Thursday, 14th August 2008

HEADLINE NEWS

Total Sports Asia Brings “The People’s” Mobile Content to Asia

Everton Football Club has today boosted its presence in the Asian market following the announcement of a new and exciting telecommunications deal. The English Premier League Club has signed an agreement with Total Sports Asia to distribute official Everton Mobile content throughout Asia (excluding China).

Total Sports Asia, Asia’s largest independent full service sports marketing, management and consulting company, will act as Everton’s mobile content rights distributor in the region. Supporters in Asia will be able to download video clips, ringtones, wallpapers and much more through web and WAP sites located in each country.

The deal, which runs until the end of the 2009/10 season, is another coup for the new look EvertonMobile. In June 2008, the Merseyside giants launched an official mobile WAP site offering the latest news, ticket information, match previews and much more.

Everton’s links in Asia continue to flourish with already close links with main partner Chang from Thailand and the grass roots football programme with the Indian Football Association.

Mark Rowan, Head of Media and Communications, Everton Football Club said: “We at Everton are excited by this new venture with Total Sports Asia – a first for the Club. We believe there is a future for EvertonMobile in the mobile market and this deal will continue to grow our international fan base.”

Julian Jackson, Senior Vice President of Total Sports Asia said, “As a big fan of the team myself, I am delighted to be working with Everton, not just for my own personal reasons but because as one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League, with a large supporter base there is a great opportunity to capitalize on the great strides the club has made in the Asian region.

“The success of past Asian players, the Soccer Prince reality show and also the close links with Thailand through sponsor, Chang, and of course success on the pitch means that Everton are one of the most recognized English Premier League Clubs in the region. TSA are at the forefront of brand-building for numerous international sports entertainment companies and we see this appointment as a stamp of confidence on our expertise and track record.” Free Press Release, Sportcal, Sports City, 13th Aug 2008

OLYMPIC BITS

* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is confident that Rio de Janeiro is equipped to deal with the challenge of hosting the 2016 Olympic Games., Lula spoke of meeting International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge at the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. He suggested to Rogge that awarding the Games to Rio would be faithful to the ideals of the Olympic movement. Rio, along with Tokyo, Chicago and Madrid must submit a dossier of its bid for 2016 the IOC in February 2009. The final decision will be revealed by the IOC in Copenhagen on October 2 that year. Lula believes Brazil has shown in recent years that it will have the required infrastructure to host the Olympics. Sport Briefing, 13th Aug 2008

* Millions of TV viewers watched ‘fake’ footage of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony after Games organisers sent digitally-enhanced pictures to international broadcasters, it has been revealed. The TV feed provided by the host broadcasting agency to foreign channels included non-live footage spiced up by computer-generated images and spliced into the coverage. Beijing organisers have admitted that coverage of the part of the opening ceremony where there were 29 ‘firework’ footprints across the city was pre-recorded rather than live, with some digital enhancement. The reason given by the Chinese was that the poor visibility on Friday would have affected the view of the firework footprints. Sport Briefing, 13th Aug 2008

* The average age of gymnasts in the Artistic Gymnastics competitions at the Beijing Olympics has risen in compared to four years ago at the Athens Games. Male competitors average 24.9 years, as opposed to 24.3 in Greece, and a bigger increase among the female gymnasts, from 17.5 to 18.6 years. The oldest man taking part is 35-year-old Bulgarian Jordan Jovtchev, while Germany’s Oksana Chusovitana, 33, is the veteran of the women’s events. Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique’s (FIG) President, Professor Bruno Grandi said: “My hopes are being fulfilled, and the culture I’ve been working to cultivate in gymnastics is coming of age. More mature gymnasts are able to foster a more artistic climate in their exercises.” Sport Insider, 13th Aug 2008

* The decision to have a pretty face lip-synching during the Olympics opening ceremony instead of the actual singer was taken after consulting with broadcasters, Games organisers said. Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke was lauded for her performance but was merely a photogenic stand-in for the real singer, who was rejected because of her appearance. Lin was celebrated across China as the angelic voice with the adorable face who sang "Ode to the Motherland" at Friday's opening extravaganza. But a director of the opening ceremony, Chen Qigang, said Lin's voice was overdubbed by the singing of the real child singer Yang Peiyi. Games Executive Vice President Wang Wei said it was done to achieve a better effect. Sports City, 13th Aug 2008

A Letter from an Indonesian Fan: Olympics on TVRI

What happiness I felt when I read that state-owned television station TVRI had decided at the last moment to buy the broadcasting rights for the 2008 Olympic Games. Although a staggering amount had to be paid, the decision would allow all Indonesian people to follow their team's achievements and share the excitement of this tournament.

