Friday, 15th August 2008

OLYMPIC BITS

* Michael Phelps’ success in the pool is expected to make him one of the most valuable athletes in the world. Phelps already receives an estimated $5 million annually in endorsement deals - over 10 times what most athletes in his sport make – and is likely to see his net worth increase by tens of millions of dollars. According to Joyce Julius & Associates, Phelps’ air time on NBC has been worth $3.6 million for Speedo alone. Speedo had offered a $1 million bounty if Phelps, only 19 at the time, could equal Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals. The offer still stands for Beijing, where Phelps is on course to win seven golds, if not eight. Phelps other sponsors include Visa, AT&T, Kellogg's, Hilton and Omega watches. Sport Business, Sports City, Sportcal, 14th Aug 2008

* Meanwhile, ticket prices for the swimming finals at the Beijing Olympics, which could see Michael Phelps win a record eighth gold medal, are soaring. Around the Rings reports that tickets with a face value of $15 for August 17 have recently sold on auction site ebay for $3,876.99, whilst a pair of tickets for August 14 sold for $2,799. The facility, officially known as the National Aquatic Center, has 6,000 permanent and 11,000 temporary seats. So far 12 world records have been set in 16 finals, including two in the men's 400-meter freestyle relay (100m leadoff leg and for the entire relay). Sport Business, 14th Aug 2008

Nearly One Third of the World Watched Opening Ceremony

Close to one third of the world’s population watched the spectacular opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, according to figures gathered by Nielsen, the global market research group. The research, gathered from 38 key markets around the world including China, USA, Brazil, Australia, South Africa and Italy, found that just over 2 billion tuned in to watch the ceremony. The highest audience reach was in the Asia-Pacific region, where more than five in 10 people watched, followed by Europe, with 30 per cent of the population watching, and then North America with 24 per cent.

In China, a massive 90 per cent of families are claimed to have tuned in to watch the four-hour opening ceremony in Beijing. But viewing figures were low in some countries such as Argentina and Indonesia, with just 11 per cent and 8 per cent tuning in respectively. In USA, the opening ceremony was watched by an average of 34.2 million on national network NBC.

NBC enjoyed its best ratings so far of the games on Monday night, as it showed Tuesday’s morning action in Beijing, including coverage of multi-world record-holding US swimmer Michael Phelps. NBC’s audience peaked at 82 million on Monday evening, posting a 19.9 rating and 34 share. After five days of coverage, NBC attracted a total of 168 million viewers, close to 15 million more than the first five days of the 2004 Games in Athens. Sportcal, 14th Aug 2008


DATA BOX

Online Video Tipped for Explosive Growth
Research by In-Stat published on Advanced-Television, 15th August 2008

The worldwide online video market is experiencing dramatic growth, according to research firm In-Stat. Worldwide online video revenue is expected to eclipse US$4.5 billion by 2012, up from $1.2 billion in 2008. Purchased/rented videos are expected to offer the most robust growth for online video in the near term, in large part due to an increase in subscription services such as Netflix, which charges a flat monthly fee to deliver an optimal combination of packaged goods and online content that can be viewed on home TV sets. Ad-supported professional video from major TV networks will become a strong revenue contributor by 2012. Other findings indicated that by 2012, 39 per cent of adults in the US are expected to have purchased or rented online video; 54 per cent of respondents still favour physical discs when purchasing movies or TV shows; by 2012, 90 per cent of US households will have access to broadband, with 94 per cent of these individuals watching online video.


SPORTS SHORTS

* A new contract has secured ESPN STAR Sports as exclusive broadcaster of TNA Wrestling across the Indian subcontinent, covering TV, mobile and Internet platforms. Beginning in September, ESS will showcase a lineup of programming from TNA iMPACT! and TNA Xplosion each week, along with special monthly events, to viewers across India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives. ESS will also air a range of TNA Wrestling original programming custom-produced for the subcontinent. ESS and TNA have plans to launch promotional tours across the region, with special consumer contests where winners will be flown to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, to watch the wrestling action live. Worldscreen, Sports City, C21Media, Indiantelevision, 14th Aug 2008

* Malaysia’s first Mobile Expo, conference and Awards unveils Maxis as Pinnacle Sponsor, proudly Supported by MSC Malaysia & OUM at PWTC Kuala Lumpur. GoMobile 2008, Malaysia’s first and most comprehensive mobile lifestyle event encompassing the GoMobile Expo (consumer exhibition), the 2nd Asia Pacific M-Learning and Edutainment Conference 2008 and the Mobile World Star Awards and Gala Dinner; today announced its official launch and unveiled Maxis Communications Bhd (Maxis) as Pinnacle Sponsor and Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia and Open University of Malaysia (OUM) as key strategic partners. The event, organized by LTT Global Communications Sdn Bhd in partnership with Mobile World magazine, will take place on November 20 to 23, 2008 at the Putra World Trade Center (PWTC) Kuala Lumpur. Newswire Today, 14th August 2008

* India has added 6.42 million GSM mobile subscribers in the month of July, report ET, accelerating the pace of subscriber growth from the previous month. Mobile phones costing as low as $15 and call rates as low as 1 US cent a minute has made India, the world’s second-largest mobile market after China. The total GSM subscribers in India at the end of July were 218.9 million. Wireless Federation, 14th August 2008

* Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., Taiwan Mobile Corp., and Far EasTone Telecom Co., Ltd., Taiwan`s top three telecom carriers, have recently introduced mobile cartoon service, which allows their cellular subscribers to download comic strips from content sites their partners offer. In the new service, Taiwan Mobile has entered into alliance with Turner Cartoon Network of the Time Warner Group, Far EasTone has partnered with Tongli Publishing Co. and Sharp Point Publishing Co., Ltd. and Chunghwa has teamed up with Tongli. The collaboration with Taiwan Mobile in this case is Cartoon Network`s first entry into mobile cartoon service. Cartoon Network will first make its Powerpuff Girls cartoon, its Chinese version of mobile sites and intelligence quotient game sites available on mobile phones. CENS.com, 14th August 2008

* Media Agency Middle East (MAME), the single window media and media business consultancy provider, has secured advertising sales representation rights for the 2008 International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy on ART Prime Sports. MAME, which held the representation rights for the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL), was supported by Arab Research and Media Service (ARMS) and Arab Digital Distributors (ADD) in a bidding process for the tournament in Pakistan. The partnership between ARMS, ADD and MAME will highlight ICC events available to cricket fans across the Middle East. Sport Briefing, 14th Aug 2008

* Collegiate marketing agency, ISP Sports, has acquired the multimedia rights for the University of Arkansas (UA) in a ten-year, $73 million deal. Under the deal, ISP will manage certain media rights that were once managed by the university's athletic department, including athletic venue signage, printed material such as game programs, the official athletic web site, at-event hospitality and promotion opportunities. The university will receive $5.7 million in the first year of the contract, a 67% increase on the $3.4 million generated last year. Sport Business, KATV7 Official, 14th Aug 2008

* BE4, the sports marketing group, has been awarded the international distribution rights for the Italian Super Cup, the annual match played between the Serie A league and Coppa Italia cup winners, for the 2008-09 season as the Lega Nazionale Professionisti, Italy’s professional soccer league, prepares to allocate a selection of further rights next week. The one-off Super Cup match will this year be contested by Internazionale and AS Roma on August 24. A starting price for the international rights for the Italian Super Cup was quoted at around €200,000 ($298,360). The reason for the deal being signed relatively late is that the league was forced to process new legislation as part of the overview of Italian soccer that led to the introduction of centralised broadcast rights sales from 2010-11 onwards. Sportcal, 14th Aug 2008


MORE NEWS

Indonesia/Rights: TelkomVision Nets Serie A

International sports marketing agency MP & Silva (MPS) has struck a one-year deal with Indonesian satellite and cable broadcaster, PT Indonusa Telemedia (TelkomVision), for the exclusive pay-TV broadcasting rights to Serie A TIM (sponsor) football in Indonesia. TelkomVision has clinched the rights for the upcoming 2008-09 Italian football campaign after Serie A was last season broadcast exclusively through satellite broadcaster Indovision, and national terrestrial broadcaster, Trans TV (Televisi Transformasi Indonesia).

Rahadi Arsyad, chief executive officer of PT Indonusa Telemedia, said: “The league, considered one of the elite football competitions in Europe and home of the world’s best players, can now be enjoyed by TelkomVision’s subscribers. With quality programmes, such as Serie A, TelkomVision’s vision of becoming the No.1 pay-television operator in Indonesia will now become a reality.”

Andrea Radrizzani, chief executive officer of MPS, added: “Indonesia is one of our core markets for Serie A in Asia and continues to grow strongly across the Indonesian archipelago, and that is why we are delighted to collaborate with TelkomVision, who command a market leading position in the country. We are confident that through our deal with TelkomVision, Serie A will continue to boom and grow in Indonesia.” The new Serie A season will begin on August 31, with Inter Milan looking to defend its title. Sport Briefing, Sportcal, 14th Aug 2008

Malaysia/Broadcast: Measat Bashed at Launch Site

Earlier this week we reported on the launch delay to Malaysia’s Measat 3A, originally scheduled for Aug 21, and citing “technical issues”. It has now been confirmed that the precious satellite, built by Orbital Sciences Corp, was damaged by a crane at the Baikonur, Kazakhstan launch facility. One report says the damaged craft will be flown back to the manufacturers for a thorough inspection, and remedial repairs.

Even if the satellite stays at Kazakhstan, the delay to Measat 3A’s launch will be several weeks, if not months. The launch provider is Intelsat-backed Land Launch, the ground-based spin-off from Sea Launch, which works with Russian-Ukranian rocket-builder Zenit. This is the second Land Launch event, having successfully lofted an Israeli satellite, Amos 3, back in April.

The impact on Measat was more than just physical. Trading in Measat Global was suspended for a few hours on Aug 11, as was trading in Astro All-Asia, its major DTH client and sister company. The launch delay might have a serious impact on another client, India’s Reliance telecoms outfit which is planning to launch an MPEG4-based ‘Big TV’ DTH service, commencing Aug 15. Rapid TV News, 14th Aug 2008

Elsewhere/General: English Football Clubs Beating Credit Crunch

English football clubs are proving resilient to the current economic climate, with many Premier League and Championship clubs already at, or approaching, their season ticket capacities for the 2008/09 season, according to research by the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

Director of the Group, Paul Rawnsley, said: “Football fans are again demonstrating their commitment and loyalty to their clubs, despite the current challenging economic climate. Whilst football is not recession-proof, it is recession-resistant. Attendances in the Championship – which was the fourth best attended league in Europe in the 2007/08 season – averaged over 20,000 in the first round of matches last weekend, and bumper crowds are expected as the Premier League kicks off on Saturday.”

Alex Byars, Senior Consultant in the Sports Business Group, added: “We expect strong match attendances to underpin an increase in the total revenues of Premier League clubs to almost £2 billion in 2008/09, consolidating its status as the biggest revenue generating league in world football.” Deloitte will publish its analysis of transfer spending in England and across Europe after the summer transfer window closes at midnight on August 31, 2008. Sport Business, 14th Aug 2008