INFO BOX
State of the Internet' Report Highlights Growth in Emerging Internet Markets
StreetInsider.com, 18th Mar 2008
comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released several key findings from its "Digital World: State of the Internet" report. The study highlights the changing dynamics of worldwide Internet usage, as it has grown from a U.S.-centric medium to its currently global landscape.
In January 2008, the Asia Pacific region had more than 300 million Internet users at least 15 years of age accessing the Internet from work and home computers. This represents an increase of 14 percent versus year ago and makes Asia Pacific the largest of the five worldwide regions. Latin America and Middle East-Africa have also experienced above average audience growth during the past year, while North America and Europe have grown at more modest rates.
The "Digital World" report covers a broad array of topics illustrating the key global trends that underlie how the Internet is used around the world today. Some of the key findings include:
-- The U.S. now accounts for 21 percent of Internet users worldwide.While growth in the number of Internet users in the U.S. has slowed, several Asian and Eastern European countries continue to add new users at a rapid rate.
-- Google is the dominant search brand in most countries, including most of Europe and Latin America, with a few significant exceptions -- countries where Chinese, Korean, and Russian languages dominate.
-- Chinese language search engine Baidu currently ranks #3 in worldwide search market share, behind Google and Yahoo!
-- The number of worldwide visitors to social networking sites has grow 34 percent in the past year to 530 million, representing approximately 2 out of every 3 Internet users. MySpace and Facebook are in a tight battle for the global leadership position, each attracting more than 100 million visitors per month.
-- Online video has become the dominant online entertainment format, led by the global popularity of YouTube with more than 250 million visitors
in January.
-- The Internet has become an important source of news for most Web users. The top 10 global news brands show great diversity between country of origin, including the U.S., U.K., China and South Korea.
SPORTS SHORTS
* Commercial-free toddlers channel BabyFirst has secured a carriage deal in Taiwan, which adds to a recent deal putting it on IPTV in Korea and continues the channel's recent drive into Asia. Partnering with BabyFirst in Taiwan is Chunghwa, the country’s leading IPTV provider. The feed, which will come from the Telstar 10 satellite, will carry audio feeds in both Mandarin and English. Elsewhere on the international front, BabyFirst has also recently closed carriage deals in Canada (Rogers Cable and Bell ExpressVu) and France (CanalSat). It is also available in the UK (BSkyB), as well as Central America and the Caribbean. C21Media, World Screen, 18th Mar 2008
* In the run-up to the Malaysian F1, Bernie Ecclestone together with various sponsors and the Malaysian Ministry of Education are backing a three-day event to reach out to students 11 to 18 years old with the intent of stimulating interest in science and technology. The F1 in Schools programme has over seven million school children participating in the competition. This year's event will see 25 teams from 16 countries compete to win the Bernie Ecclestone World Championships Trophy as well as a scholarship to The City University. Teams will be competing for awards in the following categories - World Champions, Fastest Car, Best Engineered Car, Innovative Thinking, Best New Comer, Best Team Sponsorship/Marketing and Best Collaborative Teams. Marketing-Interactive, 19th Mar 2008
* Indonesia’s sports minister has threatened to take senior members of the country's football association to court if their decision to keep their corrupt chief at the helm leads to a FIFA ban, a spokesman said yesterday, writes The Straits Times. FIFA in October last year called for fresh elections to replace Nurdin Halid as president of Indonesia's football association, PSSI, after he was convicted of graft earlier in the year. However, PSSI officials have remained steadfast in refusing to get rid of Halid - despite the disgraced chief heading the organisation from inside a prison cell - leading to a deadlock with the sports ministry. The minister will sue PSSI if FIFA bans the association due to its decision to let Nurdin Halid.
* Sky scooped the majority of the TV rights to Champions League football until 2012, after tabling a blockbuster bid estimated at more than £240m (E333m). UEFA made the announcement after the broadcaster comprehensively outbid three rivals in order to secure exclusive rights to all but one match per round of games from the start of the 2009-10 season. The live rights to the most attractive match on a Wednesday night remain up for grabs, with ITV and the BBC expected to fight it out. The terrestrial broadcasters, together with Five, will face further competition from Sky when the second round of bids are opened later this week. The pay TV operator was determined to retain the rights, partly to make up for the loss of the FA Cup and England internationals, previously shared with the BBC but now snatched by ITV and Setanta, from this August. ATV, C21Media, Sports Media, 19th Mar 2008
* The Belgian First Division is set to be reduced from 18 to 16 teams from the 2009-2010 season onwards, according to a new format approved by the country’s Football Federation. Matches will be played in the traditional home-and-away format. When 30 matches have been played six will qualify for a play-off league to determine the champion and teams eligible for European competition. The reforms are designed to improve the competition and generate further income through TV rights. Soccer Investor, 18th Mar 2008
* Barclays Premier League club Arsenal has won its battle to air its TV channel on Virgin Media's television platform. The digital channel, Arsenal TV, was launched in January with pay-TV sports broadcaster Setanta, but was not available on Virgin Media because of "capacity constraints". It prompted the club to encourage its fans in February to lobby the broadcaster, which will now make the channel available free of charge for all Virgin Media's XL TV customers from March 18. The channel, which will air five days a week, six hours a day, includes 'Arsenal Today', 'Bob Wilson Meets', and 'Fans Forum', a live phone-in show hosted by Tom Watt. Sports Media, 18th Mar 2008
* World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has named George Barrios as its new chief financial officer, effective March 24. Barrios was most recently the VP and treasurer of The New York Times. He replaces Frank Serpe, who is retiring as the chief financial officer after 21 years with WWE. Said Linda McMahon, WWE’s CEO, “At a time when we are focused on growth initiatives around the world, we are confident that George’s experience will be a tremendous asset for WWE’s future.” Worldscreen, 18th Mar 2008
* LA Galaxy general manager Alexei Lalas has hailed the club’s pre-season tour of Hawaii and Asia a success despite three losses and low attendance in some games (only about 11,000 saw the matches against Shanghai and South China). Lalas outlined the goals of the tour. One, the opportunity to get away from everything in-market and insulate the team a little bit. We play these games and are able to then pay for all the interesting and innovative things that we do. And we've tried to expand the brand internationally. Soccer Investor, 18th Mar 2008
* Fanz-TV, a newly-launched 24-7 sports television network, has reached a one-year broadcast agreement with the Arenafootball2 League (AF2) for the 2008 season that includes the option of a two-year extension. The network announced plans to carry play-off games, conference championships as well as the 2008 ArenaCup Championship live in their entirety. A special season-in-review show will be produced as a lead-in to the post-season AF2 action, while a weekly series is currently being considered. Sports Media, 18th Mar 2008
* Multi-media communications company Epic Corporation has entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Carol Angela Davis, Inc., and Global Broadcasting & Syndication Inc., to broadcast combat sports in Europe. The deal will see mixed martial arts (MMA), professional boxing and wrestling broadcast in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Denmark, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Turkey. Sports Media, 18th Mar 2008
* The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has launched a new lifestyle website in an effort to convince New York State to lift its ban on the sport. Mixed martial arts (MMA) has been outlawed in New York since 1997, but the new mmafacts.com site attempts to dispel what it considers to be "misconceptions" about a sport associated with no-holds-barred brutality. The site, whose homepage draws attention to the "PhD's, Olympians and family men that make up the pros", declares one of its intentions is to bring a UFC event to Madison Square Garden in 2009. The siteomits fighter nicknames such as "Natural Born Killer" and highlights that UFC shows on average take gates of $2.8 million. Sports Media, 18th Mar 2008
* A1GP World Cup of Motorsport appointed Octagon Worldwide to provide strategic advice around A1GP’s current and future commercial strategy. Under the partnership, Octagon will also co-ordinate and execute the global sales process that will drive commercial value on behalf of A1GP across the globe. The appointment is for three years. Sport Business, 18th Mar 2008
* Imtiaz Patel, the chief executive of South African pay-television broadcaster SuperSport, has been selected as the preferred candidate to take over as the chief executive of the International Cricket Council. Patel has been approached to succeed Australia’s Malcolm Speed, who will step down in June, after seven years in office. ICC president, Ray Mali, said: "We are delighted Imtiaz is the board's choice for the post of next ICC chief executive. I have no doubt that if he accepts the position he will do a great job." Patel was among six candidates shortlisted for the job from a list of 15 chosen by the ICC’s consultants. His initial contract will be for a term of three years. Sport Business, 18th Mar 2008
* The European Commission has endorsed the Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) standard in a bid to accelerate the rollout of mobile TV services across the region. DVB-H has been added to the EU List of Standards as the Commission works toward establishing a single market for mobile TV in Europe. DVB-H is currently the most widely used standard for mobile TV in the EU. It is between trials and a commercial launch in 16 countries. Commercial DVB-H services are already available in Italy, with further launches expected later this year in Finland, Austria, France, Switzerland and Spain. Worldscreen, 18th Mar 2008
* Qatar will host volleyball’s Club World Championships in 2009, with the United Arab Emirates staging the 2010 edition. The decisions, taken last week by the board of the FIVB, the sport’s world governing body, confirm the rising profile of the sport in the Middle East. Dubai will host a Swatch FIVB beach volleyball world tour event from this season, it emerged last week, while the FIVB has also discussed the possibility of staging a World Tour Open event in United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi from 2009. Dubai is also planning to create a permanent beach volleyball centre for foreign teams wanting to train during winter. Sportcal.com, 18th Mar 2008
* Even before a single ball has been bowled, the game has begun. By the look of things, it could end up becoming the humdinger of all matches. The ad rates for the soon-to-debut Indian Premier League (IPL) is equalling the rates prevalent for the World Cup. Sony Max, the official broadcaster, has managed to close 75% of its advertising inventory at rates commensurate with the World Cup. A commitment of Rs 220 crore from sponsors has already come in with six sponsors booked for the series beginning April 18. Economic Times, 19th Mar 2008
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Beach Soccer Worldwide: Superpowers Set to Dominate
The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2008 Qualifier in Durban next week has a vastly different feel to the previous two qualifying tournaments, as the sport goes into its third year of organised competition in Africa. t the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Rio, Senegal and Nigeria shocked the world by topping their respective groups with some massive giant-killing victories before bowing out in the quarterfinals. Both teams have signalled their intentions of dominating next weeks action, and have sent their national beach soccer squads away on month-long camps to prepare for the event.
The two African representatives may have fallen short of winning any medals in Brazil, but they showed the world beach soccer community that Africa can produce world class tournaments and players — something that will hopefully not be lost on FIFA when the decision on the venue for Beach Soccer World Cup 2011 is announced. Next week the third chapter in the story of African beach soccer will be written when the third qualifier to be held in Durban gets underway at the new, enlarged 4300-seater stadium on New Beach.
Senegal and Nigeria will be the two marked teams and they may just find it tough shouldering the pressure of being the favourites every time they step onto the sandy pitch, but there is no way they can be anything but favourites. At the World Cup finals in Rio, Senegal opened their account with a low-key 4-1 thrashing of Japan, and followed that up with an emphatic 5-2 win over the highly regarded Uruguay. Things got tougher in the final pool game when the West Africans needed extra time to get past the skilful Italians after the teams were level at 5-5 at the end of full time.
Nigeria also started strongly with a shock 5-3 win over powerhouse Argentina. It got even better in their next match when the Africans produced the upset of the tournament. They scraped home on penalties over defending champions France, before, surprisingly, needing extra time to win their final match against the United Arab Emirates. Ngeria lost to Uruguay in the quarterfinals and Senegal were beaten by France. But the two teams had made the world sit up and take notice. The key to Nigeria’s success was the fact that they never had one standout star. Their gameplan was built around a team effort with defenders Ogbonnaya Okemmiri and Uga Okpara sharing the goalscoring duties with frontrunner Isiaka Olawale. Their multi-pronged attack meant they were a difficult side to defend against and the top teams struggled to contain the African onslaught.
Senegal, on the other hand, used Pape Koupaki as their target man up front and he was hugely effective with seven goals from his four matches on the beaches of Rio. ext week Senegal are the favourites to top Group A. For South Africa, who have gone into the previous two tournaments as group favourites, the tag of underdog may give the home side a chance to prepare quietly and without fanfare. The final group match between Egypt and South Africa will probably decide who grabs the second playoff spot from the group, although Mocambique will have other ideas. In Group B Nigeria will have to be at their best to overcome Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon while Cape Verde should find the going too tough. The top two teams from each pool qualify for the semifinals, with the two semifinal winners qualifying for the World Cup finals in Marseilles in July. Sport iAfrica, 18th Mar 2008
Global/New Media: Satellite TV To Grow to 180m Subs
Euroconsult says that there are now a record 92 satellite-based pay-TV platforms operating around the world, and reaching 95m households. They forecast that the audience for DTH will expand to 180m by 2017. A new study* from Euroconsult says that despite the competitive threat from the likes of IPTV and convergence, satellite-delivered DTH is more healthy than ever and proving to be a growth driver.
“We’ve seen an unprecedented increase in the number of satellite TV platforms worldwide since the early days of the industry, with 35 platforms launched in the last three years,” said Pacôme Revillon, MD at Euroconsult. “Over 1,000 TV channels are added per year by satellite TV platforms worldwide,” he added “which in turn creates more interest among consumers and drives subscriptions.”
“Despite greater economic uncertainty in the short term, market drivers for satellite TV are going in the right direction, and close to 180 million subscribers to satellite pay-TV are expected by 2017 according to our research,” Euroconsult notes.The EuroConsult analysis throws up some other interesting facts, not least that of the 92 platforms included in its survey, 22 of them are now offering PVR/DVR technology.
*“Satellite TV Platforms, World Survey & Prospects to 2017”, Euroconsult. Rapid TV, 18th Mar 2008
ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS
Asia Navigates New Digital Terrain
New digital distribution platforms offer golden opportunities for content delivery in Asia, but there are going to have to be some changes first in how content providers and channels do business, say leading biz figures. The TV and film biz is currently wrestling with ways to adjust their focus on TV, DVD and cinema and incorporate new ways of delivering video content across multiple devices, such as by Internet Protocal TV or by cell phone. A group of panelists at a seminar at FilMart were all agreed that the new platforms are the future of how entertainment is distributed in Asia, and the world.
Ross Pollack, senior veep for distribution in Asia at Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) said he believed that various opportunities existed side by side.
"We strongly believe that all these opportunities exist in parallel. It's a time of experimentation. Some offerings will be prove to be more successful, but it you don't try you don't know what the consumer wants," said Pollack.
SPTI has been proactive in introduced new platforms. Earlier this month, SPTI closed a video-on-demand (VoD) licensing deal with South Korea's largest mobile operator, SK Telecom which sees a selection of SPTI's features and skeins offered on-demand and in full-length to SK Telecom's mobile customers through its mobile platforms, NATE and June.
Richard Yelen, veep and managing director of Kylin TV, an Internet Protocol-TV service that provides broadcast Chinese channels and thousands of hours of video on demand, said a key change in society was instant gratification syndrome. "Consumers don't really care about technology. They want it now when they want it. The consumer has changed our business whether we want it or not," said Yelen.