In view of the large sum paid for the rights, you'd think TVRI would show as much as possible from the Olympics. However, after several days of Olympic Games, it seems that what TVRI broadcasts is going to be minimal. All of Sunday afternoon, for example, when the Olympic Games were in full swing, TVRI was broadcasting a boxing match from several years ago. No all-day live coverage from Beijing. Maybe TVRI does not have experience in covering sports; maybe my expectations were too high.

But I think that more sports-lovers must be truly disappointed by this. OK, understandably they cannot switch their whole program for sports only, but then please make sure that those 30-minute news updates are well-used and try to show as many sports as possible.

From what I've seen so far, half the time is used for advertisements, a quarter of the time is spent listening to the Beijing-based reporter and no sport can be seen. Often the summary of the events of the day show the ultimate winners on the podium -- not their last, say, 50 meters, winning dive or lift of whatever sports is practiced.

Hopefully TVRI will become more skilled in the art of broadcasting large sports events within the coming two weeks, so that all of us in Indonesia can enjoy this great tournament.

AGNES JOHAN, Jakarta
Jakarta Post, 14th Aug 2008

Asia Broadcasts Olympics in Multiple Platforms

Viewers across the Asia-Pacific region are going to watch the 2008 Summer Olympics held in the Chinese capital in a variety of formats and content distribution platforms, as broadcasters and new media platform operators are deploying offerings guaranteed to capture eyeballs, whether in living rooms, or in trains and buses in the middle of rush-hour traffic.

Leading the pack is China itself with the Beijing Olympic Broadcasting (BOB), tasked to telecast the event in HD — a first for TV relays — for all 28 events. The BOB will produce 5,400 hours of live TV signals for rights-holding broadcasters, which include operators of new media platforms such as the Web TV, IPTV and mobile TV.

In Hong Kong, Olympic fans have the option of viewing the 08.08.08 Opening Ceremony and other Olympic-related coverage online, courtesy of 800 public Wi-Fi hotspots set-up by i-Cable, the official new media broadcaster of the Beijing Olympics in Hong Kong. Under the joint effort between i-Cable and local Wi-Fi provider Y5ZONE, the hotspots, including those at major shopping plazas and restaurants in all parts of the territory, is open for free access to a dedicated Internet Olym¬pic platform to provide a free viewing experience to the Hong Kong public.

Singapore, meanwhile, is bringing the Olympic Games to the home via traditional TV sets, and in full HD. Terrestrial broadcaster MediaCorp, also the republic’s dominant network, is among the first in the world to offer the Olym¬pics not only in HD, but also in a full-HD channel (HD5) that will broadcast up to 19 hours of daily action with Dolby 5.1 surround sound. At the same time, MediaCorp’s TV, radio, online and print platforms are coming together to give viewers in Singapore the most up-to-date and complete coverage of the Beijing Olympics.

Singapore’s telcos are also bringing the Olympics to select subscribers. SingTel, M1 and StarHub are jointly conducting a mobile-TV trial this month, using the digi¬tal video broadcast-handheld (DVB-H) standard. Content is provided by MediaCorp — the official Olym¬pic broadcaster in Singapore.

New Zealand viewers, on the other hand, are getting both TV and online versions of the Olympic coverage. TVNZ, aside from broadcasting the action on TV, is also streaming content onto its dedicated Olympic website — as it is an official online partner of the Beijing Olympics. During the Games, the online site offers up to four channels of simultaneous video streaming online from TV ONE, TVNZ Sport Extra and two additional channels programmed by ONE Sport which are only available online.

