Thursday, 7th August 2008

DATA BOX

TV to Surpass Print as Largest Ad Medium
Research by Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) published on Advanced-Television, 7th August 2008

Total communications spending is projected to increase 5.4 per cent to $923.91 billion in 2008, as strong gains in the institutional and alternative media sectors offset the downward pressure of declining traditional advertising spending, according to research released today by Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS), a private equity firm dedicated to the media, communications, information and education industries. VSS suggests that for many alternative media this will be the first economic slowdown in which they will be seriously tested, such as online search, digital out-of-home media, word-of-mouth marketing, videogame advertising, and social network advertising, among others. As a result of these trends, VSS projects that broadcast TV will become the largest advertising medium by year-end 2008, the first time in U.S. history that newspapers have not held that position.


OLYMPIC BITS

* India’s DD News will telecast daily a 30-minute special programme titled Beijing 2008 – Quest for Glory, from 7-25 August at 7 pm. The programme will have input from the live coverage of the events that will be telecast from the games venue and the discussions on the day’s round up at the Olympic Games. While India’s participation in the Olympics in Beijing will be telecast live on the national network of Doordarshan DD 1, the entire games will be telecast live/deferred live on the pubcaster’s sports channel DD Sports. DD 1 and DD Sports will telecast live the opening and closing ceremonies on 8 August and 24 August. On the first day, the live anchoring/discussion will commence from 5:30 pm followed by the Opening Ceremony which is expected to go on till around 9:05 pm. The Closing Ceremony of the Olympics will be telecast live from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm or till the end. DD Sports will telecast live all India participating events with customized commentary. Indiantelevision, 6th August 2008

* The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld an application filed by Christel Simms to be allowed to swim for the Philippines at the Beijing Olympic Games. Simms, who holds a dual citizenship with the USA as a Hawaiian native, had originally been refused entry by the Federation Internationale De Natation (FINA) because she did not have a permanent residence in the Philippines during the 12 months prior to the Games. Although the ad hoc Division of CAS confirmed the validity of FINA’s ruling on residency grounds, the panel ruled in Simms favour as FINA had accepted her original application to participate at the Olympics and allowed her to compete for the Philippines at the World Short Course Swimming Championship in Manchester, March 2008. Sport Insider, 6th Aug 2008

* The Federation Internationale De Tir A L’arc (FITA) has provided a dedicated team to assist with media coverage of archery at the Beijing Olympics. Two on-site photographers will take shots for a daily photo gallery on the FITA website, which can be used free of charge on the proviso FITA/photographers are credited as the source. For high-resolution versions of the pictures, media outlets can email info@archery.org. The official website, www.archery.org, will also deliver regular analysis, flash quotes from players and coaches and live commentary and results. An Archery Media Guide on the site provides a list of all athletes taking part in the Olympic competitions and short biographies of the favourites for each event. Sport Insider, 6th Aug 2008

* FIFA described a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) allowing clubs to pull their players out of the Olympics as “disappointing”. The CAS on Wednesday ruled in favour of FC Barcelona, Werder Bremen and Schalke 04, stating that clubs could not be forced to release their players as the Olympics do not appear on FIFA’s calendar. FIFA had insisted that it was “mandatory” for clubs to release players aged 23 and under for the tournament. However, Schalke and Werder Bremen later announced they will allow their Brazilian players to compete at the Olympics after all. The u-turn came after the clubs spent weeks battling FIFA's position. Schalke defender Rafinha and Werder Bremen playmaker Diego are included in the Brazil squad. Barcelona has not yet responded to the ruling. Sport Insider, Sportcal, 6th Aug 2008