Gaurav Dhillon, CEO of Jaman.com , a download service for independent films from around the world, said that new media meant new ways of making money. "I feel good that at a micro level we were right – people are enjoying content on the internet. If that is the transformation, what does it mean for you as a film maker? Additional revenues. People license the rights. We create whole markets in the properties," said Dhillon.
The problem with new digital forms of distribution, as with many traditional forms, is piracy. IP issues abound in this area with many users simply illegally downloading pics from the internet.Fang Li, president and CEO of Netmovies, said many users in China, which has the world's largest population of webizens, believed content was free when downloaded, so there needed to be more awareness. But there were terrific opportunities in China nonetheless, especially in the cellphone side of the business with more than 600 million users. "The opportunity in China is unlimited. Content providers need to pay more attention and provide more paid services," said Fang.
David Chung, head of IT operations at Cyberport, a landmark IT cluster project which describes itself as Hong Kong's IT flagship and is owned by the Hong Kong government, said the authorities in the territory were providing platforms for schools to teach students how to respect copyright. "Rights management is becoming part of daily life. It's a tough job and that's why the government has to step forward to do it," he told the seminar. "In Hong Kong, we put pirates in jail," he said. Variety Asia Online, 18th Mar 2008
Tuesday, 18th March 2008
INFO BOX
TV Spotlight on China
Television Asia, March 2008
China is the world’s largest TV market by audience and fast becoming one of the world’s most prodigious producers of TV content. Total annual production of TV programs reached 2.6million hours in 2006, an annual increase of 2.51%, according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television Development and Research Center. Total airtime reached 13.6million hours, up 4.62% on 2005.
TV penetration reached 96% of the population by the end of 2006, with around 139million households connected to the national cable grid through 3million kilometers of cable, and 12million households could receive digital signals. The total number of cable TV users jumped to 143million households by the end of the first half of 2007, an increase of four million households over the start of the year.
However, the industry remains largely shielded from the outside world due to government restrictions on foreign content imports, as well as the activities with which international media groups can be involved. The roll-out of pay-TV and offi cial IPTV services has also fallen well short of expectations. Content available on Chinese TV is heavily influenced by government policy.
TV news and current affairs programs remained a prime time television mainstay in 2007. On average, Chinese audiences watched 22.8 minutes of news programs per day, a 12.95% share of daily viewing time, according to the CSM Media Research/STVF China TV News Report 2007-2008.
General news accounted for 58% of news viewing with entertainment news reaching a 10% share. The 2006 World Cup, the upcoming Beijing Olympics and other international sports events also resulted in an increase in sports news.
Chinese television is now gearing up to broadcast the biggest celebration of its national and regional cultures ever during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. TV drama, documentary and animation producers are being challenged to produce programs on Chinese landmarks and the Olympics to mark the Games. It will be a seminal year for the content production sector for all genres - from news and current affairs to entertainment - as producers prepare to broadcast spectacles of unprecedented scale and scope, as well as every minute of the Games.
SPORTS SHORTS
* Galleon Holdings plc, intellectual property owner and developer, inked an exclusive co-prod deal with Guangdong TV Sports Channel and Football Association Premier League (FAPL) club, Chelsea Football Club, for multi-platform reality soccer talent search show Super Soccer Star. The show is going into production and will air on Guangdong TV Sports Channel in April 2008. The multi-platform programme will generate revenue from sponsorship, advertising, mobile participation, live events, online activities and branded merchandise. Super Soccer Star (13x30”) will provide a mix of football and entertainment as well as interactive content. It aims to promote football skills and fitness to the teenage group and to cater to family peak-time viewing. Soccer schools and coaches across Guangdong province will send their best players to participate in the competition. TV Asia, 10th Mar 2008
* Nimbus Sport International Pte Ltd today announced an exclusive deal with CamGSM, Cambodia’s largest telecommunications provider. CamGSM has acquired on-demand mobile clip rights to the Barclays Premier League in Cambodia for three seasons from 2007/2008 to 2009/2010 on its mobile network Cellcard. This is the first time that sports video clips will be available on mobile phones in Cambodia. CamGSM will offer near live content as well as highlights and previews of all Barclays Premier League matches. Cellcard football fans across Cambodia can access the clips via Cellcard’s STK menu or visit www.cellcard.com.kh/mobile. Singapore-based i-POP Networks Pte Ltd, Asia’s leading mobile services and provisioning company is assisting in the operation and expansion of the mobile clips service for CamGSM. Sports e-Media, 17th Mar 2008
* Neo Sports, the cricket-focused sports television channel owned by Nimbus Sport, has launched a campaign entitled ‘India’s Race to No 1 – Test Cricket,’ as the Indian cricket team presses to take over from Australia as the world’s number-one-ranked team. As well as showing live coverage of India’s matches, Neo Sports plans extra programmes such as Extra Cover, which aim to ‘give an insight on the finer nuances of the game as well as cover the fun aspect of it.’ The broadcaster is considering an international expansion plan that could involve the channel being distributed in USA, the UK, Germany and France. Neo Sports is an all-cricket channel focused on Nimbus’ acquisition of the rights for Indian cricket in a four-year deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India that was worth an initial $612.5 million and which expires in 2010. Sportcal.com, 17th Mar 2008
* People Infocom (Mauj Mobile), which is an end-to-end managed services provider, has created a new-age 3G portal for Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco). The portal, launched under the brand name O, has been specifically designed for Batelco's recently unveiled 3G network. People Infocom is responsible for developing, designing, hosting and maintaining O. This next-generation portal has an English and Arabic version. The rich user interface provides the consumer ease of content discovery, in turn assuring the operator of customer stickiness, resulting in generating higher ARPUs (average revenue per user). Indiantelevision.com, 17th Mar 2008
* Irdeto, has announced that TrueVisions UBC, Thailand's leading digital pay-TV operator, has extended the functionality of its existing Irdeto Digital TV solution to secure its new PVR (personal video recorder) product. TrueVisionsUBC is the largest subscription-based television provider in Thailand, offering over 80 channels covering infotainment, news, entertainment and sports programmes such as English Premiership matches. The Irdeto PVR solution, delivered in collaboration with Humax and OpenTV, will enable TrueVisions' subscribers to experience enhanced features like content recording andplayback and live pause. Subscribers will be able to record up to 140 hours of TV programmes, control live TV the way they want, and access interactive TV services such as the Football Live Score service and a variety of games.The PVR will be available to both TrueVisions UBC satellite and cable subscribers in Thailand. ATV, 18th Mar 2008
* More than 130 million people watched all or part of the 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on TV. The 2007 championship game drew a healthy 40.3 million, per CBS Sports, New York. Under an 11-year, $6 billion deal with the NCAA that runs through 2014, CBS holds all TV, radio, satellite, digital, Internet and home video rights to the event. CBS is getting about $85,000 per 30-second TV spot for day games and $350,000 for early round and prime time games, per industry analysts. That jumps to about $1.4 million per 30 seconds for the two Final Four games on April 5 and the championship game on April 7. CBS said its TV ad revenue will top $450 million, up from $400 million in 2007. Brandweek,16th Mar 2008
* Horseracing network TVG Broadband has signed a deal to make a selection of its short form video content available on Hulu.com. TVG will provide racehorse and personality profiles, analysis, handicapping information and features covering horseracing throughout the US and around the world. Hulu, which was founded in March 2007 and is a joint venture owned by NBC Universal and News Corp. TVG, a television network and account wagering company dedicated to horseracing, provides programming to nearly 30 million households in the US and more than 20 million households overseas. Sports Media, 17th Mar 2008
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India/New Media: Consolidation Predicted for India Pay-TV
India’s pay-TV sector is expanding fast helped by new DTH players entering the market. “Consolidation is inevitable,” says a new report. A study from Media Partners Asia (MPA) forecasts that India’s vibrant TV market will grow by 16% between this year and 2012. That prediction is just slightly less than the most recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which suggested a CAGR of some 18% over the same period.
Today’s six DTH players (Zee’s Dish TV, TataSky, Bharti, Reliance’s BigTV, Sun and Doordarshan) will have reduced to three by 2012, says MPA, although looking after a greatly expanded market of 25m DTH homes (last year’s end total was about 3.2m). ARPU might also be about to be squeezed, from Rs200 (about $5 a month) to nearer Rs180 ($4.50) as greater competition leads to lower prices per home.
“We have downgraded our estimates on subscription revenues for TV channels in India by about $1 billion because of the effects of price regulation in the medium-term as well as the increasing emphasis on lowering content spend by DTH and cable platforms due to aggressive price competition,” Vivek Couto, executive director, MPA said. The MPA study says that India’s total pay-TV market, when cable is included, will expand from 82m (at end of 2007) to reach 137m by 2012. Already testing is Reliance’s BigTV, promising it will go fully live by the end of March with an initial 100 DTH channels – and all in MPEG4 (a necessary evil because of limited transponder capacity over India). BigTV is itself predicting winning 10m subs over time, and another 15 from cable distribution. Rapid TV, World Screen, 17th Mar 2008
India/New Media: India's GSM Operators Add Nearly 6m Users in February
India's leading GSM-based mobile operators added 5.9 million users in February, about 300,000 less than in January, an industry body, quoted by a Reuters report, said. The Reuters report said Bharti Airtel, India's top mobile firm, led the pack, signing 2.3 million new users in February to take its total to 59.7 million, data from the Cellular Operators Association of India showed.
India, the world's fastest growing wireless telecoms market, had 184.7 million subscribers on nine GSM networks by end-February, the data showed, the Reuters report said. The figure does not include No. 2 operator Reliance Communications Ltd, which operates mainly on the rival CDMA platform but has a growing GSM customer base, the report said.
Reliance had added 1.6 million subscribers across both platforms in January, lifting its total to 42.6 million, the report added. In February, third-ranked Vodafone Essar, a unit of Vodafone, took in 1.4 million new users, swelling its subscribers to 42.6 million, the data showed, the report said. Idea Cellular, the sixth-largest operator by subscriber numbers, added 918,871 users in February, taking total users to 22.9 million users. Unlisted state-owned BSNL, the No. 4 player, added 824,284 subscribers, taking its total to 34.6 million. Aircel, controlled by leading Malaysian mobile phone firm Maxis Communications, added 251,367 users in February, half of what it added in January, the Reuters report further said. telecomasia.net, 18th Mar 2008
Vietnam/New Media: Ozura Partners with Vinamob on Mobile Games Distribution in Vietnam
Ozura Mobile, a leading international publisher and developer of mobile entertainment today announced a strategic partnership on distribution of mobile games with Vinamob Venture Company Limited- Vinamob, a leading publisher of mobile content and services in Vietnam. Vinamob was officially assigned as Master Content Provider (MCP) of Ozura to publish and distribute Ozura’s mobile games to all mobile subscribers in Vietnam market.
As part of the agreement, Vinamob will market and distribute all Ozura's highly acclaimed new games including Beijing 2008, Music Revolution, Cubix and others to mobile subscribers through its distribution network including 3 main mobile operators i.e. Viettel Mobile, Mobifone & Vinaphone, serving more than 35 million mobile subscribers. Vinamob will also sell Ozura’s mobile games directly to consumers through the Piggymob brand.
“The last three years have seen Vietnam's mobile phone market grow beyond the 8% average growth rate of the economy and registering highest growth rates of mobile users globally. We are excited about the collaboration with Vinamob to launch our new games to the market. Our partnership with Vinamob will spearhead our distribution of new and exciting mobile games in Vietnam market,” said H.E.Mah, Ozura’s Chief Marketing Officer. As per the industry experts, a 270% growth is imminent with mobile phone users swelling to almost 45.78 Million in Vietnam by 2010. Games Industry, 17th Mar 2008
Philippines/New Media: Broadcaster, IBM Sign Digital Content Deal
Technology giant IBM has secured a multimillion-peso deal to provide digital content and data storage applications to ABS-CBN, the largest broadcasting company in the Philippines. Under the agreement, both companies will collaborate on a platform to "digitize all of its content, resulting to an enhanced media content creation and management...to benefit Filipino media consumers worldwide", IBM and ABS-CBN said in a statement.
Financial details of the deal remained under wraps, but various news reports said ABS-CBN is pouring in US$4 million for the data storage component alone. The IBM data storage products will be integrated into the media asset management system (MAMS) that the IT vendor will also provide. According to Big Blue, the MAMS will allow the broadcast giant to create new services such as additional channels, Web portals and mobile downloads, "while reducing substantial costs in archiving and storage and attaining a more efficient post-production process".
ABS-CBN is expected to grow its data to about 36 percent, further requiring a new application to handle the volume of data. Zdnetasia.com, 17th Mar 2008
Asia/General: Everyone Benefits as Rugby Pushes Into Asia
Rugby is the latest sport to make a push into Asia, primarily to tap its economic potential but also to help grow the game in a part of the world that desperately needs help. With a new Asian Five Nations tournament being played in April and May and the announcement that a Bledisloe Cup match between Australia and New Zealand will take place in Hong Kong, everyone stands to benefit.
Asian players will gain valuable experience, fans get to watch quality rugby, and unions like Australia and New Zealand can tap the region’s huge sports markets.
Rugby in Asia needs the boost. Japan is the continent’s highest ranked nation at 18 and was the only Asian team to qualify for last year’s World Cup in France, where they failed to make it past the group stages.
It highlighted the gulf between them and the world’s best with the region’s other wannabees such as South Korea and Hong Kong having years of work ahead of them to be competitive globally. Japan’s New Zealand coach John Kirwan, who helped the All Blacks to win the inaugural World Cup in 1987, believes that introducing an Asian Five Nations is a crucial development to help the sport grow. The tournament will pit teams from Japan, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, South Korea and the Gulf.
“We are really excited because this year is an important year for us from a transition point of view, we want to be able to back up our performance in the World Cup,” he recently told Total Rugby Radio. “But to do that we have to keep one eye on the next World Cup so the Asian competition is great for us. We can play a mixture of old and new.”
Kirwan sees Japan, which benefits from competing in the annual Pacific Nations Cup which involves Samoa, Fiji and Tonga as well as Australia A and the Junior All Blacks, as a key cog in accelerating the game’s development.
“The game here in Japan is very old, traditional, the structures are all in place so we see ourselves as the rugby union that can really help open a lot of those doors in Asia,” he said. “Japan is very keen to host the World Cup and I think we all understand that Asia is a fundamental part in the growth of the game and really Japan is the gateway to Asia from a rugby point of view.” Japan narrowly lost the right to host the 2011 World Cup to New Zealand and now are campaigning to host the World Cup in 2015.
David Skidmore, chairman of the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union, said the Asian Five Nations could only benefit the sport. “The tournament can only improve players,” he told reporters. “It will make them aspire to play the likes of Japan who have qualified for every World Cup. That can only be good news for the sport here.” For Australian Rugby Union chief John O’Neill, the move to develop the game in Asia makes complete sense from an economic perspective with the Japanese sports economy one of the largest in the world. “I see a lot of Australian rugby’s future and indeed, New Zealand’s, is very much about embracing the region,” said O’Neill, who helped guide the Australian soccer team into the Asian Football Confederation. Gulf Times, 12th Mar 2008
Asia/General: Chelsea in Search for Chinese Superstar
Chelsea are to take part in a televised talent search aimed at uncovering a Chinese Frank Lampard. The London club, which is aiming to replace Manchester United as the best-supported English club in the world's most populous nation, announced on Monday that it was joining forces with regional broadcaster Guangdong TV Sports Channel to launch the search for a star.