TVNZ has also enabled Pacific Island audiences this year to see Olympic TV coverage round the clock, via a mix of live and pre-recorded coverage from Beijing. TVNZ’s Pacific Service, TVNZ Sport, the International Olympic Committee and Oceania National Olympic Committees have combined to ensure that viewers across the Pacific, from Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia to the Cook Islands and Niue, can receive extensive satellite coverage of the Games.

Beijing Economy Boosted by Olympic Games

The 2008 Beijing Olympics have brought an extra Yn105.5 billion ($13.4 billion) into the Chinese capital’s Gross Domestic Product over the last four years, according to the International Olympic Committee. The city’s economy is said to have grown at an annual rate of 12.2 per cent between 2001 - when Beijing was awarded the games - and 2006.

The IOC said experts estimate that ‘over the same period [...] the average annual wage for Beijing city workers rose from Yn20,962 to Yn40,117 – an increase of almost 110 per cent.’ Some 1.8 million jobs were created between 2004 and this year, it added. This included 430,000 jobs in construction and 130,000 in the retail and wholesale industries.

Other sectors to have made gains include finance and insurance, IT and communications.

Meanwhile, most Americans think staging the games in China was a good idea, despite the controversies in the run-up to the event, a survey has revealed. Some 55% of respondents to the Associated Press-Ipsos poll said the IOC’s decision to choose China as host was correct, a sentiment expressed evenly across party and ideological lines.

Beijing has proved a controversial choice because of China’s human rights and press freedom record, its policy on Tibet, its role in the Darfur humanitarian crisis in Sudan and the high level of pollution in the capital. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said the Olympic movement has been successful in its goal of making the world more peaceful through sport.

Four in ten said they think Olympians' use of performance-enhancing drugs is a major problem, with around the same proportion regarding it as a minor concern. Meanwhile, some 39% said they thought the smog was having a major effect on athletes' performances, while 43% saw it as a minor impact.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said they were interested in this year’s Olympics, almost identical to the number who said the same about the 2004 Athens Olympics. Men and women expressed interest in virtually equal numbers. As was the case in 2004, gymnastics was the sport people said they would follow most closely (30% of respondents). Swimming came second (22%) and athletics third (17%). While 70% are tuning into the coverage on US national network NBC, 25% are watching online coverage and 5 per cent are following the action on their mobile phones. Sportcal, 13th Aug 2008

What's Causing the Swimming Records to Fall?

World-class swimming is drowning in record- breaking performances. More than 60 new records have been set so far in the 2008 season, and the Olympic competition in Beijing isn't even over yet. Feats like those in China's capital -- where 16 world records fell alone in the first of four days of Olympic finals -- have not been seen since the Olympics in 1976 in Montreal.

Could it be doping? New technologies? Scientific discoveries? Around the edge of the swimming pool at Beijing's futuristic "Water Cube" swimming venue, there are many theories. "What's happening here, under normal circumstances, is not statistically possible," Germany's top coach, Oerjan Madsen, said. "The times the swimmers are clocking here are knocking the long-term statistics on their head."

Experts in the sport are having a hard time coming up with an explanation. Several factors taken together could be the cause, they say. "For one thing, there is the suit," Madsen said, referring to Speedo's high-tech, full-length "silver bullet" LZR Racer. "I think the main reason, though, is to be found in training based on science," Madsen said. "Fewer mistakes are made because of it. "There are also more and more full-time professionals in many countries who live from swimming and are able to pursue the sport in a completely different way."

German International Olympic Committee vice-president Thomas Bach struck a similar line, speaking of a combination of the new suits and improved sports science. "The flood of world records was already expected before the Games started," Bach said. Dirk Lange, the German coach of South Africa's Olympians, named another reason that has always proved a winner at past Olympics: "The top people have a killer instinct." A combination of all these factors must be what allowed the US teams in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays to smash the records by huge margins of 3.99 and 4.72 seconds,respectively.

The US athletes have worked for years with the George Washington Institute to achieve the perfect butterfly kick. As a result, Phelps, who by dint of physique and many other characteristics already is the best all-around swimmer of his time, has achieved unbelievable high speeds on his turns and has had world records in all his five events so far in Beijing. With perfect starts and turns and low-drag, high-buoyancy racing suits, "it became clear we would see a deluge of records," Lange said. Italian coach Alberto Castagnetti has called the LZR Racer "technological doping."

