Monday, 18th August 2008

OLYMPIC BITS

* NBC, has reported ‘phenomenal’ ratings for its multi-media coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Viewing figures for the first four days of the Games peaked in the US on Sunday with 107.3 million viewers tuning in to watch Michael Phelps win his second gold of the games during the 4x100 men’s relay. NBC said that viewing figures were boosted by on-demand, web and mobile content. The broadcaster reports that the number of unique users to its website increased from 4.2 million on August 8, the first day of the games, to 7.8 million on August 11, with 1.7 million downloads of the final 4x100 relay final. Sport Business, 15th Aug 2008

* Satellite service provider Inmarsat has announced that the Olympics Games are being shared with TV and radio audiences worldwide in greater depth and detail than ever before - with the help of Inmarsat Bgan. Many international media organisations covering the 29th Olympiad have been equipped with mobile Bgan terminals to enable them to broadcast video and audio from any location, as well as access the internet, send email and make international phone calls. This is the first time that broadband mobile satcoms have been used at the Olympics, thanks to airtime and equipment supplied by Inmarsat's Beijing-based partner MCN. Indiantelevision, 16th August 2008

CCTV Takes Legal Action Over Torch Relay Broadcasts

CCTV.com, the internet arm of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, is seeking a reported Yn2.1 million ($305,656) in compensation from Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology, the Chinese internet download service provider, for allegedly broadcasting the 2008 Olympic torch relay live without permission. CCTV.com is also demanding that a public apology be published in the Xunlei website and in the China TV Program newspaper.

CCTV.com, which holds the official internet and mobile broadcast rights for the Olympics, says that Xunlei broadcast live coverage of the torch relay leg in Wuzhong City on June 30. CCTV.com had been granted the right to broadcast CCTV’s coverage of the torch relay and claims that Xunlei’s coverage would cause a huge economic loss to the broadcaster as Xunlei is a popular website that drives a lot of internet traffic. Xunlei said that it had not found any relevant record of the broadcast on its server.

CCTV.com has also taken legal action against the controller of the www.21.cn.com website for its broadcast of the Olympic torch relay leg on Mount Everest, demanding a reported Yn4.1 million. CCTV.com has sub-licensed internet rights to a selection of different Chinese internet portals, including Sohu and Sina. Sportcal, ABU Official, 15th Aug 2008

Military Precision Leads World to Believe it's All Fun and Games

THERE is a paradox at the root of recent Olympics: the Games are becoming more popular, yet fewer people are enjoying the experience. China's greatest resource is people, but where were they when TV screens showed banks of empty seats at events they love - diving, gymnastics and basketball?

"Corporates" is the excuse at every Olympics - seats unused from the "pre-allocations" to ever-increasing tiers of sponsors. However, excessive pre-allocations to Chinese VIPs (read Communist Party officials) has exacerbated the problem in Beijing. The red-star waving cadres didn't turn up. After all, how many Chinese are interested in a water polo match between Australia and Hungary?

The Beijing Organising Committee, nervous after a city of 13 million people was told two weeks before the Games that all tickets had been sold, took emergency measures. On Tuesday night, 200 Chinese soldiers dressed in civilian clothes marched into the women's beach volleyball match between China and Germany and occupied every vacant seat. We knew they were military by the regimented manner of their entry; their uniform dress of white shirt with blue piping; their rampant, over-the-top cheering and the fact they slipped their accreditation passes, showing a photo ID in military uniform, under their T-shirts.

The sight of a full arena would have placated Josephine, a saleswoman at the Pearl Market. "It's distressing when we queue for two nights and don't get a ticket and see empty seats on TV," she said.

The soldiers arrived after the men's match between The Netherlands and Japan and left when the Chinese women's team was assured of victory - the host broadcaster having crossed to another sport. "Citius, altius, fortius" may be the original motto of the Olympics - but "busier, sexier, safer" is the modern mantra.