The associated tv series will be called Soccer Super Star and will be broadcast across southern China in 13 episodes from next month.Soccer schools and coaches across Guangdong province will send their most promising 14-16 year old players to take part in the talent show. The four most promising youngsters will win a visit to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge home in west London and will have coaching at the club's academy.
Chelsea is already the official football development partner of the Asian Football Confederation's Vision China project that aims to set up 10 city leagues in China. The club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, said: "We are delighted to be involved in such an innovative project that helps us deliver on our continuing commitment to promote grass roots football amongst youngsters in China.
"The show complements our involvement in Vision China with the AFC as well as showcasing Chelsea to a large audience and we look forward to hosting the finalists of Super Soccer Star in England." The tv series is being co-produced by British company Galleon. AFP, 3rd Mar 2008
Elsewhere/General: Pac-man's Next Fight in Las Vegas
Before his long-anticipated trip to Macau, Manny Pacquiao will stick around Sin City a bit longer. After Pacquiao fights Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night in their super featherweight rematch, the Filipino champion will return to Las Vegas and the Mandalay Bay Events Center in late June for his next 135-pound fight against WBC lightweight champion David Diaz, promoter Bob Arum told The Associated Press on Thursday.
If Pacquiao (45-3-2, 34 KOs) stays on his winning roll, he will fight in Macau in the fall - perhaps against new unified lightweight champion Nate Campbell, who holds the other three belts in a star-studded division after stunning Juan Diaz last week in Cancun. Pacquiao had long been expected to fight David Diaz in June in the opulent 15,000-seat arena at the new Venetian casino in Macau, the Chinese territory that surpassed the Las Vegas Strip's total gambling revenue in 2006.
Filipino fans who revere Pacquiao as a national hero are expected to pour into nearby Macau for the fight, just his second in Asia since December 2004. But Pacquiao's fans are exactly the reason Arum plans to make Pacquiao's next fight at Mandalay Bay - specifically the 2 million Filipinos living in California who liven up the Las Vegas scene on weekends when Pacquiao is in town. USA Today, 13th Mar 2008
TV Spotlight on China
Television Asia, March 2008
China is the world’s largest TV market by audience and fast becoming one of the world’s most prodigious producers of TV content. Total annual production of TV programs reached 2.6million hours in 2006, an annual increase of 2.51%, according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television Development and Research Center. Total airtime reached 13.6million hours, up 4.62% on 2005.
TV penetration reached 96% of the population by the end of 2006, with around 139million households connected to the national cable grid through 3million kilometers of cable, and 12million households could receive digital signals. The total number of cable TV users jumped to 143million households by the end of the first half of 2007, an increase of four million households over the start of the year.
However, the industry remains largely shielded from the outside world due to government restrictions on foreign content imports, as well as the activities with which international media groups can be involved. The roll-out of pay-TV and offi cial IPTV services has also fallen well short of expectations. Content available on Chinese TV is heavily influenced by government policy.
TV news and current affairs programs remained a prime time television mainstay in 2007. On average, Chinese audiences watched 22.8 minutes of news programs per day, a 12.95% share of daily viewing time, according to the CSM Media Research/STVF China TV News Report 2007-2008.
General news accounted for 58% of news viewing with entertainment news reaching a 10% share. The 2006 World Cup, the upcoming Beijing Olympics and other international sports events also resulted in an increase in sports news.
Chinese television is now gearing up to broadcast the biggest celebration of its national and regional cultures ever during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. TV drama, documentary and animation producers are being challenged to produce programs on Chinese landmarks and the Olympics to mark the Games. It will be a seminal year for the content production sector for all genres - from news and current affairs to entertainment - as producers prepare to broadcast spectacles of unprecedented scale and scope, as well as every minute of the Games.
SPORTS SHORTS
* Galleon Holdings plc, intellectual property owner and developer, inked an exclusive co-prod deal with Guangdong TV Sports Channel and Football Association Premier League (FAPL) club, Chelsea Football Club, for multi-platform reality soccer talent search show Super Soccer Star. The show is going into production and will air on Guangdong TV Sports Channel in April 2008. The multi-platform programme will generate revenue from sponsorship, advertising, mobile participation, live events, online activities and branded merchandise. Super Soccer Star (13x30”) will provide a mix of football and entertainment as well as interactive content. It aims to promote football skills and fitness to the teenage group and to cater to family peak-time viewing. Soccer schools and coaches across Guangdong province will send their best players to participate in the competition. TV Asia, 10th Mar 2008
* Nimbus Sport International Pte Ltd today announced an exclusive deal with CamGSM, Cambodia’s largest telecommunications provider. CamGSM has acquired on-demand mobile clip rights to the Barclays Premier League in Cambodia for three seasons from 2007/2008 to 2009/2010 on its mobile network Cellcard. This is the first time that sports video clips will be available on mobile phones in Cambodia. CamGSM will offer near live content as well as highlights and previews of all Barclays Premier League matches. Cellcard football fans across Cambodia can access the clips via Cellcard’s STK menu or visit www.cellcard.com.kh/mobile. Singapore-based i-POP Networks Pte Ltd, Asia’s leading mobile services and provisioning company is assisting in the operation and expansion of the mobile clips service for CamGSM. Sports e-Media, 17th Mar 2008
* Neo Sports, the cricket-focused sports television channel owned by Nimbus Sport, has launched a campaign entitled ‘India’s Race to No 1 – Test Cricket,’ as the Indian cricket team presses to take over from Australia as the world’s number-one-ranked team. As well as showing live coverage of India’s matches, Neo Sports plans extra programmes such as Extra Cover, which aim to ‘give an insight on the finer nuances of the game as well as cover the fun aspect of it.’ The broadcaster is considering an international expansion plan that could involve the channel being distributed in USA, the UK, Germany and France. Neo Sports is an all-cricket channel focused on Nimbus’ acquisition of the rights for Indian cricket in a four-year deal with the Board of Control for Cricket in India that was worth an initial $612.5 million and which expires in 2010. Sportcal.com, 17th Mar 2008
* People Infocom (Mauj Mobile), which is an end-to-end managed services provider, has created a new-age 3G portal for Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco). The portal, launched under the brand name O, has been specifically designed for Batelco's recently unveiled 3G network. People Infocom is responsible for developing, designing, hosting and maintaining O. This next-generation portal has an English and Arabic version. The rich user interface provides the consumer ease of content discovery, in turn assuring the operator of customer stickiness, resulting in generating higher ARPUs (average revenue per user). Indiantelevision.com, 17th Mar 2008
* Irdeto, has announced that TrueVisions UBC, Thailand's leading digital pay-TV operator, has extended the functionality of its existing Irdeto Digital TV solution to secure its new PVR (personal video recorder) product. TrueVisionsUBC is the largest subscription-based television provider in Thailand, offering over 80 channels covering infotainment, news, entertainment and sports programmes such as English Premiership matches. The Irdeto PVR solution, delivered in collaboration with Humax and OpenTV, will enable TrueVisions' subscribers to experience enhanced features like content recording andplayback and live pause. Subscribers will be able to record up to 140 hours of TV programmes, control live TV the way they want, and access interactive TV services such as the Football Live Score service and a variety of games.The PVR will be available to both TrueVisions UBC satellite and cable subscribers in Thailand. ATV, 18th Mar 2008
* More than 130 million people watched all or part of the 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on TV. The 2007 championship game drew a healthy 40.3 million, per CBS Sports, New York. Under an 11-year, $6 billion deal with the NCAA that runs through 2014, CBS holds all TV, radio, satellite, digital, Internet and home video rights to the event. CBS is getting about $85,000 per 30-second TV spot for day games and $350,000 for early round and prime time games, per industry analysts. That jumps to about $1.4 million per 30 seconds for the two Final Four games on April 5 and the championship game on April 7. CBS said its TV ad revenue will top $450 million, up from $400 million in 2007. Brandweek,16th Mar 2008
* Horseracing network TVG Broadband has signed a deal to make a selection of its short form video content available on Hulu.com. TVG will provide racehorse and personality profiles, analysis, handicapping information and features covering horseracing throughout the US and around the world. Hulu, which was founded in March 2007 and is a joint venture owned by NBC Universal and News Corp. TVG, a television network and account wagering company dedicated to horseracing, provides programming to nearly 30 million households in the US and more than 20 million households overseas. Sports Media, 17th Mar 2008
MORE NEWS
India/New Media: Consolidation Predicted for India Pay-TV
India’s pay-TV sector is expanding fast helped by new DTH players entering the market. “Consolidation is inevitable,” says a new report. A study from Media Partners Asia (MPA) forecasts that India’s vibrant TV market will grow by 16% between this year and 2012. That prediction is just slightly less than the most recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report, which suggested a CAGR of some 18% over the same period.
Today’s six DTH players (Zee’s Dish TV, TataSky, Bharti, Reliance’s BigTV, Sun and Doordarshan) will have reduced to three by 2012, says MPA, although looking after a greatly expanded market of 25m DTH homes (last year’s end total was about 3.2m). ARPU might also be about to be squeezed, from Rs200 (about $5 a month) to nearer Rs180 ($4.50) as greater competition leads to lower prices per home.
“We have downgraded our estimates on subscription revenues for TV channels in India by about $1 billion because of the effects of price regulation in the medium-term as well as the increasing emphasis on lowering content spend by DTH and cable platforms due to aggressive price competition,” Vivek Couto, executive director, MPA said. The MPA study says that India’s total pay-TV market, when cable is included, will expand from 82m (at end of 2007) to reach 137m by 2012. Already testing is Reliance’s BigTV, promising it will go fully live by the end of March with an initial 100 DTH channels – and all in MPEG4 (a necessary evil because of limited transponder capacity over India). BigTV is itself predicting winning 10m subs over time, and another 15 from cable distribution. Rapid TV, World Screen, 17th Mar 2008
India/New Media: India's GSM Operators Add Nearly 6m Users in February
India's leading GSM-based mobile operators added 5.9 million users in February, about 300,000 less than in January, an industry body, quoted by a Reuters report, said. The Reuters report said Bharti Airtel, India's top mobile firm, led the pack, signing 2.3 million new users in February to take its total to 59.7 million, data from the Cellular Operators Association of India showed.
India, the world's fastest growing wireless telecoms market, had 184.7 million subscribers on nine GSM networks by end-February, the data showed, the Reuters report said. The figure does not include No. 2 operator Reliance Communications Ltd, which operates mainly on the rival CDMA platform but has a growing GSM customer base, the report said.
Reliance had added 1.6 million subscribers across both platforms in January, lifting its total to 42.6 million, the report added. In February, third-ranked Vodafone Essar, a unit of Vodafone, took in 1.4 million new users, swelling its subscribers to 42.6 million, the data showed, the report said. Idea Cellular, the sixth-largest operator by subscriber numbers, added 918,871 users in February, taking total users to 22.9 million users. Unlisted state-owned BSNL, the No. 4 player, added 824,284 subscribers, taking its total to 34.6 million. Aircel, controlled by leading Malaysian mobile phone firm Maxis Communications, added 251,367 users in February, half of what it added in January, the Reuters report further said. telecomasia.net, 18th Mar 2008
Vietnam/New Media: Ozura Partners with Vinamob on Mobile Games Distribution in Vietnam
Ozura Mobile, a leading international publisher and developer of mobile entertainment today announced a strategic partnership on distribution of mobile games with Vinamob Venture Company Limited- Vinamob, a leading publisher of mobile content and services in Vietnam. Vinamob was officially assigned as Master Content Provider (MCP) of Ozura to publish and distribute Ozura’s mobile games to all mobile subscribers in Vietnam market.
As part of the agreement, Vinamob will market and distribute all Ozura's highly acclaimed new games including Beijing 2008, Music Revolution, Cubix and others to mobile subscribers through its distribution network including 3 main mobile operators i.e. Viettel Mobile, Mobifone & Vinaphone, serving more than 35 million mobile subscribers. Vinamob will also sell Ozura’s mobile games directly to consumers through the Piggymob brand.
“The last three years have seen Vietnam's mobile phone market grow beyond the 8% average growth rate of the economy and registering highest growth rates of mobile users globally. We are excited about the collaboration with Vinamob to launch our new games to the market. Our partnership with Vinamob will spearhead our distribution of new and exciting mobile games in Vietnam market,” said H.E.Mah, Ozura’s Chief Marketing Officer. As per the industry experts, a 270% growth is imminent with mobile phone users swelling to almost 45.78 Million in Vietnam by 2010. Games Industry, 17th Mar 2008
Philippines/New Media: Broadcaster, IBM Sign Digital Content Deal
Technology giant IBM has secured a multimillion-peso deal to provide digital content and data storage applications to ABS-CBN, the largest broadcasting company in the Philippines. Under the agreement, both companies will collaborate on a platform to "digitize all of its content, resulting to an enhanced media content creation and management...to benefit Filipino media consumers worldwide", IBM and ABS-CBN said in a statement.
Financial details of the deal remained under wraps, but various news reports said ABS-CBN is pouring in US$4 million for the data storage component alone. The IBM data storage products will be integrated into the media asset management system (MAMS) that the IT vendor will also provide. According to Big Blue, the MAMS will allow the broadcast giant to create new services such as additional channels, Web portals and mobile downloads, "while reducing substantial costs in archiving and storage and attaining a more efficient post-production process".
ABS-CBN is expected to grow its data to about 36 percent, further requiring a new application to handle the volume of data. Zdnetasia.com, 17th Mar 2008
Asia/General: Everyone Benefits as Rugby Pushes Into Asia
Rugby is the latest sport to make a push into Asia, primarily to tap its economic potential but also to help grow the game in a part of the world that desperately needs help. With a new Asian Five Nations tournament being played in April and May and the announcement that a Bledisloe Cup match between Australia and New Zealand will take place in Hong Kong, everyone stands to benefit.
Asian players will gain valuable experience, fans get to watch quality rugby, and unions like Australia and New Zealand can tap the region’s huge sports markets.
Rugby in Asia needs the boost. Japan is the continent’s highest ranked nation at 18 and was the only Asian team to qualify for last year’s World Cup in France, where they failed to make it past the group stages.
It highlighted the gulf between them and the world’s best with the region’s other wannabees such as South Korea and Hong Kong having years of work ahead of them to be competitive globally. Japan’s New Zealand coach John Kirwan, who helped the All Blacks to win the inaugural World Cup in 1987, believes that introducing an Asian Five Nations is a crucial development to help the sport grow. The tournament will pit teams from Japan, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, South Korea and the Gulf.