* The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has hit out at the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision to clear Rainer Schuettler to represent Germany at the Olympic Games. The 32-year-old, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon this year, lodged an appeal to CAS on Sunday with the belief that he had been unfairly denied a place in Beijing by the ITF. Schuettler had been selected by the German Olympic Committee, however the ITF refused to veto his inclusion based on his ranking on June 9 - when he was the fifth-highest ranked German player. Schuettler’s run to the last four at Wimbledon has shot him to a world ranking of 34 and, following the withdrawal of a number of players on the eve of the Games, the CAS panel ruled he was among then “top players eligible for the Olympic Tournament according to the ITF criteria set up in their rules”. Sport Insider, 6th Aug 2008

* European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Director General Jean Réveillon believes the Beijing Olympic Games, which will officially get underway on Friday, will provide EBU members with a chance to showcase their state-of-the-art digital technology. The EBU's broadcast infrastructure for Beijing is more than double the size of that for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, with the Eurovision network bringing more than 2,000 hours of content from Beijing to national broadcasters across 61 countries in Europe and beyond. Sport Insider, 6th Aug 2008


SPORTS SHORTS

* Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite TV, 20% owned by News Corp, increased its net profits by 40%, with revenues up by 22% to HK$675m (US$86.5m). Phoenix reported that mainland China’s interest in Phoenix’s news output is increasing, and the past half-year’s ratings were boosted by the earthquake in Sichuan province, Taiwanese elections and the diplomatic talks between North and South Korea. Phoenix broadcasts in Mandarin Chinese. Its programming is undoubtedly popular and some of its news anchors are superstar celebrities on the mainland. Rapid TV News, 6th Aug 2008

* Spize TV, a pan-European DTH platform for South Asian channels in Europe, has added Ten Sports to its lineup. The new service includes top international cricket series involving India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa, England and the West Indies. The premiere event will be India’s tour of Sri Lanka in August, where India will play one Test match and five one-day internationals. U.K.-based Spize TV packages Asian and niche content for DTH subscribers. It is owned by the Dubai-based Taj Television Limited, with Indian group Pyramid Saimira holding a majority stake in the company. Indiantelevision, Worldscreen, Sportcal, 6th Aug 2008

* Mike Kerr has made a lateral move at ESPN STAR Sports (ESS), from VP of advertising sales, operations and strategy to VP of Southeast Asia for affiliate and multimedia sales. Kerr will be responsible for the company’s ongoing channels expansion in regional markets as well as strengthening its relationships with platform operators in the region. He will report to Adam Zecha, the senior VP of affiliate and multimedia sales, and will continue to be based in Singapore. Marketing-Interactive, Worldscreen, Sportcal, 6th Aug 2008

* The Scottish Football Association (SFA) has announced a new TV rights deal worth up to £60 million between 2010 and 2014 - the biggest broadcasting windfall in the body’s history. As part of the deal Sky Sports will have exclusive rights to the Scotland national team’s home internationals as well as nine live Scottish Cup matches per season, while the BBC has secured a highlights package for the national side and five live Cup games per year. Sport Briefing, Sportcal, Sport Business, The UK Press Assoc., 6th Aug 2008

* The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has agreed to buy a majority interest in the Western & Southern Financial Group (Cincinnati Masters Series) tournament, the country’s second-highest attended summer event. Financial details of the deal have not been publicly disclosed. The USTA also announced plans to turn the event, an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Masters Series tournament, into a dual-gender event. The USTA also plans to renovate the tournament’s stadium. Sport Briefing, 6th Aug 2008

* ESPN and MediaFLO USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, are bringing NASCAR racing live to mobile phones throughout August. MediaFLO USA’s award-winning mobile TV service is available to AT&T subscribers as AT&T Mobile TV with FLO and to Verizon Wireless customers as V CAST Mobile TV. MediaFLO USA and ESPN will air live race coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, as well as six Sprint Cup Series races on ESPN Mobile TV. Advanced-Television, 7th August 2008