But American swimming legend Mark Spitz, the seven-time gold medal winner from the 1972 Munich games, would have none of it. "If it was the swimming suit, then I'm buying Tiger Woods' golf clubs because it means no matter who the swinger is, I am going to be able to score like that," he argued. A high-tech suit could give a swimmer mental confidence but it would be only a part of a winning equation, argued Britta Steffen, a German swimmer who has broken records wearing Adidas products.

"In all the discussions, you should not forget that a suit does not swim on its own. A person is in each one, and that person can have a good day or a bad day, be well or poorly trained," she said. Zimbabwean two-time silver medallist Kirsty Coventry, who herself got one of the records, simply referred to the fun factor. "The crowd is creating conditions where it's enjoyable to swim. The swimmers can just have fun and the pool is very fast," said said. News.WebIndia123, 13th August 2008


DATA BOX

SingTel adds 2,000 IPTV subs in Q2
SingTel Numbers Released on IPTV-News, 13th August 2008

Singaporean telco SingTel added just under 2,000 subscribers to its "mio TV" IPTV service in the second quarter of this year, reaching a total of over 45,000. The telco adds that these additions were offset partly by the termination of inactive subscribers following the expiry of the waiver periods introduced during the initial launch period. SingTel added 13,000 broadband customers between April and June of this year, and retained its lead of the Singapore market with a 54.1% share. Revenue from data and Internet services rose 11% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2008 to reach S$370mn (US$263.7), boosted by strong demand for managed services and fixed broadband service. Total operating revenue across all operations increased 5.9% year-one-year in the second quarter of 2008 to reach S$3.78bn, while net profit fell 5.3% by the same comparison to reach S$878mn.

India to Account for Nearly 20 Percent of Global WiMAX Subs by 2012
WiMAX Forum Study Results published on News.WebIndia123, 13th August 2008

The WiMAX Forum(R) projects that more than 27.5 million Indians will be WiMAX users by 2012. Additional data from this recent WiMAX Forum study estimates that approximately 70 percent of the forecasted WiMAX subscribers by 2012 will utilize mobile and portable WiMAX devices to access broadband Internet services. The WiMAX Forum Worldwide Subscriber and User Forecast examines the progress of WiMAX service providers, equipment vendors, content developers and subscribers in regions around the world. The results reflect the accelerated growth of the WiMAX ecosystem, the acceptance of WiMAX technology and demand form mobile Internet services across the world. The forecast is based on results of an independently commissioned research study published this year.


SPORTS SHORTS

* International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat confirmed the Champions Trophy will be staged in Pakistan in September but admits it will be a struggle to convince players to participate. Lorgat is leading an ICC fact-finding mission of the Asian country to determine whether the tournament should remain in Pakistan or be moved to an alternative venue. Pakistan has been hit by a series of bomb blasts in recent months and Australia postponed its scheduled tour in March. However, Lorgat claims to have seen enough to convince him that it is safe to stage a major sporting event. Sport Briefing, Sportcal, Sports City, 13th Aug 2008

* Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has acquired television, digital and mobile distribution rights in the Asia Pacific for Crimson Forest Film’s award-winning Chinese feature Slam. Set in Beijing, Slam is a coming-of-age story about three teenage boys who try to win a three-on-three basketball tournament and a cash prize to pay off a debt. The film, directed by Jonathan Lim, features an original Chinese hip-hop soundtrack and members of Beijing’s professional basketball team Bayi. Worldscreen, 13th Aug 2008

* Football Federation Australia (FFA) chief executive Ben Buckley is confident the decision not to expand the A-League beyond eight teams for the 2008/09 season will not have an adverse effect on the competition. Buckley and FFA chairman Frank Lowy insisted projections for attendances, television ratings and club memberships suggested the A-League would continue to grow this year. This view is supported by the A-Leagues new four year naming rights sponsorship deal with Hyundai which is thought to be worth around A$25 million per season. This will result in an increased divided for clubs and, once players both inside and outside the salary cap are taken into account, the average A-League player will earn A$114,773. Sport Briefing, 13th Aug 2008