“We are really excited because this year is an important year for us from a transition point of view, we want to be able to back up our performance in the World Cup,” he recently told Total Rugby Radio. “But to do that we have to keep one eye on the next World Cup so the Asian competition is great for us. We can play a mixture of old and new.”
Kirwan sees Japan, which benefits from competing in the annual Pacific Nations Cup which involves Samoa, Fiji and Tonga as well as Australia A and the Junior All Blacks, as a key cog in accelerating the game’s development.
“The game here in Japan is very old, traditional, the structures are all in place so we see ourselves as the rugby union that can really help open a lot of those doors in Asia,” he said. “Japan is very keen to host the World Cup and I think we all understand that Asia is a fundamental part in the growth of the game and really Japan is the gateway to Asia from a rugby point of view.” Japan narrowly lost the right to host the 2011 World Cup to New Zealand and now are campaigning to host the World Cup in 2015.
David Skidmore, chairman of the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union, said the Asian Five Nations could only benefit the sport. “The tournament can only improve players,” he told reporters. “It will make them aspire to play the likes of Japan who have qualified for every World Cup. That can only be good news for the sport here.” For Australian Rugby Union chief John O’Neill, the move to develop the game in Asia makes complete sense from an economic perspective with the Japanese sports economy one of the largest in the world. “I see a lot of Australian rugby’s future and indeed, New Zealand’s, is very much about embracing the region,” said O’Neill, who helped guide the Australian soccer team into the Asian Football Confederation. Gulf Times, 12th Mar 2008
Asia/General: Chelsea in Search for Chinese Superstar
Chelsea are to take part in a televised talent search aimed at uncovering a Chinese Frank Lampard. The London club, which is aiming to replace Manchester United as the best-supported English club in the world's most populous nation, announced on Monday that it was joining forces with regional broadcaster Guangdong TV Sports Channel to launch the search for a star.
The associated tv series will be called Soccer Super Star and will be broadcast across southern China in 13 episodes from next month.Soccer schools and coaches across Guangdong province will send their most promising 14-16 year old players to take part in the talent show. The four most promising youngsters will win a visit to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge home in west London and will have coaching at the club's academy.
Chelsea is already the official football development partner of the Asian Football Confederation's Vision China project that aims to set up 10 city leagues in China. The club's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, said: "We are delighted to be involved in such an innovative project that helps us deliver on our continuing commitment to promote grass roots football amongst youngsters in China.
"The show complements our involvement in Vision China with the AFC as well as showcasing Chelsea to a large audience and we look forward to hosting the finalists of Super Soccer Star in England." The tv series is being co-produced by British company Galleon. AFP, 3rd Mar 2008
Elsewhere/General: Pac-man's Next Fight in Las Vegas
Before his long-anticipated trip to Macau, Manny Pacquiao will stick around Sin City a bit longer. After Pacquiao fights Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night in their super featherweight rematch, the Filipino champion will return to Las Vegas and the Mandalay Bay Events Center in late June for his next 135-pound fight against WBC lightweight champion David Diaz, promoter Bob Arum told The Associated Press on Thursday.
If Pacquiao (45-3-2, 34 KOs) stays on his winning roll, he will fight in Macau in the fall - perhaps against new unified lightweight champion Nate Campbell, who holds the other three belts in a star-studded division after stunning Juan Diaz last week in Cancun. Pacquiao had long been expected to fight David Diaz in June in the opulent 15,000-seat arena at the new Venetian casino in Macau, the Chinese territory that surpassed the Las Vegas Strip's total gambling revenue in 2006.
Filipino fans who revere Pacquiao as a national hero are expected to pour into nearby Macau for the fight, just his second in Asia since December 2004. But Pacquiao's fans are exactly the reason Arum plans to make Pacquiao's next fight at Mandalay Bay - specifically the 2 million Filipinos living in California who liven up the Las Vegas scene on weekends when Pacquiao is in town. USA Today, 13th Mar 2008
Monday, 17th March 2008
INFO BOX
Global Wi-Fi Hotspots
Info IQ, 14th Mar 2008
The second half of 2007 saw another strong performance for Wi-Fi, as hotspot usage by business users increased 89% over H2 2006. Based on data gathered from over two million sessions during the period, the Index again demonstrated European growth rapidly outpacing the US, with Europe expanding its worldwide share of hotspot use to 40%, up from 31%, as America's representation dropped from 59% to 51%. Also, London increased its lead as the world capital of Wi-Fi with usage rising by 156% over the same time period last year, according to a new report by iPass.
Latin America was the latest region to demonstrate exceptional growth in Wi-Fi, with usage skyrocketing 133% over H2 2006 and Brazil debuting on the top 10 country list after tripling its Wi-Fi usage. At the city level, Tokyo placed third with impressive 118% growth, behind London and Singapore and followed by New York. Japan's growth reinforces data from IDC which states that Japan's mobile workforce is increasing at the world's fastest rate.
SPORTS SHORTS
* Maya Entertainment (MEL) and Leander Sport Pvt Ltd (LSPL) have joined forces to produce an animated television series based on sports and fitness . Initially, MEL and LSPL, a sports consultancy floated by Indian tennis player Leander Paes, will work on an animated TV series called 'The Magic Racquet', which promotes the values of an active outdoor lifestyle, healthy eating habits, physical fitness and a winning mindset. Jai Natarajan, executive vice-president and business head of MEL, said: "We have identified multiple content opportunities and are looking at domestic and international exploitation platforms to roll out content in the future." Sports Media, 14th Mar 2008
* Bayern München will embark on an end-of-season tour to Asia as part of the Deutsche Fussball Liga's (DFL) ongoing efforts to promote the domestic game worldwide. Bayern will depart on a 10-day tour on May 18, following the final round of 1.Bundesliga fixtures. They are scheduled to play three games, taking in Indonesia, China and India. Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: "We want to show our colours abroad. Asia is a hugely important market, perhaps the most important of all. We aim to showcase the Bundesliga there, and Bayern München as well." The Munich giant will take a strong squad to Asia, minus its stars that are due to turn out at UEFA Euro 2008. Goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn is likely to play his last game for the club in front of a near 120,000 crowd in the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta. Football Insider, 14th Mar 2008
* Prize money for the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup will be $17.6 million, with the winning team picking up $3.75 million and the runners-up £3.25 million. The third-placed team will earn $2.27 million with $2.25 million going to the fourth-placed team. The teams ranked fifth to eighth will each receive $1.4 million. The prize money reflects the importance of the event, which is seen as a test run for the World Cup itself. Sport Business, 14th Mar 2008
* Commercial broadcaster ITV is to add a further tier to its coverage of Formula 1 by making races, practice sessions and press conferences available live, online. The broadcaster has signed an exclusive one-year deal with Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management. Under the deal, which begins with coverage of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, F1 races will be made available to view via ITV.com/F1 and be cross-promoted across the website and during the broadcaster's TV coverage. Each Grand Prix will be available to view for 30 days on ITV.com's catch-up TV service after the race has finished. It is the first time that Friday practice sessions have been shown on television. Sport Business, ATV, C21Media, 14th Mar 2008
* The first round of bidding for the TV rights for Champions League football got underway in the UK with fierce competition expected between the BBC, ITV, Five and pay TV operators Setanta and BSkyB. After receiving yesterday's confidential bids, Uefa, will decide how to structure the rest of the auction in a process likely to take until the autumn. The auction is expected to generate fees of £150 million a year. Current rights holders Sky and ITV pay around £90 million between them, per-year. Commercial broadcasters are questioning whether the BBC should be using licence fee money to bid up the asking price for the rights and highlighting the premium it will have to pay to compensate Uefa’s sponsorship partners, which are guaranteed advertising credits either side of commercial breaks. The BBC’s rivals claim that it will have to pay an extra £10 million. Sport Business, 14th Mar 2008
* IEC in Sports said today that it had agreed a multi-year deal to market the international media rights for Athletissima, the annual IAAF Super Grand Prix athletics meeting in Lausanne. The new deal begins with next year’s meeting. IEC in Sports markets the rights for over 30 athletics events a year. Sportcal, 14th Mar 2008
* Virgin Media will launch Arsenal TV on its TV platform on 18th March. The channel will be free for all Virgin Media's XL TV customers, and included as part of the Setanta Sports pack for TV customers on M or L packages. Arsenal TV will show all Arsenal football matches in full, as well as Arsenal's Ladies and Under 18s teams' games. ATV, 17th Mar 2008
* NEC plans to launch full-scale IPTV business with high-profile NGN (next generation networks) carrier applications and is eyeing to generate 50 bilion yen ($504 million) from this business by 2010. In a statement, NEC said it will target international carriers for its end-to-end IPTV solutions and video delivery systems. telecomasia.net, 17th Mar 2008
MORE NEWS
DTM: Big Contingent of Stars at Launch in Düsseldorf
Wiesbaden/Düsseldorf – Oliver Pocher, Jennifer Paige and Revolverheld: these are the celebrities that are going to travel to Düsseldorf for the DTM Launch – held on 6th April in the sports city of Düsseldorf – and join DTM drivers Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes-Benz), Mattias Ekström (Audi) and all their colleagues, there. From 13.00hrs, German comedian Oliver Pocher is going to present the programme together with ARD presenter Claus Lufen. “Let’s wait and see if I will get the chance off taking the wheel of a DTM car myself,” Pocher says. “Then, I will show the guys how to take a car to its limits. Whatever Ralf Schumacher can do, I can do it just as well – at least.” In addition to demonstration runs of the DTM cars and those racing in its partner series, to donuts and pit-stop simulations, all the visitors will also be provided an attractive music programme.
German band ’Revolverheld’ are going to fire up the audience with their rocking sound and will present Germany’s official Euro song for the 2008 European Football Championship held in Austria and Switzerland. While Jennifer Paige, who conquered the charts all around the world, in the late 1990s, with her smash hit ‘Crush’, will perform several songs of her latest album, ‘Kept Best Secret’. She is going to inspire the crowds just as much as another international top artist who will enter the stage as the surprise guest of the event. The first preparations for the launch will be executed as early as on Monday, 17th March. On this day, a 3x8-metre Ralf Schumacher placard will be installed on the building of the ‘Oberpostdirektion’ (Post Head Office), located at the corner Graf-Adolfs-Platz / Breitestraße. Furthermore, two welcome bridges will be erected at the Königsallee and in the pedestrian area, at the corner Schadowstraße / Blumen Straße. All these activities will be accompanied by a major placard campaign in Greater Düsseldorf.
Thailand/New Media: CAT prepares move towards MVNO model
CAT Telecom is looking to adopt a successful business model called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to improve its competitiveness once the concessions it has granted to DTAC and True Move will expire. Man Patthanothai, the Information and Communications Technology minister, said CAT needed to start preparing now for the expiry of the concessions. The DTAC deal will end in 10 years and True Move's has six years to go.
CAT and its sister agency TOT rely heavily on revenue-sharing payments from mobile operators. The payments account for 55% of CAT's revenue. CAT used to have a monopoly on international calls but new technologies have made the business far less lucrative. Under the MVNO model, CAT would form alliances with DTAC and True Move to provide mobile phone service. The model means that a company provides service but does not have its own radio spectrum or all of the infrastructure required.
Man said that CAT would negotiate with DTAC and True Move to rent the mobile network. A joint-venture company would be set up with CAT acting as the MVNO and the private operators acting as marketers. Revenue would be shared in line with the ratio of shareholdings, he said. The model would be attractive to both DTAC and True Move because it would be cheaper than applying for new licences or investing in new networks, Mr Man said. telecomasia.net, 17th Mar 2008
Asia/Broadcaster: ESPN STAR Sports Debuts Formula One Racing
ESPN STAR Sports is launching live telecasts of the Formula One Grand Prix 2008 season, beginning with the ING Australian Grand Prix this month. The channel will air all 18 races, culminating with the Brazil Grand Prix in November. Comprehensive live coverage includes the telecast of the Saturday Qualifying and the Sunday Race, which will be shown across all 17 networks on ESPN STAR Sports.
Complementing the live coverage are ESPN STAR Sports’ pre- and post-race presentations, Race Day and Chequered Flag. Hosted by Steve Dawson and Paula Malai Ali, Race Day and Chequered Flag provide live reports, race analysis and an insight into the people behind the high-speed action. Both programs will also feature racing experts like Julian Bailey, former F1 driver for the Tyrell and Lotus teams; Alex Yoong, A1 Team Malaysia driver; Matthew Marsh, Asian motor-sports personality and Hong Kong’s first Le Mans representative; and Damien Smith, the editor of the British publication Motor Sport Magazine.
The channel’s online platform will also offer extended coverage, up-to-the-minute results and an online column from Steve Slater. The website is also launching exclusive F1-related games from racing fans across the region. Adding to the racing lineup is Engine Block, a weekly motor-sports magazine show that features news, interviews and highlights from the world of motor sports. Presented by Sanjeev Palar and Drinie Aguilar, Engine Block will see the hosts engaging in motor-sports activities of all sorts, such as going for a spin in the Asia Pacific Rally champion's car and sitting shotgun during a professional car stunt show. Worldscreen, 14th Mar 2008
Asia/General: Tour Hits Back at OneAsia Tour Claims
Golf’s Asian Tour has ‘unequivocally’ opposed plans for a rival Asia-Pacific golf tour after the Australian PGA, which is leading plans to introduce the initiative, said that it had gained support for the project from ‘several of the leading golf bodies’ in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asian Tour said in a statement: ‘Elite and major golf tournaments already form the burgeoning Asian Tour schedule and the Asian Tour firmly believe that we are on the correct pathway in developing, promoting and growing professional golf in Asia under the existing tour structure.’
The Australian PGA said earlier today that it had reached an agreement with the Japan Golf Tour Organisation, the China Golf Association and the Korean Golf Association to form a new regional tour ‘aimed at providing the best possible platform to grow elite tournament professional golf [and consolidate] the development of the next generation of champion regional golfers.’ The four associations, knows as the ‘founding parties,’ have appointed an interim board to guide the creation and launch of the so-called OneAsia Tour of elite events. The national governing bodies in Thailand and India are also believed to be considering joining.
The Australian PGA said that discussions are continuing with several other golf bodies in the region to establish their role within OneAsia. The Asian Tour is upset at the moves by the associations, claiming to have worked ‘very closely’ with China, Korea and Japan. Eight tournaments on the 2008 Asian Tour will take place in those countries, it added. The Asian Tour said: ‘We will continue to work closely with all the regional golf bodies for the betterment of golf. Kyi Hla Han, chief executive of the player-run Asian Tour, has likened the situation to a previous clash with the European Tour, which the Asian Tour believed was trying to encroach on its territory. He said: ‘It’s disturbing for me. But if we can withstand the European Tour going market by market, I can say confidently we’ll see what’s in the interest of Asian golf.’ Sportcal, 14th Mar 2008
Elsewhere/General: Giro to Separate Domestic and International Rights
RCS, owner of cycling’s Giro d’Italia, one of the sport's three annual 'Grand Tours,' said today that it would go ahead with a mooted plan to market its international media rights separately from its domestic rights from the end of this year. RCS said that the decision had been ‘motivated by very positive feedback from both agencies and media platforms in response to recent speculation that they would consider marketing international rights separately from domestic [sic: RCS itself announced that it was considering separating domestic and international rights].’