* The International Cricket Council (ICC) has delayed a decision on scheduling the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 tournament. Cricket’s world governing body was expected to rule on whether the Champions League - a tournament in India featuring the best Twenty20 teams from India, South Africa, Australia, England and Pakistan - could go ahead as originally planned. There had been concerns that the proposed dates for the US$6 million tournament would be officially sanctioned as it was due to start the day after the end of the Champions Trophy on September 29 and ICC rules state official events cannot be scheduled within a week of a global tournament. Sport Insider, 6th Aug 2008

* Madrid has stepped in to host the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) 2008 World Junior Championships. The confirmation came last week after North Shore City in New Zealand, which had initially been granted the tournament’s hosting rights, pulled out in late May due to a lack of funding. The Championships will keep the original scheduled dates of December 6-13, and although the appointment of Madrid has curtailed the ITTF’s continental rotation policy, the Federation’s President Adham Sharara believes the event will act as a valuable platform to develop the sport in Spain. Sport Insider, 6th Aug 2008

* Professional snooker is facing a financial crisis after the sport’s two biggest sponsors announced they are terminating their contracts with major UK events. Online gambling website 888.com is ending its title sponsorship of the World Championship at Sheffield three years into a five-year deal, while Saga Insurance has invoked a termination clause in its contract to support the Masters at Wembley. The withdrawals leave the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association with a shortfall of £1.5 million ($2.9 million) for its two most prestigious tournaments. Sportcal, Sports City, Sport Business, 6th Aug 2008

* The English FA is concerned over plans by the Premier League to hold mid-season tournaments around the world from 2011 onwards. Following the hostile response to its proposal for an extra round of fixtures in foreign cities, the Premier League is looking at other ways of reaching out to the international audience and is considering a series of mini-tournaments to be held overseas during a winter break January. Possible venues include Asia, Africa, Australia and North America. The season could start a week earlier to accommodate the tournaments but it is understood that the FA is worried that the extra games would place unnecessary demands on England players and impact on the third round of the FA Cup. Sportcal, 6th Aug 2008

* One South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) team will receive a financial boost ahead of the new season after the League unveiled details of a lucrative pre-season tournament. The MTN 8 Wafa Wafa knockout tournament will see the country’s top eight clubs compete against each other in a revamped version of the season-opener cup competition. The MTN 8 is the oldest cup competition in the country and pits the eight best teams from the previous season against each other in a seeded knockout competition format. While the winner receives a take-all sum of R8 million (US$1.08 million), each team will receive R800,000 ($108,000) for participating with the competition running from August 8 to September 21. Sport Briefing, 6th Aug 2008


MORE NEWS

Asia/Programming: ESS Presents Greatest Fights of Muhammad Ali

ESPN STAR Sports, Asia 's number one sports broadcaster, is all set to wow boxing enthusiasts this August with some of the greatest fights of the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. The series christened as the Muhammad Ali Special series is going to showcase historical bouts of Muhammad Ali over the years. The special package includes 14 classic nerve wracking encounters between Ali and his counterparts.

Ali, famous for his fighting style of, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", had been dreaded by all his opponents during his time. Till date, he is considered to be one of the greatest boxers in the heavyweight category, with the rare distinction of being the only man to have won the heavyweight world championship three times, a championship with a history dating to a century back where no title holder had ever been able to retain his title for consecutive years.

Ali also has an Olympic Gold to his name in the light heavyweight category. Ali's outspokenness and charismatic outlook earned him his most renowned nickname ‘The Greatest'. He was also honored as the ‘Sportsman of the Century' in 1999 by the Sports Illustrated and BBC. Ali was a dominant heavyweight fighter of the 60s and the 70s. His fights were such a crowd puller that the fights also had their own names. Like his fight with George Foreman, in the winter of 1974 - till date considered the biggest upset in the history of boxing, was known as the ‘Rumble in the Jungle'.