With track and field starting yesterday, the idea of athletes running faster, leaping higher and throwing further warrants some re-examination. Since Seoul, the drug testers have caught up with the users, meaning some records set 20 years ago may never be broken. As times on the track and distances on the field remain constant, Olympic programs have become busier as more countries participate in more events and medals are won by a bigger range of countries.

Australia has a female freestyle wrestler for the first time. Kyla Bremner, aged 31, was born in Canada, emigrated to Australia in 1997 and wrote a paper entitled Gender Sexuality and Sport at the Australian National University, before switching to medicine. She is now a doctor. She typifies a trend where multi-talented women, some born overseas, smash the stereotypes, competing well into their 30s.

Arcane sports such as fencing and modern pentathlon now attract competitors from third world countries. A fencer from Senegal wins a point, wipes imaginary blood from his sabre and takes off his helmet to reveal a handsome black face. The so-called 1000-channel universe will be a blessing for these niche sports, similar to the newsagent's magazine display featuring periodicals on the most obscure topics.

Big programs at the Olympics require powerful concentration by the athletes. Eight table tennis tables operate simultaneously at Peking University's gymnasium, but the crowd is always focused on the Chinese player - or the competitor from USA who looks Chinese. Whenever the athlete scores a point, a giant roar erupts, challenging the concentration of those on other tables about to serve.

Inflation has affected scoring. A perfect 10 in gymnastics is now 17, with the degree of difficulty of the routine added to the score. Some of the recently introduced sports, such as beach volleyball and BMX cycling, have been brought into the Olympic program because they appeal to TV and therefore drive up the rights money paid to the IOC.

A lithe, blonde German beach volleyball player wiggles her fingers behind her bikini-clad posterior knowing TV cameras exploit the opportunity to focus on her bum. OK, it's a tactical signal to a teammate - but why are male beach volleyball players dressed in baggy shorts and floppy singlets? Twelve young girls from a range of countries, all in white bikinis, sweep onto the court at technical time-outs to titillate the crowd while pop music blares from speakers. In Beijing, when the screen says "stand up", the Chinese audience springs to rigid attention. Security is now a major issue at Olympics, with billions of dollars spent at the Athens Games following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York.

Beijing is less paranoid, although people carrying water through checkpoints must take a sip in front of security to demonstrate it does not contain the ingredients for a bomb. Still, the Games are friendlier. With a few exceptions, the world's finest athletes like and respect each other. It's their leaders who stir up the trouble. Article by Roy Masters in the Sydney Morning Herald, 16th Aug 2008


SPORTS SHORTS

* ESPN.com and online travel agency Orbitz.com have launched ESPN Sports Passport powered by Orbitz – an online community tool that gives sports fans a place to catalogue and share their sports travel trips, game memories and milestones. ESPN Sports Passport fans will be able to create and share an online catalogue of their sports history, travel experiences and memories via blogs, photo and video sharing, stadium collections and more. The Sports Travel Passport integrates seamlessly with ESPN’s robust SportsNation online community and utilises the same registration and ESPN Fan Profiles used by fans. Indiantelevision, 16th August 2008

* India’s Zee News wants to expand its operations further, and diversify into entertainment services. The company has applied to India's government for permission to launch up to six services, of which three would be news-based. Those - an English-language business news service, an international news channel and a Telugu-language news channel - may be joined by Tamil and Malayalam-language general entertainment services and a Bengali film channel. Zee News plans to invest up to Rs5 billion (US$117 million) in all of its channels by the end of 2010, although that includes established services as well as Marathi movie channel Zee Talkies, which Zee News has taken over from Zee Entertainment. Rapid TV News, 15th Aug 2008

* Thailand’s telecoms regulator has announced that it would permit the top three mobile phone operators to import equipment for third-generation mobile services. The top three operators Advanced Info Service (AIS), second-ranked Total Access Communication PCL (TAC), and number three True Move. NTC secretary-general Suranan Wongvithayakamjorn announced, AIS will invest 1.29 billion baht ($38 million) to upgrade base stations, while TAC will invest around 5 billion baht. Wireless Federation, 15th August 2008