RCS added that it would ‘approach the operators individually in what will be a standardised consultation process whereby RCS shall provide prospective bidders with information on availability of rights, coverage, product specifications and minimum exposure/broadcast commitments. Under the present contract, domestic and international rights were bundled together and sold to Rai, the Italian public-service broadcaster, which produces television coverage of the race and markets it worldwide via its Rai Trade international distribution arm. Rai’s four-year contract expires at the end of this year.
The move to separate the two sets of rights apparently opens up the possibility of a closer co-operation between RCS and ASO, owner of the Tour de France. ASO is already advising Unipublic, owner of the Vuelta a Espana, the third of the sport’s three annual ‘Grand Tours’ on its media rights deals. It is also believed to be close to taking a 50-per-cent stake in the Spanish race. An alliance with ASO could enable the international rights for all three tours to be marketed as a highly attractive package to broadcasters and other media. Such a possibility would be regarded with dismay by the UCI, the sport’s world governing body, which is locked in a bitter power struggle with ASO for control of the sport.
RCS said today that it had ‘received expressions of interest from several parties for an international rights package which includes Italy’s Grand Tour, Giro d’Italia, which celebrates its centenary next year, as well as Giro di Lombardia, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-San Remo and the new one day race, Montepaschi Eroica.’ RCS added: ‘In the next 10 days RCS will contact all interested parties and they aim to receive all offers by mid April.’ Sportcal, 14th Mar 2008
Global/General: F1 GPs Are World's Most Valuable Sports Events
The grands prix of Formula 1 motor racing are the world’s most valuable sporting events, according to new research by management consultants Deloitte. Last year, the 18 grands prix in the Formula 1 series brought in average revenue of $217 million per race, compared with ‘per-game values’ of $24 million for NFL American football, $8 million for English soccer’s top-tier Premier League and $2 million for Major League Baseball.
However, Formula 1’s 2007 global revenues figure of $3.9 billion was eclipsed by the NFL’s 2006-07 figure of $6.5 billion and MLB’s 2006 figure of $5.1 billion, largely thanks to the NFL’s and MLB’s much larger numbers of events per season. Deloitte said that Formula 1’s $3.9-billion figure ‘is comprised of central revenues (from broadcasting, race sponsorship and corporate hospitality), team revenues (including sponsorship and contributions from their commercial partners and owners) and circuit revenues (from ticketing and certain sponsorships).’
Alan Switzer, director in the sports business group at Deloitte, added: ‘Global revenues of more than $3.9 billion and total viewing figures in excess of 350 million for the 2007 season make impressive reading and with measures such as the future Asian expansion, development of more ‘local heroes’ (potentially in India and China) and the introduction of night racing we would expect these figures to continue to rise.’
Deloitte points out that, compared with many other major sports, Formula 1 brings in a much lower proportion of its revenues from spending by spectators on the day of the race. Ticket receipts and other spending by spectators amounts to only about 10 per cent of total revenue.’ Deloitte added that circuits, supported by Formula 1, are seeking to increase race-day revenues. Sportcal, 14th Mar 2008
ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS
China Now #1 in Executions, Population... and Web Surfing!
The United States is no longer #1 when it comes to warm bodies surfing the Internet. According to BDA China, a Beijing-based consulting and research firm, China has some 228 million surfers. The China Internet Network Information Center puts that figure at 225 million. The US had been in the #1 seat for almost 40 years, dating back to the birth of the Internet in 1969 when it was a Defense Department project.
The AFP headline reads "China outsurfs the US," but whether or not China is truly in the lead is debatable. These studies all use statistics to project the number of people online, and statistics can lie. Simple statistics also don't tell the story of the disparity between the US and China in terms of user experience and innovation. China may have 228 million Internet users, but politics in that region are stifling innovation and the freedom of expression for nearly all of them, and the problem is getting worse, not better.
In the next year some 60 million more Chinese are expected to get online, according to BDA China, but this comes at the same time that the Chinese government is stepping up its crackdown on free expression. President Hu Jintao last year called for purification of the Internet, saying that it was poisoning the minds of China's youth. What he really meant to say is that the government is upset that it cannot completely control the flow of information.
To help keep those youths "honest," China will soon require customers of 'Net cafés to register their names and photos. 53 Internet cafés in Beijing's Xicheng District will be fitted with a new login system this month, and other urban areas will follow suit later this year, using either a centrally controlled monitoring system or, at the very least, enrollment lists with names and pictures.
The Chinese government already applies filters to incoming Internet traffic to ensure that the public isn't exposed to any "backward" thoughts and prohibits citizens from posting content that the government finds inappropriate. Last year, the government stopped just short of requiring all bloggers in the country to register their real names, due to the near-impossible logistics and costs involved. China has also introduced new laws which make it illegal for the distribution of audio and video content not sanctioned or produced by state-run media agencies.
All of this points to a China that is proceeding cautiously with no small amount of fear. Only a quarter of the country's population is digitally inclined at this time, and China doesn't really want to see that growth stifled. China likes the fact that the Internet can be a great distributor of information; it's just that the government would prefer to control all of that information.
For this reason, the inevitable op-eds about how Mandarin Chinese will become the "lingua Internet" can still be safely ignored (at least if their premise is the percentage of Chinese online). China, by stifling free expression and innovation online, is limiting its ability to influence the globe, opting instead to focus its influence on a catch-22: the proliferation of an open communications medium (the Internet) which the Chinese government would rather function more like a closed, propaganda-oriented platform.
In the meantime, China can bask in its new status as the #1 web surfing country in the world. If it's not true today, it will be by the end of this year. But the climate for innovation there is horrendous, as this recent Forbes article notes, and without anything close to a free Internet, that status as #1 is quite squandered. Yet, as readers in China tell us, savvy users are often one step ahead of the government, and everyone knows that a huge wealth of information and expression lies beyond the Great Firewall. China can't possibly hope to reign in the web, let alone "win the web" as the Forbes article suggests. If anything, the web will win over China, and continue to serve ultimately as a positive force for progressive change in the realms of free speech and civil rights. Ars Technica, 16th Mar 2008
India’s Media and Entertainment Industry Grows 17% in 2007
Last year, which saw the biggest global players testing waters in the Indian media and entertainment sector, the industry grew 17% over the previous year, reaching the Rs50,000 crore mark, according to a joint report by industry body the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
While the mainstream sectors such as print, television and filmed entertainment continued to grow robustly, emerging segments such as animation, gaming and visual effects, radio, out-of-home advertising and online advertising grew faster, although on a much lower base. The report forecasts sustained growth for the next five years, estimating that the industry will grow to an overall size of Rs1.16 trillion by 2012. The report predicts a cumulative growth of 18% for the sector during the period.
“The industry has posted robust growth, in fact, a couple of percentage points higher than what we projected last year, which is a great thing,” said Timmy Kandhari, executive director and leader of technology, infocomm and entertainment and media practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Advertising, which contributed Rs19,600 crore or 38% to the revenues generated by the media and entertainment industry, grew 22% year-on-year in 2007, the report says.Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the sector surged to $211 million (Rs854.55 crore), against $89.18 million in 2006. “FDI will continue to go up in the coming years,” Kandhari said. The year 2007-08 was marked by the entry of media and entertainment conglomerates—Viacom Inc., NBC Universal Inc. and Walt Disney Co.—into India through partnerships with Network 18 Group, NDTV Networks Plc. and UTV Software Communications Ltd, respectively.
The television industry grew 18%, the only big sector to grow at a rate above the industry average. The report notes that digital distribution platforms such as direct-to-home (DTH) are transforming the industry as such addressable technologies ensure more transparency and higher revenues from subscription. The study said the number of DTH subscribers would grow cumulatively by 44% every year over the next five years. The high growth in advertising revenues and emergence of new revenue streams such as from SMS (short message service) are driving the launch of new channels, the report says.
Print media’s growth in 2007 at 16% was lower than the industry average and the report indicates it will continue to grow below the average over the next five years, as well. The report predicts the sector’s cumulative annual growth rate, (CAGR), for 2008-12 at 14%, four percentage points below the industry average. The report, specifically notes the increase in regional language publications and the action in the magazines space, with a slew of niche launches.
Filmed entertainment grew 14% on which the CAGR for 2008-12 is predicted at 13%. The report notes several trends that are changing the nature of the industry. Emergence of revenue streams such as mobile phones, Internet, home video, merchandise, re-make rights and branded entertainment as well as the advent of the studio model of production will continue to grow de-risking the business, the report says. FM radio will grow to a Rs1,800 crore industry by 2012, up from Rs620 crore now. When asked if the possibility of an economic slowdown dampened the overall outlook, Kandhari said: “We have factored that in (the report).”
‘TV market to grow at 16%’
A Hong Kong-based independent research firm focusing on Asia’s media and telecommunications industry has made a slightly different projection for the Indian television industry. The market will grow at an average annual rate of 16% to reach $11.6 billion (Rs46,922 crore) by 2012, Media Partners Asia said in its annual report, ‘Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2008’. It said the sector will grow to $19 billion by 2017. According to its study, the increasing footprint of digitized distribution systems such as DTH will see subscription revenues climbing from $3.8 billion currently to $7.8 billion by 2012 and $12.3 billion by 2017. The number of digital pay-TV subscribers including cable, DTH and Internet protocol TV, could grow to 28 million by 2012 and 15 million by 2017, it added.
While steady economic growth and increasing cable TV penetration continue to boost the growth of TV advertising, the study says TV’s share of the ad pie, which in 2007 was 42%, will come under threat in the long run from the growth of out-of-home media, radio and online advertising. It said advertising on TV will grow at an average annual rate of 19% between 2007 and 2012 to reach $3.5 billion and further to $6.3 billion by 2017. Livemint.com, 17th Mar 2008
Global Wi-Fi Hotspots
Info IQ, 14th Mar 2008
The second half of 2007 saw another strong performance for Wi-Fi, as hotspot usage by business users increased 89% over H2 2006. Based on data gathered from over two million sessions during the period, the Index again demonstrated European growth rapidly outpacing the US, with Europe expanding its worldwide share of hotspot use to 40%, up from 31%, as America's representation dropped from 59% to 51%. Also, London increased its lead as the world capital of Wi-Fi with usage rising by 156% over the same time period last year, according to a new report by iPass.
Latin America was the latest region to demonstrate exceptional growth in Wi-Fi, with usage skyrocketing 133% over H2 2006 and Brazil debuting on the top 10 country list after tripling its Wi-Fi usage. At the city level, Tokyo placed third with impressive 118% growth, behind London and Singapore and followed by New York. Japan's growth reinforces data from IDC which states that Japan's mobile workforce is increasing at the world's fastest rate.
SPORTS SHORTS
* Maya Entertainment (MEL) and Leander Sport Pvt Ltd (LSPL) have joined forces to produce an animated television series based on sports and fitness . Initially, MEL and LSPL, a sports consultancy floated by Indian tennis player Leander Paes, will work on an animated TV series called 'The Magic Racquet', which promotes the values of an active outdoor lifestyle, healthy eating habits, physical fitness and a winning mindset. Jai Natarajan, executive vice-president and business head of MEL, said: "We have identified multiple content opportunities and are looking at domestic and international exploitation platforms to roll out content in the future." Sports Media, 14th Mar 2008
* Bayern München will embark on an end-of-season tour to Asia as part of the Deutsche Fussball Liga's (DFL) ongoing efforts to promote the domestic game worldwide. Bayern will depart on a 10-day tour on May 18, following the final round of 1.Bundesliga fixtures. They are scheduled to play three games, taking in Indonesia, China and India. Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: "We want to show our colours abroad. Asia is a hugely important market, perhaps the most important of all. We aim to showcase the Bundesliga there, and Bayern München as well." The Munich giant will take a strong squad to Asia, minus its stars that are due to turn out at UEFA Euro 2008. Goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn is likely to play his last game for the club in front of a near 120,000 crowd in the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta. Football Insider, 14th Mar 2008
* Prize money for the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup will be $17.6 million, with the winning team picking up $3.75 million and the runners-up £3.25 million. The third-placed team will earn $2.27 million with $2.25 million going to the fourth-placed team. The teams ranked fifth to eighth will each receive $1.4 million. The prize money reflects the importance of the event, which is seen as a test run for the World Cup itself. Sport Business, 14th Mar 2008
* Commercial broadcaster ITV is to add a further tier to its coverage of Formula 1 by making races, practice sessions and press conferences available live, online. The broadcaster has signed an exclusive one-year deal with Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management. Under the deal, which begins with coverage of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, F1 races will be made available to view via ITV.com/F1 and be cross-promoted across the website and during the broadcaster's TV coverage. Each Grand Prix will be available to view for 30 days on ITV.com's catch-up TV service after the race has finished. It is the first time that Friday practice sessions have been shown on television. Sport Business, ATV, C21Media, 14th Mar 2008
* The first round of bidding for the TV rights for Champions League football got underway in the UK with fierce competition expected between the BBC, ITV, Five and pay TV operators Setanta and BSkyB. After receiving yesterday's confidential bids, Uefa, will decide how to structure the rest of the auction in a process likely to take until the autumn. The auction is expected to generate fees of £150 million a year. Current rights holders Sky and ITV pay around £90 million between them, per-year. Commercial broadcasters are questioning whether the BBC should be using licence fee money to bid up the asking price for the rights and highlighting the premium it will have to pay to compensate Uefa’s sponsorship partners, which are guaranteed advertising credits either side of commercial breaks. The BBC’s rivals claim that it will have to pay an extra £10 million. Sport Business, 14th Mar 2008
* IEC in Sports said today that it had agreed a multi-year deal to market the international media rights for Athletissima, the annual IAAF Super Grand Prix athletics meeting in Lausanne. The new deal begins with next year’s meeting. IEC in Sports markets the rights for over 30 athletics events a year. Sportcal, 14th Mar 2008
* Virgin Media will launch Arsenal TV on its TV platform on 18th March. The channel will be free for all Virgin Media's XL TV customers, and included as part of the Setanta Sports pack for TV customers on M or L packages. Arsenal TV will show all Arsenal football matches in full, as well as Arsenal's Ladies and Under 18s teams' games. ATV, 17th Mar 2008
* NEC plans to launch full-scale IPTV business with high-profile NGN (next generation networks) carrier applications and is eyeing to generate 50 bilion yen ($504 million) from this business by 2010. In a statement, NEC said it will target international carriers for its end-to-end IPTV solutions and video delivery systems. telecomasia.net, 17th Mar 2008
MORE NEWS
DTM: Big Contingent of Stars at Launch in Düsseldorf
Wiesbaden/Düsseldorf – Oliver Pocher, Jennifer Paige and Revolverheld: these are the celebrities that are going to travel to Düsseldorf for the DTM Launch – held on 6th April in the sports city of Düsseldorf – and join DTM drivers Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes-Benz), Mattias Ekström (Audi) and all their colleagues, there. From 13.00hrs, German comedian Oliver Pocher is going to present the programme together with ARD presenter Claus Lufen. “Let’s wait and see if I will get the chance off taking the wheel of a DTM car myself,” Pocher says. “Then, I will show the guys how to take a car to its limits. Whatever Ralf Schumacher can do, I can do it just as well – at least.” In addition to demonstration runs of the DTM cars and those racing in its partner series, to donuts and pit-stop simulations, all the visitors will also be provided an attractive music programme.