ESPN STAR Sports in an attempt to commemorate Ali's legacy, brings together a bouquet of his exciting encounters like the very famous ‘The Rumble in the Jungle', ‘The Thriller in Manila ' and so on. Ali's fight with the fellow boxers like Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Chuck Wepner, Sonny Liston, Henry Cooper, Leon Spinks etc is still registered in golden letters in the history of boxing. Floating, stinging, punching, prophesying - Ali transformed his sport and became the world's most adored athlete for all times to come. Media World Buzz, 6th Aug 2008


ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS

TV Interactivity Can Boost Revenues

A major White Paper (available free from Rapid TV News’ website) on interactive TV suggests that there have been some major lessons learnt over the recent past in how to (and not to) make money out of digital interactivity. The White Paper, from recently-formed BSkyB spin-off Miniweb, says it now makes sound business sense for broadcasters, advertisers and their creative agencies to re-examine the various interactive options now available on digital TV.

“Interactive TV has been a success in various ‘niche’, high value applications such as TV betting and interactive advertising, yet despite these successes it has failed to enter the mainstream, largely due to a combination of commercial and technical barriers that have prevented its widespread adoption,” says the Miniweb document. “These barriers are now rapidly crumbling and a new era is emerging, where the very nature of TV is networked and interactive. This future sees TV move towards a social, community driven, empowering, deeply entertaining and engaging TV experience which has interactivity at its heart.”

The basis of sustainable interactive TV is in the changing economics, and the tumbling costs of service creation, says Miniweb. “Once the economics of on-screen interactive TV can compete with telephone, SMS text services and web, while delivering greater interactive margins to the broadcasters, most of these services will migrate onto the TV itself. Recent studies have shown that ‘single screen’ audience participation can be as much as four times higher than ‘two screen’ web or mobile based interaction, offering broadcasters higher response rates and higher margins. Interactive TV therefore has proven benefits for content owners. It enables a deeper relationship between a broadcaster and its viewers. Viewers who interact spend longer with the channel brand when they are guided to entertainment-focused applications that are relevant and compelling. Calls to action based around on-air programming also drive traffic to revenue-generating applications like betting, retail or competitions,” says the report.

With a step change in the economics surrounding interactive TV, which includes the provision of a video rich consumer experience, Miniweb says it sees an explosion of interactive content services coming.

“As this interactive content is created, it will increasingly be associated with all types of video and TV entertainment, providing additional revenue streams to support a re-invigorated interactive industry. It has always been clear that the more entertaining an interactive application or service is, the better viewers react to it, and broadcast interactive advertising locations often include extended video clips related to the product or service being advertised. The consumer can then use the interactive application to select and view relevant video segments.”

“Right now, the interactive TV business is entering a completely new era that will be characterised by massively reduced costs for broadcasters, programme makers and advertisers who seek deeper, more meaningful and more lucrative relationships with TV viewers,” adds the White Paper, which gives readers numerous examples of how this new breed of interactive services is gaining ground. RapidTVNews, 6th August 2008

Consumers Not Sold on Mobile Video Services

While nearly one-third of US households have a video-capable mobile phone, operators are struggling to find an audience for their mobile video services, according to Mobile TV: Analysis & Forecast The report by market research firm Parks Associates found a majority of consumers with a video-capable mobile phone have never used the video features. For example, 56 per cent have never watched a video clip using a mobile phone. These low usage rates are discouraging for operators hoping to boost revenues through new TV and video services.

"Buy before you try is always a tough sell," said John Barrett, Director of Research, Parks Associates "Most subscribers must pay additional money to watch video and mobile TV services, even once they have purchased an appropriate phone. This circumstance presents an obvious chicken-and-egg obstacle to adoption. Many consumers are hesitant to pay for a new, unfamiliar service, but they will remain unfamiliar with the service until they or someone they know uses it."

The report predicts operators will overcome this challenge by offering more programming at no cost. "A free taste would go a long way in making the consumer case for mobile TV," he said. "Mobile TV services have taken off in Japan and South Korea, where service is offered free of charge. In Italy, where additional fees have been the norm, usage has been limited. It's in everyone's interest to offer some free programming." Advanced-Television, 7th August 2008