MORE NEWS

Elsewhere/Rights: Germany OK’s Kirch Soccer Rights

Germany’s powerful Cartel Office has ruled in favour of the Leo Kirch/Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) plan for Bundesliga soccer matches.
A month ago the Cartel Office sent the proposals back, saying they had then failed to meet legal requirements for fair access. Revised proposals were made, and now the Office says “The model [now] does not breach anti-trust law because it offers comprehensive and timely broadcast of highlights on free television, aside from live matches on pay-TV,” a representative from the Cartel Office told Die Welt newspaper.

In May the Kirch/DFL consortium made two proposals for marketing the rights, one of which limits live coverage to pay-TV, with highlights of matches played on Saturdays broadcast at 6:30 p.m., while the other one sees highlights coverage delayed until 10 p.m. but grants live broadcast rights to free-TV for 16 matches played on Sundays. These proposals have seemingly been amended, though details have not been disclosed.

On July 27 we reported that according to DFL’s managing director Christian Seifert, the contract with Kirch - which guarantees a total income of €3 billion for the seasons 2009 until 2015 - is still valid, although a plan C will now have to be developed as the cartel office’s decision would lift the contract’s foundation.

It was widely reported that the consortium threatened to withdraw from the deal if the Federal Cartel Office pushed for improved free-to-air coverage of the soccer matches because pay-TV revenues would then make the scheme loss-making.

This prompted rumours that News Corp would be prepared to step in and acquire the rights. German pay-TV operator Premiere (now part-owned by News Corp), and one of the key elements in collecting viewer’s cash, recently said it is willing to offer a higher price for the broadcast rights if DFL's proposals are approved, guaranteeing it a high level of exclusivity. Rapid TV News, Sportcal, 13th Aug 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: Egypt’s Al-Ahly TV Channel Sparks Copyright Controversy

When Cairo giant Al-Ahly sporting club decided to follow the lead of major international football clubs and decided to launch its own channel, things didn't go as smoothly as anticipated, with copyright disputes over Egyptian league matches and a public outcry over the possibility of encrypting the satellite channel. The channel went live on Aug. 6, with the exclusive broadcast of a friendly between Ahly and Italian AS Roma, a match which triggered a media frenzy reflecting Ahly fans’ concern over not having access to the live TV transmission.

Ahly owns only 15 home matches of the 30 played during the season as it didn't sign the deal made between the EFA and the clubs that gives the EFA the right to market the matches. The channel, which was launched in cooperation with the Saudi-owned Arab Radio and Television (ART) channel with which Ahly has signed a management deal, was supposed to launch in June 2007 but was delayed because of copyright issues.

If Ahly succeeds in gaining exclusive rights to its 15 matches, the EFA will be obliged to pay LE 20 million to contracted satellite channels, according to a punitive clause in the contracts between them. The EFA will also have to pay back all the money it received from theses channels.

To solve the problem, Ahly proposed to buy the rights to broadcast the Egyptian league games for LE 3 million like other channels.
Various sports columnists have urged the state to ban launching satellite channels for sports clubs because this will only serve to intensify the hatred between football fans which may lead to unwanted conflicts.

Global/General: IAAF Council Approves Revised World Athletics Tour

The council of the IAAF, athletics’ world governing body, has given its approval to a new format for the World Athletics Tour after 2009. The IAAF said in a statement that the new format ‘will aim to extend the top level outside of Europe to embrace the global potential of athletics and which will appeal to all stakeholders in the athletics family.’ The tour consists of the Golden League, Super Grand Prix and Grand Prix events. The shake-up will allow the IAAF to take greater of control of the sport.

The federation said that it will now: contract top athletes to ensure they meet more regularly in competition; focus on a strong free-to-air broadcaster platform; create a centralised marketing programme; and change the prize money structure to share more money amongst more athletes. Meeting during the Beijing Olympics in Beijing, the council gave its approval to the project in principle and ordered a team to ‘implement the next step of the project by seeking major external investors.’ Sportcal, 13th Aug 2008