German band ’Revolverheld’ are going to fire up the audience with their rocking sound and will present Germany’s official Euro song for the 2008 European Football Championship held in Austria and Switzerland. While Jennifer Paige, who conquered the charts all around the world, in the late 1990s, with her smash hit ‘Crush’, will perform several songs of her latest album, ‘Kept Best Secret’. She is going to inspire the crowds just as much as another international top artist who will enter the stage as the surprise guest of the event. The first preparations for the launch will be executed as early as on Monday, 17th March. On this day, a 3x8-metre Ralf Schumacher placard will be installed on the building of the ‘Oberpostdirektion’ (Post Head Office), located at the corner Graf-Adolfs-Platz / Breitestraße. Furthermore, two welcome bridges will be erected at the Königsallee and in the pedestrian area, at the corner Schadowstraße / Blumen Straße. All these activities will be accompanied by a major placard campaign in Greater Düsseldorf.
Thailand/New Media: CAT prepares move towards MVNO model
CAT Telecom is looking to adopt a successful business model called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) to improve its competitiveness once the concessions it has granted to DTAC and True Move will expire. Man Patthanothai, the Information and Communications Technology minister, said CAT needed to start preparing now for the expiry of the concessions. The DTAC deal will end in 10 years and True Move's has six years to go.
CAT and its sister agency TOT rely heavily on revenue-sharing payments from mobile operators. The payments account for 55% of CAT's revenue. CAT used to have a monopoly on international calls but new technologies have made the business far less lucrative. Under the MVNO model, CAT would form alliances with DTAC and True Move to provide mobile phone service. The model means that a company provides service but does not have its own radio spectrum or all of the infrastructure required.
Man said that CAT would negotiate with DTAC and True Move to rent the mobile network. A joint-venture company would be set up with CAT acting as the MVNO and the private operators acting as marketers. Revenue would be shared in line with the ratio of shareholdings, he said. The model would be attractive to both DTAC and True Move because it would be cheaper than applying for new licences or investing in new networks, Mr Man said. telecomasia.net, 17th Mar 2008
Asia/Broadcaster: ESPN STAR Sports Debuts Formula One Racing
ESPN STAR Sports is launching live telecasts of the Formula One Grand Prix 2008 season, beginning with the ING Australian Grand Prix this month. The channel will air all 18 races, culminating with the Brazil Grand Prix in November. Comprehensive live coverage includes the telecast of the Saturday Qualifying and the Sunday Race, which will be shown across all 17 networks on ESPN STAR Sports.
Complementing the live coverage are ESPN STAR Sports’ pre- and post-race presentations, Race Day and Chequered Flag. Hosted by Steve Dawson and Paula Malai Ali, Race Day and Chequered Flag provide live reports, race analysis and an insight into the people behind the high-speed action. Both programs will also feature racing experts like Julian Bailey, former F1 driver for the Tyrell and Lotus teams; Alex Yoong, A1 Team Malaysia driver; Matthew Marsh, Asian motor-sports personality and Hong Kong’s first Le Mans representative; and Damien Smith, the editor of the British publication Motor Sport Magazine.
The channel’s online platform will also offer extended coverage, up-to-the-minute results and an online column from Steve Slater. The website is also launching exclusive F1-related games from racing fans across the region. Adding to the racing lineup is Engine Block, a weekly motor-sports magazine show that features news, interviews and highlights from the world of motor sports. Presented by Sanjeev Palar and Drinie Aguilar, Engine Block will see the hosts engaging in motor-sports activities of all sorts, such as going for a spin in the Asia Pacific Rally champion's car and sitting shotgun during a professional car stunt show. Worldscreen, 14th Mar 2008
Asia/General: Tour Hits Back at OneAsia Tour Claims
Golf’s Asian Tour has ‘unequivocally’ opposed plans for a rival Asia-Pacific golf tour after the Australian PGA, which is leading plans to introduce the initiative, said that it had gained support for the project from ‘several of the leading golf bodies’ in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asian Tour said in a statement: ‘Elite and major golf tournaments already form the burgeoning Asian Tour schedule and the Asian Tour firmly believe that we are on the correct pathway in developing, promoting and growing professional golf in Asia under the existing tour structure.’
The Australian PGA said earlier today that it had reached an agreement with the Japan Golf Tour Organisation, the China Golf Association and the Korean Golf Association to form a new regional tour ‘aimed at providing the best possible platform to grow elite tournament professional golf [and consolidate] the development of the next generation of champion regional golfers.’ The four associations, knows as the ‘founding parties,’ have appointed an interim board to guide the creation and launch of the so-called OneAsia Tour of elite events. The national governing bodies in Thailand and India are also believed to be considering joining.
The Australian PGA said that discussions are continuing with several other golf bodies in the region to establish their role within OneAsia. The Asian Tour is upset at the moves by the associations, claiming to have worked ‘very closely’ with China, Korea and Japan. Eight tournaments on the 2008 Asian Tour will take place in those countries, it added. The Asian Tour said: ‘We will continue to work closely with all the regional golf bodies for the betterment of golf. Kyi Hla Han, chief executive of the player-run Asian Tour, has likened the situation to a previous clash with the European Tour, which the Asian Tour believed was trying to encroach on its territory. He said: ‘It’s disturbing for me. But if we can withstand the European Tour going market by market, I can say confidently we’ll see what’s in the interest of Asian golf.’ Sportcal, 14th Mar 2008
Elsewhere/General: Giro to Separate Domestic and International Rights
RCS, owner of cycling’s Giro d’Italia, one of the sport's three annual 'Grand Tours,' said today that it would go ahead with a mooted plan to market its international media rights separately from its domestic rights from the end of this year. RCS said that the decision had been ‘motivated by very positive feedback from both agencies and media platforms in response to recent speculation that they would consider marketing international rights separately from domestic [sic: RCS itself announced that it was considering separating domestic and international rights].’
RCS added that it would ‘approach the operators individually in what will be a standardised consultation process whereby RCS shall provide prospective bidders with information on availability of rights, coverage, product specifications and minimum exposure/broadcast commitments. Under the present contract, domestic and international rights were bundled together and sold to Rai, the Italian public-service broadcaster, which produces television coverage of the race and markets it worldwide via its Rai Trade international distribution arm. Rai’s four-year contract expires at the end of this year.
The move to separate the two sets of rights apparently opens up the possibility of a closer co-operation between RCS and ASO, owner of the Tour de France. ASO is already advising Unipublic, owner of the Vuelta a Espana, the third of the sport’s three annual ‘Grand Tours’ on its media rights deals. It is also believed to be close to taking a 50-per-cent stake in the Spanish race. An alliance with ASO could enable the international rights for all three tours to be marketed as a highly attractive package to broadcasters and other media. Such a possibility would be regarded with dismay by the UCI, the sport’s world governing body, which is locked in a bitter power struggle with ASO for control of the sport.
RCS said today that it had ‘received expressions of interest from several parties for an international rights package which includes Italy’s Grand Tour, Giro d’Italia, which celebrates its centenary next year, as well as Giro di Lombardia, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-San Remo and the new one day race, Montepaschi Eroica.’ RCS added: ‘In the next 10 days RCS will contact all interested parties and they aim to receive all offers by mid April.’ Sportcal, 14th Mar 2008
Global/General: F1 GPs Are World's Most Valuable Sports Events
The grands prix of Formula 1 motor racing are the world’s most valuable sporting events, according to new research by management consultants Deloitte. Last year, the 18 grands prix in the Formula 1 series brought in average revenue of $217 million per race, compared with ‘per-game values’ of $24 million for NFL American football, $8 million for English soccer’s top-tier Premier League and $2 million for Major League Baseball.
However, Formula 1’s 2007 global revenues figure of $3.9 billion was eclipsed by the NFL’s 2006-07 figure of $6.5 billion and MLB’s 2006 figure of $5.1 billion, largely thanks to the NFL’s and MLB’s much larger numbers of events per season. Deloitte said that Formula 1’s $3.9-billion figure ‘is comprised of central revenues (from broadcasting, race sponsorship and corporate hospitality), team revenues (including sponsorship and contributions from their commercial partners and owners) and circuit revenues (from ticketing and certain sponsorships).’
Alan Switzer, director in the sports business group at Deloitte, added: ‘Global revenues of more than $3.9 billion and total viewing figures in excess of 350 million for the 2007 season make impressive reading and with measures such as the future Asian expansion, development of more ‘local heroes’ (potentially in India and China) and the introduction of night racing we would expect these figures to continue to rise.’
Deloitte points out that, compared with many other major sports, Formula 1 brings in a much lower proportion of its revenues from spending by spectators on the day of the race. Ticket receipts and other spending by spectators amounts to only about 10 per cent of total revenue.’ Deloitte added that circuits, supported by Formula 1, are seeking to increase race-day revenues. Sportcal, 14th Mar 2008
ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS
China Now #1 in Executions, Population... and Web Surfing!
The United States is no longer #1 when it comes to warm bodies surfing the Internet. According to BDA China, a Beijing-based consulting and research firm, China has some 228 million surfers. The China Internet Network Information Center puts that figure at 225 million. The US had been in the #1 seat for almost 40 years, dating back to the birth of the Internet in 1969 when it was a Defense Department project.
The AFP headline reads "China outsurfs the US," but whether or not China is truly in the lead is debatable. These studies all use statistics to project the number of people online, and statistics can lie. Simple statistics also don't tell the story of the disparity between the US and China in terms of user experience and innovation. China may have 228 million Internet users, but politics in that region are stifling innovation and the freedom of expression for nearly all of them, and the problem is getting worse, not better.
In the next year some 60 million more Chinese are expected to get online, according to BDA China, but this comes at the same time that the Chinese government is stepping up its crackdown on free expression. President Hu Jintao last year called for purification of the Internet, saying that it was poisoning the minds of China's youth. What he really meant to say is that the government is upset that it cannot completely control the flow of information.
To help keep those youths "honest," China will soon require customers of 'Net cafés to register their names and photos. 53 Internet cafés in Beijing's Xicheng District will be fitted with a new login system this month, and other urban areas will follow suit later this year, using either a centrally controlled monitoring system or, at the very least, enrollment lists with names and pictures.
The Chinese government already applies filters to incoming Internet traffic to ensure that the public isn't exposed to any "backward" thoughts and prohibits citizens from posting content that the government finds inappropriate. Last year, the government stopped just short of requiring all bloggers in the country to register their real names, due to the near-impossible logistics and costs involved. China has also introduced new laws which make it illegal for the distribution of audio and video content not sanctioned or produced by state-run media agencies.
All of this points to a China that is proceeding cautiously with no small amount of fear. Only a quarter of the country's population is digitally inclined at this time, and China doesn't really want to see that growth stifled. China likes the fact that the Internet can be a great distributor of information; it's just that the government would prefer to control all of that information.
For this reason, the inevitable op-eds about how Mandarin Chinese will become the "lingua Internet" can still be safely ignored (at least if their premise is the percentage of Chinese online). China, by stifling free expression and innovation online, is limiting its ability to influence the globe, opting instead to focus its influence on a catch-22: the proliferation of an open communications medium (the Internet) which the Chinese government would rather function more like a closed, propaganda-oriented platform.
In the meantime, China can bask in its new status as the #1 web surfing country in the world. If it's not true today, it will be by the end of this year. But the climate for innovation there is horrendous, as this recent Forbes article notes, and without anything close to a free Internet, that status as #1 is quite squandered. Yet, as readers in China tell us, savvy users are often one step ahead of the government, and everyone knows that a huge wealth of information and expression lies beyond the Great Firewall. China can't possibly hope to reign in the web, let alone "win the web" as the Forbes article suggests. If anything, the web will win over China, and continue to serve ultimately as a positive force for progressive change in the realms of free speech and civil rights. Ars Technica, 16th Mar 2008
India’s Media and Entertainment Industry Grows 17% in 2007
Last year, which saw the biggest global players testing waters in the Indian media and entertainment sector, the industry grew 17% over the previous year, reaching the Rs50,000 crore mark, according to a joint report by industry body the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
While the mainstream sectors such as print, television and filmed entertainment continued to grow robustly, emerging segments such as animation, gaming and visual effects, radio, out-of-home advertising and online advertising grew faster, although on a much lower base. The report forecasts sustained growth for the next five years, estimating that the industry will grow to an overall size of Rs1.16 trillion by 2012. The report predicts a cumulative growth of 18% for the sector during the period.
“The industry has posted robust growth, in fact, a couple of percentage points higher than what we projected last year, which is a great thing,” said Timmy Kandhari, executive director and leader of technology, infocomm and entertainment and media practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Advertising, which contributed Rs19,600 crore or 38% to the revenues generated by the media and entertainment industry, grew 22% year-on-year in 2007, the report says.Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the sector surged to $211 million (Rs854.55 crore), against $89.18 million in 2006. “FDI will continue to go up in the coming years,” Kandhari said. The year 2007-08 was marked by the entry of media and entertainment conglomerates—Viacom Inc., NBC Universal Inc. and Walt Disney Co.—into India through partnerships with Network 18 Group, NDTV Networks Plc. and UTV Software Communications Ltd, respectively.
The television industry grew 18%, the only big sector to grow at a rate above the industry average. The report notes that digital distribution platforms such as direct-to-home (DTH) are transforming the industry as such addressable technologies ensure more transparency and higher revenues from subscription. The study said the number of DTH subscribers would grow cumulatively by 44% every year over the next five years. The high growth in advertising revenues and emergence of new revenue streams such as from SMS (short message service) are driving the launch of new channels, the report says.
Print media’s growth in 2007 at 16% was lower than the industry average and the report indicates it will continue to grow below the average over the next five years, as well. The report predicts the sector’s cumulative annual growth rate, (CAGR), for 2008-12 at 14%, four percentage points below the industry average. The report, specifically notes the increase in regional language publications and the action in the magazines space, with a slew of niche launches.
Filmed entertainment grew 14% on which the CAGR for 2008-12 is predicted at 13%. The report notes several trends that are changing the nature of the industry. Emergence of revenue streams such as mobile phones, Internet, home video, merchandise, re-make rights and branded entertainment as well as the advent of the studio model of production will continue to grow de-risking the business, the report says. FM radio will grow to a Rs1,800 crore industry by 2012, up from Rs620 crore now. When asked if the possibility of an economic slowdown dampened the overall outlook, Kandhari said: “We have factored that in (the report).”
