Raff told the Westfälische Rundschau newspaper that he was ‘sad’ not to have won the rights to Europe’s club competitions, but stressed that the broadcaster must realise its limitations, saying: ‘We are not only passionate programme makers but also conscientious businessmen. Then you must know where the limits are.’

ARD is reported to have bid €20 million ($31.5 million) a season for Uefa Cup rights, not enough to eclipse Sat.1. Referring to Sat.1’s acquisition, Raff said, ‘If you are in distress, then you reach for the last straw. And at the moment that’s soccer rights.’ Sportcal, 26th Jun 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: France Télévisions Eyes Champions League Rights

France Télévisions, the French public-service broadcaster, is reported to be interested in acquiring rights to the Uefa Champions League, European soccer’s top-tier clubs competition. Daniel Bilalian, the head of sports at France Télévisions, is keen to see the Champions League coverage move from TF1, the French commercial network and incumbent rights holder, to France 2, the main channel of France Télévisions, reports Le Parisien-Aujourd'hui, the French daily newspaper.

France Télévisions has never broadcast the competition before and a bid could cause the public-service broadcaster budgetary problems. TF1 holds rights until the end of the 2008-09 season, along with Canal Plus, the French pay-television operator, and is thought to pay between €40 million ($62.8 million) and €45 million a season.

New deals in France will be for three seasons from 2009-10 onwards. France Télévisions holds soccer rights for the Coupe de la Ligue, the French league cup competition, and the Coupe de France, the French national cup competition, but recently lost highlights rights to Ligue 1, the top-tier French league. Sportcal, 26th Jun 2008

Elsewhere/General: Mosley’s Takeover Plans Spark FIA Action

The FIA took the first step in Max Mosley’s masterplan to wrest control of Formula One and its revenues from Bernie Ecclestone yesterday by announcing that it is to conduct a full review of the way the sport is governed. After a meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Paris, chaired by Mosley, its president, the world governing body said that it will enter into “a wide-ranging consultation with the Formula One teams to examine plans for improved efficiency, including new technical regulations for the championship”. It added that the review will include a rethink of the “governance of Formula One”.

The statement went on to announce the entry deadline for next year’s championship, which has been brought forward, without warning, to the end of next month. This was being seen by Mosley’s critics as his way of heading off the threat of a breakaway series outside the auspices of the FIA by teams who no longer want to work with him in the wake of the scandal over his private life.

In another surprise, widely viewed as designed to hurt Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights-holder, and CVC Capital, his business partner, the FIA also announced the setting up of a new Formula Two championship. This will be styled as a feeder series for Formula One at the expense of the GP2 Series, which is owned by Ecclestone and CVC. The FIA’s statement was bland, but the spin in the background from the organisation’s spokesmen made it clear that it marks the first salvo in what some view as a battle between Mosley and Ecclestone over the future of the sport and the hundreds of millions of pounds it generates.

Mosley is aiming to enlarge the FIA’s role in deciding how much of the sport’s revenues go to the teams and is said to be aiming to increase annual payments to them by up to 25 per cent. Ecclestone is determined that the FIA should not interfere with the commercial side of the sport and believes that the European Commission would intervene if Mosley presses ahead. However, in recent days it has emerged that the FIA has taken soundings from the Commission about its role and claims it has received what amounts to a green light to proceed along the lines advocated by Mosley. Sports City, Sportcal, 26th Jun 2008

Elsewhere/General: Platini Sends Financing Warning to Europe's Top Clubs

Michel Platini is determined to reform the finances of Europe's debt-ridden clubs. The Uefa president was at pains to emphasise that this is as much an issue in Spain and Italy as it is in England, but his pledge will be noted in particular by Chelsea and Manchester United. Together, according to their most recent accounts, they owed a total of £1.5bn to creditors. Platini wishes, in the long term, to license clubs and then exclude those who do not meet the financial criteria from the Champions League and the Uefa Cup.

He is adamant, too, that this initiative will not be quietly ditched. "In three to five years I want to resolve the situation of debt, which does not apply only to England," he said. "It's the second part of my programme." Platini, as a great player of the 1970s and 1980s, was at first underestimated when he took over as Uefa president last year. Subsequently, though, he has shown how effective he can be once he has identified a specific priority.

After coming to an agreement with Uefa over disputed matters, the G14 group disbanded, so withdrawing the threat that it would form a breakaway European league. A European Club Association (ECA) is being established in its place and the planned make-up means that a majority of its members will almost certainly be supportive of Platini's stance.

Chelsea's wages, which amount to £133m a year, stand at 70% of the £190m turnover. Manchester United's spending in the same area is, at £92.3m, well below half of the £212m turnover. In England, though, there are several clubs of varying sizes who have let salary costs run out of control. All will have to reform themselves if Platini gets his way.

The Uefa president did not confirm that he has wages alone in mind. Platini would hardly be comfortable with that combined debt of £1.5bn for United and Chelsea. The Stamford Bridge club may be the more at ease of the two clubs since their loans come from their proprietor Roman Abramovich. The Uefa president is unlikely to be obsessive about the subject when there is much else on the agenda. Tomorrow he will discuss with his executive committee the potential expansion of the European Championship from 16 to 24 countries in time for the 2016 finals. Platini claims that he has not yet come to a conclusion on that subject himself.

On July 2 and 3 he will be in Ukraine, who are meant to be joint hosts of Euro 2012 with Poland. There has been scant progress there so far and the contract to renovate the Olympic stadium in Kiev seems as if it will have to be put out to tender again after problems with the Taiwanese contractor. Platini himself is deeply troubled and the tournament may yet have to be switched. Spain has been mentioned as an alternative as has a joint bid from Scotland and Ireland. Sports City, 26th Jun 2008