* One of the Asia’s fastest-growing cellular market, Bangladesh, adds up a total of 1.1 million new subscribers in July, lifting the user base to 44.8 million. According to a telecom regulatar data, top operator Grameenphone, controlled by Norway’s Telenor which is gearing up for a $300 million public offer, raised its subscriber base to 20.84 million in July from 20.31 million in June. Aktel (begs third position), majority owned by Telekom Malaysia International has added 130,000 users, taking its user base to 7.98 million at end-July. Warid Telecom International of the United Arab Emirates, which launched its Bangladesh operations in May 2007 has closed july with 3.48 million users from 3.31 million. City Cell (Only CDMA carrier) a joint venture between Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Ltd and Singapore Telecommunication shows a dip in users numbers which is 1.67 million in July from 1.70 million in June. Wireless Federation, 15th August 2008

* iScreen has secured a partnership with Taiwan Mobile to introduce the first Chinese Cartoon Network mobile site in the region. Additionally, a host of Cartoon Network mobile downloadable services, including the world’s first Cartoon Network e-comic books, will be exclusively available to Taiwan Mobile subscribers. iScreen serves as the content developer for the mobile site and the e-comic platform, bringing characters from the likes of Ben 10 and The Powerpuff Girls in comic format, with sound and vibration effects, to mobile phones. Worldscreen, Rapid TV News, 15th Aug 2008

* Coca-Cola and Pepsi have become involved in an advertising battle over top Thai Olympic boxer Worapoj Phetkum. Pepsi erected promotional tents outside Phetkum’s home in southern Thailand, where hundreds of fans were expected to meet for Phetkum’s bout today against Italy’s Vittorio Parrinello. Agents for Coca-Cola in Thailand were then said to have offered Phetkum a rival endorsement deal through his father, on the condition that the Pepsi tents were removed. A compromise was reached, with promotional signage for both drinks being allowed to remain outside the boxer’s house. Phetkum won silver for Thailand at the 2004 Olympics in Athens in the bantamweight category. Sportcal, 15th Aug 2008

* The Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games is sure to attract a world-wide audience, said the Olympic Council of Asia. Husain Al-Musallam, the OCA’s Director General, also said he was confident that Guangzhou was committed to staging the best ever event in Asian Games history. Husain has high hopes for 2010, when an estimated 14,000 athletes and team officials, 6,500 Asian and International Sports Federation officials, 10,000 local and overseas media staff and over 2000 members of the OCA, from 45 countries in Asia, converge on the city for the 15-day event. He also spoke highly of the infrastructure projects Guangzhou is building for the Games and was particularly impressed with Asian Games Town. Sports City, 15th Aug 2008

* The Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games has landed the biggest sponsorship deal in its history with the signing of a RMB600 million-deal with Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group (GAIG), in April, said GAGOC, The Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee of the 16th Games. GAGOC has also signed letters of intent with more than 10 other companies and would be pursuing more after the Beijing Olympics. Husain Al-Musallam, the OCA’s Director General also at the conference, said sponsors would be allowed to place their logos in and around Games Venues during the 15-day event. Sports City, 15th Aug 2008

* The BBC has acquired the rights to the second leg of the tie between Arsenal and Dutch FC Twente in the final qualifying round of the Uefa Champions League. The match will be shown on digital channel BBC3 on August 27 at the same time as the second leg of the tie between another English club Liverpool and Belgian champions Standard Liege goes out on commercial channel ITV1. The BBC is understood to have paid around £200,000 ($374,000) for the rights to the match, which also attracted interest from ITV and Setanta. Setanta showed the first leg in the Netherlands, which Arsenal won 2-0. Twente are managed by former England manager Steve McClaren. Sportcal, 15th Aug 2008