‘TV market to grow at 16%’
A Hong Kong-based independent research firm focusing on Asia’s media and telecommunications industry has made a slightly different projection for the Indian television industry. The market will grow at an average annual rate of 16% to reach $11.6 billion (Rs46,922 crore) by 2012, Media Partners Asia said in its annual report, ‘Asia Pacific Pay-TV and Broadband Markets 2008’. It said the sector will grow to $19 billion by 2017. According to its study, the increasing footprint of digitized distribution systems such as DTH will see subscription revenues climbing from $3.8 billion currently to $7.8 billion by 2012 and $12.3 billion by 2017. The number of digital pay-TV subscribers including cable, DTH and Internet protocol TV, could grow to 28 million by 2012 and 15 million by 2017, it added.
While steady economic growth and increasing cable TV penetration continue to boost the growth of TV advertising, the study says TV’s share of the ad pie, which in 2007 was 42%, will come under threat in the long run from the growth of out-of-home media, radio and online advertising. It said advertising on TV will grow at an average annual rate of 19% between 2007 and 2012 to reach $3.5 billion and further to $6.3 billion by 2017. Livemint.com, 17th Mar 2008
Friday, 14th March 2008
DID YOU KNOW?
Chinese TV to Get "Ugly"
"Ugly Betty" has finally found her way to China. Satcaster Hunan Television, which scored a major hit with its "American Idol" hybrid "Super Girl," has bought the rights to the format, according to local media reports, and will rename it "Invincible Ugly Woman." The Chinese adaptation has a budget of 150 million yuan ($21 million), and shooting is slated to begin next month. It will run for five seasons, or a total of 400 episodes.
Producer Chen Xiaodong said Hunan TV has chosen a Chinese woman with no prior acting experience to play Betty. Chen said the format needed adjustments to suit Chinese auds. Among the team of scribes is Sheng Heyu, who wrote Feng Xiaogang pic "The Banquet." Although there is no confirmation of which version of the telenovela Hunan has acquired, Televisa's TV veep Jose Antonio Baston told journos in a finance conference call last month that the Mexican giant was co-producing "Ugly Betty" with the Chinese. But he refused to identify the co-producing company. Televisa set up an office in China last May and is planning co-productions in Mandarin with pubcaster CCTV -- a strategy that will allow Televisa to skirt Chinese quotas restricting the number of foreign productions local broadcasters can air.
SPORTS SHORTS
* CONCACAF and Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) announced the participants and schedule for the 2008 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship today. The five countries that will participate are Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador Mexico and USA with the tournament scheduled to take place at the Unidad Deportiva Municipal Agustín Flores Contreras in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from 16-20 April. This is the third annual CONCACAF tournament from which two teams will qualify for the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Marseille, France. Last year, the USA won the CONCACAF crown while Mexico were runners-up. Both qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2007. Trinidad & Tobago News, 13th Mar 2008
* Meanwhile, South Africa could possibly host the 2011 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup when the 2008 African qualifying tournament takes place at New Beach in Durban from 25 to 30 March. With that in mind, it is crucial that this year's qualifying tournament lives up to the reputation of the 2006 and 2007 events, which were rated by Fifa as two of the best organised beach soccer tournaments held anywhere in the world. South Africa Info, 13th Mar 2008
* StarHub will replace its Cricket Channel with STAR Cricket, a 24-hour network dedicated to cricket action from around the globe, and will add Cricket Extra to its Cricket Group. STAR Cricket is fully packaged by ESPN STAR Sports and airs live and delayed international and regional cricket events, cricket news, archive programming and magazine and reality shows. Cricket Extra will feature occasional simulcast of live cricket events, so viewers can choose which live event to watch. The channel will also serve as a platform to air selected cricket tournaments that are not available on STAR Cricket or Neo Sports. Both channels will be made available on March 17. Worldscreen, 13th Mar 2008
* Cable and satellite platform Sky Perfectv! will launch a new contents channel for cell phone users, in cooperation with telecoms giant NTT DoCoMo, on April 21. Called Sukapa! Keitai TV (Sky Perfectv! Mobile TV), the new service beams contents from various satellite channels to users of mobile devices. Users can enjoy Sky Perfectv! programs, video-on-demand and promotional contents. Among the highlight will be matches of the J-League pro soccer league. Promotional contents will be free of charge, but Sky Perfectv! programs and VOD, users will have to pay either Y315 ($3.06), $5.10 or $10.19, depending on the programming for one month. Variety Asia, 13th Mar 2008
* Stanton Technologies Sdn Bhd, en route to a listing on the Dubai Financial Exchange, has sealed an agreement with two China state-owned agencies, China Potevio Co Ltd and China.com.cn, giving its IPTV solutions and content access to more than half a billion mobile users. Demand for IPTV solutions and content is increasing in the world’s biggest mobile market, which is also seeing growing affluence. This growth is expected to accelerate with the upcoming Beijing Olympics and demand for video clips on the Games. The Star, 14th March 2008
* Genting International, a subsidiary of Genting Malaysia, is bidding for a slice of the thriving online gambling business. It announced that it received an online gaming licence from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) in the British Channel Islands, and business is expected to commence in late 2Q 2008. The permission to go live is still subject to AGCC's approval of the Internal Control System and the Gambling Equipment. Genting Stanley Alderney, a wholly owned subsidiary of Genting International, holds the license. Marketing Malaysia, 14th Mar 2008
* MTV Networks Asia has struck a mobile licensing deal with the telco Cambodia Advance Communications (CADCOMMS) to provide MTV and Nickelodeon content on a 3G platform to mobile subscribers in Cambodia. This partnership represents MTV Networks Asia’s first foray into the provision of mobile content in Cambodia. Introduced under the brand ‘qb,’ video content will be provided to mobile subscribers in mobile television and VOD formats. Subscribers will be able to choose from an extensive menu of short video clips or, alternatively, watch MTV and Nickelodeon offerings on a continuous loop on their mobile phones. Viewers will be able to watch programs such as MTV’s Pimp my Ride and Room 401 and Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. Worldscreen, 13th Mar 2008
* Cable TV, the official new media broadcaster of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has pledged that the Games' coverage will touch every corner of Hong Kong "round-the-clock". The 2008 event is the first in the Games' history that new media rights have been granted and Benjamin Tong, Cable TV's executive director, expects the platform's flexibility to reap a huge audience in the territory. He said: "The interactive capability of the new media gives viewers control over what they want to watch, as well as where and when they want to watch. This kind of flexibility is not offered by linear conventional television broadcast." I-Cable programming of the Beijing Olympics will be delivered through at least four channels, including its official Olympics platform at 2008.I-Cable.com . Football Insider, Marketing-interactive.com, 13th Mar 2008
* Airtel, one of India’s popular mobile service operators, gets ready to launch in Sri Lanka, it has appointed Madison Media Sri Lanka as its AOR in that country. Madison Media is the AOR for Airtel in India and also the AOR for other Bharti Group companies such as Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Bharti AXA Mutual Fund, Bharti DTH and Bharti Retail. Airtel called for a pitch and evaluated two agencies in Sri Lanka, MindShare and Madison, and ultimately selected the latter. Agency Faqs!, 14th Mar 2008
* The first fruits of NBC Universal’s investment in Indian broadcaster NDTV are becoming apparent with NBCU planning to launch at least two of its channels in the sub-Continent. Up for launch by the end of 2008 are the Sci-Fi and Universal Channels, according to local reports. NDTV is itself expanding, both domestically and internationally. The broadcaster has plans to offer its recently-launched Hindi general entertainment channel NDTV Imagine outside of India by next year, in territories including the UK and USA and the Middle East. A new lifestyle channel, NDTV Good Times, will also launch in India in the coming months, with international expansion for that service also planned. Rapid TV News, 13th Mar 2008
* Orascom Telecom, fourth biggest Arab mobile phone operator, will launch North Korea's first mobile phone service in May, aiming to sign up 100,000 subscribers initially. Reuters quoted CEO Naguib Sawiris as saying that the service would start in three major cities in the reclusive communist state and the company would then assess the impact. The report further quoted Sawiris saying that of the $400 million the company plans to invest in North Korea over the next three years, about $200 million would probably come in the first year, with $100 million in each of the two subsequent years. Orascom Telecom is flush with cash after selling off its interests in Iraq for $920 million and shares in Hutchison Telecommunications International for $761 million. The company had hoped to gain access to the Chinese and Malaysian markets but the prospects in those countries did not now look good. telecomasia.net, 14th Mar 2008
* International Games Broadcast Services (IGBS), the newly-named company born out of Doha Asian Games Broadcast Services (DAGBS), was awarded the host broadcast contract for the 1st Asian Beach Games Bali 2008. The 1st Asian Beach Games will take place in Bali, Indonesia, in October 2008. Forty-five nations will participate in seventeen different sports, ranging from beach handball, sailing and surfing to triathlon. This event represents a first contract for IGBS, the 50/50 joint-venture in which resources of the parent-companies, HBS and IMG Media, are to be pooled again. Bali 2008 will be followed by Oman 2010, Haiyang 2012 and Baraclay 2014. sportbusiness.com, 13th Mar 2008
* FIFA has revealed that seven nations have made bids for the 2011 editions of the Under-20 and Under-17 World Cups. The announcement was made as the organising committees for the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups met in Zurich on Tuesday to review the preparations for the events due to take place in Nigeria and Egypt, respectively, in 2009. The Czech Republic, Colombia, Mozambique, Portugal and Venezuela have all put their names forward for the 2011 edition of the Under-20 World Cup. The Czech Republic is also in the running for the Under-17 event, along with Iran and Mexico. Football Insider, 13th Mar 2008
* UEFA president Michel Platini is confident the Spanish national team will take its place at Euro 2008 despite FIFA's threats of a possible international ban hanging over the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). FIFA president Sepp Blatter declared last month that government interference in the administration of football in Spain could result in the national team and Primera División clubs being excluded from international competition. The Spanish government has ordered the RFEF and other non-Olympic federations to hold presidential elections before the Beijing Games. The RFEF lost its appeal to the courts against the government's ruling, but the federation then insisted it would not obey the mandate following a vote on the subject by the RFEF's general assembly earlier this month. Football Insider, 13th Mar 2008
* Kalle Sauerland of Kentaro, the Switzerland-based sports agency, is to take over leadership of the company’s German office after the departure of managing director Marco Schindelhauer. It is understood that Kentaro will seek to drive further international growth by recruiting additional staff in Germany, although it is not yet known in which capacity. The agency also distributed rights in Germany for the German soccer team’s away Euro 2008 qualifying match in Ireland and selected ties from the Uefa Cup, European soccer’s second-tier tournament. Sportcal, 13th Mar 2008
* A broadcast tender for the LNH, French handball's top-tier men’s league, will be launched on Friday, with the number of packages on offer increased from two to three for the 2008-to-2011 period. The first package on offer is for live coverage of the top league match each matchday, the second for the other games and the third for a magazine show. Alain Smadja, the LNH president, would not divulge how much the LNH is hoping to generate from the new league tender but is hoping for a ‘significant increase’ on the current deal, worth in the region of €600,000 ($935,617) a year. Sportcal, 13th Mar 2008
MORE NEWS
China/New Media: Reforms Target High-Tech Industries Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service
China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII), which oversees many of the country's high-technology industries, including the telecommunication sector, will be combined with other government organizations into a single body, according to China's state-owned media. The official Xinhua News Agency described the new body as a "super ministry," incorporating the current MII, some parts of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the State Council Informatization Office (SCITO), most of the Commission of Science and Technology for National Defense (COSTIND), and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.
The shakeup is part of a government restructuring plan announced during China's National People's Congress (NPC) this week. The new organization will be called the Ministry of Industry and Information, and is one of five super-ministries created by the plan. The reforms aim to eliminate overlapping responsibilities within China's vast bureaucracy and improve efficiency, Xinhua said. Whether or not the new ministry can achieve those goals will only be determined by the passage of time, but observers are optimistic.
"One thing is clear, decision-making will be faster," said Bryan Wang, Springboard Research's country manager for Greater China. The new ministry should streamline the Chinese government's decision-making process and eliminate some of the bureaucratic rivalries that hampered policy decisions in the past, he said. That will clear the way for important policy changes to take effect, including the long-awaited restructuring of China's state-owned telecommunications carriers, Wang said. Once that restructuring is complete, China is expected to finally issue licenses for 3G (third-generation) mobile services.
Plans to restructure the telecommunications industry are widely expected to create three operators that combine both fixed-line and mobile operations. The country's largest mobile operator, China Mobile, is expected to be combined with China Railway Communications, a small fixed-line provider set up by the Ministry of Railways. The other mobile operator, China United Communications (China Unicom) will be split into two parts. The operator's GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile network will go to fixed-line carrier China Network Communications Group (China Netcom), which will likely change its name to China Unicom. China Unicom's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network will be merged with China Telecommunications Group (China Telecom), another fixed-line operator. Yahoo, 13th Mar 2008
India/New Media: Entry of MVNOs Seen Lowering Prices
India's expected permission for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) will remove a strong entry barrier in the telecom services segment and enable asset-light companies to set up shop in the world's fastest growing mobile market, experts said. It will boost handset sales and also help new service providers, which have recently got license, to utilise their capacity better and enter service circles for which they don't have licence.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plans to allow MVNOs, removing a legal bottleneck that led to a controversy involving the entry of Richard Branson's Virgin brand in a tie-up with Tata Teleservices. All operators in India now operate on their own network. A Mumbai-based analyst said MVNOs would spruce things up for the newcomers to the mobile telephony market in India. MVNOs, such as Virgin Mobile and BT in the UK, would help them gain valuable market experience. Many new licensees believe MVNOs will add efficiency in their roll-out plans. While none of the new entrants would comment officially as they await spectrum, some of them expect that this model would bring in additional revenues and contribute towards the creation of sizeable capital value.
Also, some of the new entrants have been granted licenses only for a few circles and can now expand to the rest of India using this model. With the coming of MVNOs, the mobile market would see more bundling of handset with operators looking to tap into niche markets, Indian Cellular Association national president Pankaj Mahendroo said. "It would also lead to improved sales volumes for high-end product categories like music phones and internet-enabled phones," he added. In fact, India is all set for a target of 100-million handsets by the end of this year and MVNOs would add substantially to this number. telecomasia.net, 14th Mar 2008
India/New Media: TRAI for Immediate Measures to Boost Broadband Growth
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has told the Government that India may miss the broadband bus if immediate measures are not taken to boost the usage of high speed Internet in the country.The recent report of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) lists India at the bottom of 34 countries in which countries have been ranked based on the broadband penetration. India is not only below developed countries such as the US and the UK but also far below even smaller countries such as Denmark and Iceland. China adds 3.32 million broadband connections in a quarter whereas India adds just 0.08 million. TRAI said that it has been suggesting measures to boost broadband growth in India but the Government has not taken any action on the same.
DoT had set a target of 9 million subscribers by 2007. This has not been met by far as there are just about 3 million broadband users at present. The telecom regulator issued another set of recommendations on Wednesday reiterating the suggestions made earlier. It said that the last mile local loop owned by the State owned BSNL and MTNL should be opened up for franchisees to offer broadband services. BSNL and MTNL were supposed to provide 1.5 million broadband connections by the end of 2005 whereas actually they could provide only 0.5 million by 2005.