* The opening match of the German Bundesliga was to be aired in a record 172 countries, beating last season’s total of 171. The match between champions, Bayern Munich, and Hamburg was screened live in Germany on both ARD, the public-service broadcaster, and Premiere, the pay-television operator. DFL chief executive, Christian Seifert, said that the news was ‘further evidence that our strategic international activities are successful.’ The Bundesliga’s international rights for the 2008-09 season are being distributed by the Sportsman Media Group, the Germany-based sports rights agency, before the rights are taken in-house by the DFL, Germany’s professional soccer league. Sportcal, 15th Aug 2008

* Egyptian soccer club, Al Ahli, has become embroiled in a dispute with the Egyptian Premier League and its broadcasters after insisting on retaining the exclusive right to broadcast its games. The Egyptian FA, the national soccer body and league organiser, sold television rights to 5 broadcasters but none were able to broadcast the club’s first league game of the season against Olympi. Ahli insisted on broadcasting the game with a slight delay on its new club television channel, ignoring a ruling of 24 hour delayed broadcast ruling after broadcast by rights-holders. The club is reported to have not only boycotted the coverage by three satellite broadcasters but will also take them to court for showing parts of the Olympi game. Ahli is reported to be considering buying the broadcast rights itself for a fee of LE3.6 million ($676,000). Sportcal, 15th Aug 2008

* Infront Sports and Media is to distribute the international broadcast rights for the home matches of German club VfL Wolfsburg in this season’s Uefa Cup. Infront will sell the broadcast rights for Wolfburg’s Uefa Cup first-round match and two home group-stage matches, should they qualify. The deal also includes the sale of stadium advertising rights. Rights from the quarter-finals onwards for the Uefa Cup have been sold centrally by the Team Marketing agency for this season, before rights from the first round onwards are centralised from next season. Sportcal, 15th Aug 2008

* The Botswana Football Association (BFA) is expected to unveil a staggering P65 million sponsorship for the Botswana Premier League from a US cable TV network next week. The deal gives the American company the broadcasting rights of the League and can sell the rights to other channels like Botswana Television (Btv), Gaborone Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) if they meet the asking price. The BFA is expecting to be briefed by its negotiating partners about the remaining components of the sponsorship like naming rights and TV rights to Btv before the weekend. Mmegi Online, 14th Aug 2008

* Google is teaming with T-Mobile and HTC to launch a new interactive smart phone. The phone will feature a touch screen and a slide-out, five-row keyboard. The phone will run on Google's Android software and, like Apple's iPhone, allow consumers to download new applications. The phone requires a Federal Communications Commission review to ensure it meets industry standards. But the companies plan to have the phone launched in time for the holiday shopping season. The development is a "milestone" in part because, a Google versus Apple rivalry in the mobile phone market "forces others to innovate faster," Richard Wong a venture capitalist with Accel Partners told the Times. The mobile phone industry is also seen as an area with huge growth potential. "We can make more money on mobile than we do on the desktop, eventually," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a recent CNBC interview. Telecomasia, 18th August 2008

* The inaugural Superleague Formula Championship has pulled off a coup by signing up Barclays Premier League club Liverpool as its latest competitor. Liverpool becomes the 17th club to join the 20-car competition ahead of the series' first race at Donington Park on August 30-31. Liverpool joins fellow English club Tottenham Hotspur on the football-themed motor racing Championship grid. Sport Briefing, 15th Aug 2008


MORE NEWS

China/New Media: China Unicom to Input Y100 Billion in Mobile Business in 2 Years

China United Telecommunications Ltd. plans to input CNY 100 billion in wireless and mobile business from 2009 to 2010. On August 13, 2008, China Unicom issued an announcement, revealing details of its merger with China Netcom Group Corporation (Hong Kong) Ltd. The company will get a 3G license and change its corporate name to China United Network Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Ltd. after the restructuring. China United Telecommunications Corporation (Unicom Group) will also change its name accordingly.

China Unicom's GSM coverage is still small compared with that of China Mobile Ltd. (SEHK: 0941 and NYSE: CHL). Currently, the former has completed the GSM-to-GPRS network upgrade in 342 cities and prefectures of 31 provinces and municipalities around China, but the further optimization of these networks still needs big investments.

Different from China Mobile's centralized procurement, China Unicom's equipment purchase has been conducted respectively by branches in every province. Because centralized procurement reduces more than one third of the expenditures, China Unicom also prepares to adjust its procurement model. Related agreements have been inked with China Netcom, in terms of which Unicom Group agrees to provide integrated procurement services for China Unicom and China Netcom, including telecom equipment and materials needed by the two companies in their operations, as well as bidding invitation management, consultation, and commission services.

Thus, China Unicom will focus on 3G businesses, and coordinate with affiliated companies, and assure its sustainable growth to become an integrated telecom services provider. Trading Markets, 15th August 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: SEC, CBS set 15-year TV deal

With American Collegiate sports’ Southeastern Conference (SEC) locked up with CBSfor another 15 years, now it's time for the SEC to expand its television deals in the next 15 days. Expect the SEC to cement its future TV plans -- including making a decision on a possible SEC Network -- before September hits. The SEC is negotiating deals with ESPN, Raycom Sports and regional networks while finalizing the multimedia details on what CBS called a "historic" partnership.

An SEC Network would likely mirror the Big Ten Network, of which the Big Ten Conference owns 51%. News Corp. owns the other 49% and has estimated it will pay $2.8 billion to the conference over the course of the 25-year deal. Although CBS will provide its typical SEC coverage with a "Game of the Week," the SEC Championship game, doubleheaders and college basketball coverage, the conference is still tweaking the multimedia rights, Bloom said. This includes Internet, wireless and Video-on-Demand.

This is the longest such TV deal either SEC or CBS Sports has completed. In comparison, the Big Ten signed a 10-year, $1-billion deal with ABC/ESPN in 2006. It's a good time to be the SEC, a proven ratings machine fresh off back-to-back national championships in football and two of the last three in basketball. Last May, the SEC announced the sharing of $50.6 million in TV rights with its 12 members. Orlando Sentinel, 15th Aug 2008

Television rights packages are substantial moneymakers for SEC schools. The conference announced earlier this summer that $127.2 million would be distributed between the 12 institutions for the 2007-08 fiscal year. More than $50 million of that revenue came from regular-season football games while $13.7 million came from the SEC Football Championship alone. The money shared between SEC schools each year has exploded because of the added exposure, doubling in the past 10 years. Clarion Ledger, 15th Aug 2008

Elsewhere/Broadcast: New Host Broadcast for Ligue 1 Kicks Off

Host Broadcast Services (HBS), the specialist host broadcaster owned by the Swiss-based sports marketing group Infront Sports & Media, launched its four-year term as the host broadcaster of the French Football League (Ligue 1) with a nine match multiplex, featuring several broadcast innovations.

Innovative Digital Media Production
The challenge facing HBS Production France is to provide all the production refinements and services needed for the successful delivery of more than 340 matches including - for the first time - specific digital media production of league football for the Internet and mobile phones.

There are 10 matches per weekend, usually seven on Saturdays and three on Sundays, with approximately three hours of coverage per match. Twenty stadiums and clubs are involved. The production team includes 11 TV directors, 15 media managers, 80 technical staff (on average) for each Premium Match and 40 technical staff (on average) per Fan Match. There are 10-18 HBS cameras for each match and a specific camera for a dedicated mobile production.

A dedicated Mobile International Signal
Thanks to the specific Mobile International Signal (MIS) made available for the mobile operator Orange in France, mobile phone users for the first time are able to follow selected matches of the French League (eight of the weekend's 10) on their handsets in real time. The signal is produced by a dedicated team of new media specialists. The MIS ensures optimal image quality and appropriate framing for mobile users and is a progression from HBS’ dedicated new media coverage at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™.

Another HBS innovation is a searchable clip database featuring match highlights, interviews, contentious actions, slow-motion replays and much more, created during each match by a team of specially-trained loggers who "tag" clips with relevant keywords. The database is a spin-off of the well-received Clip Compilation Channel, also inaugurated during HBS' host broadcast of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™. Sports City, 15th Aug 2008