“Even at the end of March 2007, BSNL and MTNL together have provided just 1.45 million broadband connections using DSL technology. As such the available copper loop to provide broadband connections have not been effectively utilised,” TRAI said. The regulator also urged DoT to expedite decision regarding mechanism and pricing of spectrum for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access. “Spectrum for 3G and WiMAX should be made available at the earliest to boost the deployment of broadband using these technologies,” the regulator said. TRAI has said that the Government should expedite the action on allowing resellers for international bandwidth as it will reduce Internet cost. TheHinduBusinessLine.com, 13th Mar 2008
General/Rights: Champions League Broadcast Rights Fees Set For Big Rise
The cost of the UK broadcasting rights for the UEFA Champions League is expected to rise by more than 25%. UEFA's deadline for bids for the rights passed yesterday with the BBC, ITV, Sky and Setanta all understood to be in the running. Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool earned between £15 million and £27 million from their share of TV rights, sponsorship cash and prize money last season. The current ITV and Sky deals are understood to be worth just under £90 million per year, and it is thought that the successful bidders will have to pay around £125 million to clinch the next deal, which is to run from 2009 to 2012.
However, Dan Jones, partner in the Deloitte's Sports Business Group, said any extra disparity between the Champions League clubs and the rest of the Barclays Premier League will be offset by the huge value of the domestic top flight broadcast contracts. The current Premier League deals run until 2010 and are worth £2.2 billion. "It does mean that the gap between those in the Champions League and the rest will grow, but the extent of that will be very much offset by the increase in Premier League rights which is spread across all 20 clubs," said Jones. "I don't expect it to make a massive difference to our domestic market because there is already a gap, and that should not change dramatically.
"Jones said the real differences would be seen in clubs whose domestic broadcast rights were not as valuable. "For the likes of Turkey, Scotland and the Netherlands, the Champions League is a much bigger proportion of their revenue," he said. Jones believes UEFA will try to keep their policy of having one free-to-air broadcaster - ITV and BBC - and one pay-TV channel - Sky or Setanta. The BBC, however, will have to persuade UEFA that it can overcome the hurdle of not carrying advertising from UEFA's partners - currently ITV and Sky show the adverts at the beginning and end of each break. It has been suggested that the BBC may have to pay an extra £10 million if it does not carry advertising, and still promise to ensure sponsors' logos are prominently displayed. Football Insider, Sportbusiness.com , Brand Republic, 13th Mar 2008
Asia/General: Aussie Clubs Arrive In Asia
English clubs have been making waves and history by providing four of the eight quarter-finalists in the European Champions League. It is an impressive statistic. Until 2009 at the earliest, it is physically impossible for any Asian nation to repeat the same feat, it is two entrants per country, though the home of the champs get one more.
If there is a comparison to be made, if there is an Asian equivalent of England, it is South Korea. As it is in the World Cup, the Land of the Morning Calm is easily the most successful in continental competitions. Five different K-League clubs have been crowned Asian champions a total of seven times. Japan and Saudi Arabia are next with four titles each.
Since the quarter-final stage was introduced into the champions league format in 2004, there has never been a last eight without Korean representation. In three of the four years, there have been two. It is an impressive statistic. While it is probably premature with just one match of the 2008 Asian Champions league group stage completed, after all Liverpool drew one and lost two of their first three group stage games last Autumn, but with both Chunnam Dragons and Pohang Steelers crashing 2-0 at the hands of Australian clubs, early signs are not promising for Korean fans. Only one team progresses and few more mistakes can be made.
The victories of Adelaide, who won at the home of a club that has twice been Asian champion, and Melbourne over Korean opposition really announced the arrival of Australian clubs on the continental scene. In 2007, Aussie clubs came to the party and enjoyed a dance or two but now, they are bringing the music, ordering the kegs and starting to turn heads.
Last year was Australia’s first ever attempt in the continental competition and while Sydney and Adelaide failed to progress, they did enough to suggest that more was to come. While talking to people at both Adelaide and Melbourne in recent weeks, the enthusiasm of the A-League clubs has been as refreshing as their professionalism. Sure, having no domestic competition to think about helps focus but Adelaide and Melbourne are excited to be in the champions league and are doing all they can to win it.
With Japanese clubs starting to shine in the competition also, standards are rising. That was much of the point of allowing Australia into the Asian Football Confederation in the first place. It is great for the game in the region and it is up to some of the old hands, like those in Korea, to respond. Clubs and fans in Korea and Japan have often complained about too many games against weak opposition in the competition. There are still a few problems as Kashima Antlers' 9-1 win in Thailand demonstrated but the situation is improving.
The last time a South-east Asian nation visited Gamba Osaka in the competition, there were reports of players shopping and sightseeing in the Kansai city on the afternoon of the game –Vietnam's Da Nang was thrashed 15-0 a few hours later. Last night, Chonburi FC had their fun on the pitch at the Banpaku Stadium, and only a last-minute equalizer prevented the Thais from going home with three points and countless plaudits. Times are changing and if that means a more open, professional and exciting Asian Champions League then few could complain about that. Goal.com, 13th Mar 2008
General/New Media: Computer Replacing TV as Primary Entertainment Source
Disney president and CEO Bob Iger expressed a very bullish take on new media at the McGraw-Hill Media Summit Wednesday morning in New York, chastising media executives for their skittish view of the multiple-platform approach to delivering content. “Brand managers look at technology with a deep-rooted aversion,” he said. “People take a protectionist view of it, but we’re projecting the brand versus protecting the brand.”
Speaking at McGraw-Hill headquarters, Iger spoke of using technology to “completely change the perception” of the Disney brand when he took over in 2005. He forecasted $1 billion in digital revenue for Disney this year, up from $750 million in 2007. Iger also mentioned revamping Disney’s Web presence overseas, in markets such as China and Australia, and beefing up social media, such as Disney’s kids-friendly Club Penguin virtual world and an upcoming interactive platform centered around hit film Cars. He said Disney may again venture into the branded-cell-phone arena after missteps with ESPN and Disney phones. “It’s about embracing the consumer and using technology to do so,” he added.
Iger stressed how social media was far from a Gen X or Gen Y fad, but in fact a part of everyday life for children. He said the computer will soon supplant the television as children’s screen of choice. “In the years ahead, broadband on the computer will be the primary source of entertainment for kids,” he said. “It’s just as important to them as the TV set now.”
The Disney boss gave himself middling marks for his own performance in social media: He lamented having but two Facebook “friends” but said his Club Penguin igloo -- which sees participants accumulate gear based on game performance -- was outfitted with a wide-screen TV, a fireplace and even a basketball hoop. “I’ve never been to an igloo with a basketball hoop,” Iger deadpanned to interviewer John Byrne of Business Week.
Iger expressed satisfaction with Disney’s iTunes sales -- he said the company has sold around 4 million movies and 40 million-50 million TV episodes through iTunes during their 18-month partnership and the sales had not cannibalized Disney’s traditional media revenues. Iger also plugged the traditional media model that has made home runs out of Disney fare like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. “It’s still a very powerful medium,” he said. “We denigrate it by calling it ‘old.’”
He lamented the effect the writers' strike had not only on the entertainment business, but its support businesses in Southern California, and was optimistic about working out an agreement with the actors’ unions. “I hope the actors see fit to agree to terms that are similar to the writers’ and directors’ terms,” he said. Iger, who said Disney was not interested in acquiring AOL if it’s made available, believes Disney’s favorable balance sheet and cash flow position it for acquisitions. “We have the wherewithal to buy something if there’s shareholder value or strategic value in it,” he said, “but we don’t feel the necessity [to make an acquisition].”
In closing, Iger credited his mentors -- including Tom Murphy, Roone Arledge and Michael Eisner -- for shaping his management strategy. He cited Murphy for his ethics, Arledge for his perfectionism and Eisner for marrying “creative genius” with a CEO’s head for business. “I’ve been a lucky guy,” Iger said with a smile. Broadcastingcable.com, 13th Mar 2008
Chinese TV to Get "Ugly"
"Ugly Betty" has finally found her way to China. Satcaster Hunan Television, which scored a major hit with its "American Idol" hybrid "Super Girl," has bought the rights to the format, according to local media reports, and will rename it "Invincible Ugly Woman." The Chinese adaptation has a budget of 150 million yuan ($21 million), and shooting is slated to begin next month. It will run for five seasons, or a total of 400 episodes.
Producer Chen Xiaodong said Hunan TV has chosen a Chinese woman with no prior acting experience to play Betty. Chen said the format needed adjustments to suit Chinese auds. Among the team of scribes is Sheng Heyu, who wrote Feng Xiaogang pic "The Banquet." Although there is no confirmation of which version of the telenovela Hunan has acquired, Televisa's TV veep Jose Antonio Baston told journos in a finance conference call last month that the Mexican giant was co-producing "Ugly Betty" with the Chinese. But he refused to identify the co-producing company. Televisa set up an office in China last May and is planning co-productions in Mandarin with pubcaster CCTV -- a strategy that will allow Televisa to skirt Chinese quotas restricting the number of foreign productions local broadcasters can air.
SPORTS SHORTS
* CONCACAF and Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) announced the participants and schedule for the 2008 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship today. The five countries that will participate are Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador Mexico and USA with the tournament scheduled to take place at the Unidad Deportiva Municipal Agustín Flores Contreras in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from 16-20 April. This is the third annual CONCACAF tournament from which two teams will qualify for the 2008 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Marseille, France. Last year, the USA won the CONCACAF crown while Mexico were runners-up. Both qualified for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Rio de Janeiro 2007. Trinidad & Tobago News, 13th Mar 2008
* Meanwhile, South Africa could possibly host the 2011 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup when the 2008 African qualifying tournament takes place at New Beach in Durban from 25 to 30 March. With that in mind, it is crucial that this year's qualifying tournament lives up to the reputation of the 2006 and 2007 events, which were rated by Fifa as two of the best organised beach soccer tournaments held anywhere in the world. South Africa Info, 13th Mar 2008
* StarHub will replace its Cricket Channel with STAR Cricket, a 24-hour network dedicated to cricket action from around the globe, and will add Cricket Extra to its Cricket Group. STAR Cricket is fully packaged by ESPN STAR Sports and airs live and delayed international and regional cricket events, cricket news, archive programming and magazine and reality shows. Cricket Extra will feature occasional simulcast of live cricket events, so viewers can choose which live event to watch. The channel will also serve as a platform to air selected cricket tournaments that are not available on STAR Cricket or Neo Sports. Both channels will be made available on March 17. Worldscreen, 13th Mar 2008
* Cable and satellite platform Sky Perfectv! will launch a new contents channel for cell phone users, in cooperation with telecoms giant NTT DoCoMo, on April 21. Called Sukapa! Keitai TV (Sky Perfectv! Mobile TV), the new service beams contents from various satellite channels to users of mobile devices. Users can enjoy Sky Perfectv! programs, video-on-demand and promotional contents. Among the highlight will be matches of the J-League pro soccer league. Promotional contents will be free of charge, but Sky Perfectv! programs and VOD, users will have to pay either Y315 ($3.06), $5.10 or $10.19, depending on the programming for one month. Variety Asia, 13th Mar 2008
* Stanton Technologies Sdn Bhd, en route to a listing on the Dubai Financial Exchange, has sealed an agreement with two China state-owned agencies, China Potevio Co Ltd and China.com.cn, giving its IPTV solutions and content access to more than half a billion mobile users. Demand for IPTV solutions and content is increasing in the world’s biggest mobile market, which is also seeing growing affluence. This growth is expected to accelerate with the upcoming Beijing Olympics and demand for video clips on the Games. The Star, 14th March 2008
* Genting International, a subsidiary of Genting Malaysia, is bidding for a slice of the thriving online gambling business. It announced that it received an online gaming licence from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) in the British Channel Islands, and business is expected to commence in late 2Q 2008. The permission to go live is still subject to AGCC's approval of the Internal Control System and the Gambling Equipment. Genting Stanley Alderney, a wholly owned subsidiary of Genting International, holds the license. Marketing Malaysia, 14th Mar 2008
* MTV Networks Asia has struck a mobile licensing deal with the telco Cambodia Advance Communications (CADCOMMS) to provide MTV and Nickelodeon content on a 3G platform to mobile subscribers in Cambodia. This partnership represents MTV Networks Asia’s first foray into the provision of mobile content in Cambodia. Introduced under the brand ‘qb,’ video content will be provided to mobile subscribers in mobile television and VOD formats. Subscribers will be able to choose from an extensive menu of short video clips or, alternatively, watch MTV and Nickelodeon offerings on a continuous loop on their mobile phones. Viewers will be able to watch programs such as MTV’s Pimp my Ride and Room 401 and Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. Worldscreen, 13th Mar 2008
* Cable TV, the official new media broadcaster of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has pledged that the Games' coverage will touch every corner of Hong Kong "round-the-clock". The 2008 event is the first in the Games' history that new media rights have been granted and Benjamin Tong, Cable TV's executive director, expects the platform's flexibility to reap a huge audience in the territory. He said: "The interactive capability of the new media gives viewers control over what they want to watch, as well as where and when they want to watch. This kind of flexibility is not offered by linear conventional television broadcast." I-Cable programming of the Beijing Olympics will be delivered through at least four channels, including its official Olympics platform at 2008.I-Cable.com . Football Insider, Marketing-interactive.com, 13th Mar 2008
* Airtel, one of India’s popular mobile service operators, gets ready to launch in Sri Lanka, it has appointed Madison Media Sri Lanka as its AOR in that country. Madison Media is the AOR for Airtel in India and also the AOR for other Bharti Group companies such as Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Bharti AXA Mutual Fund, Bharti DTH and Bharti Retail. Airtel called for a pitch and evaluated two agencies in Sri Lanka, MindShare and Madison, and ultimately selected the latter. Agency Faqs!, 14th Mar 2008
* The first fruits of NBC Universal’s investment in Indian broadcaster NDTV are becoming apparent with NBCU planning to launch at least two of its channels in the sub-Continent. Up for launch by the end of 2008 are the Sci-Fi and Universal Channels, according to local reports. NDTV is itself expanding, both domestically and internationally. The broadcaster has plans to offer its recently-launched Hindi general entertainment channel NDTV Imagine outside of India by next year, in territories including the UK and USA and the Middle East. A new lifestyle channel, NDTV Good Times, will also launch in India in the coming months, with international expansion for that service also planned. Rapid TV News, 13th Mar 2008
* Orascom Telecom, fourth biggest Arab mobile phone operator, will launch North Korea's first mobile phone service in May, aiming to sign up 100,000 subscribers initially. Reuters quoted CEO Naguib Sawiris as saying that the service would start in three major cities in the reclusive communist state and the company would then assess the impact. The report further quoted Sawiris saying that of the $400 million the company plans to invest in North Korea over the next three years, about $200 million would probably come in the first year, with $100 million in each of the two subsequent years. Orascom Telecom is flush with cash after selling off its interests in Iraq for $920 million and shares in Hutchison Telecommunications International for $761 million. The company had hoped to gain access to the Chinese and Malaysian markets but the prospects in those countries did not now look good. telecomasia.net, 14th Mar 2008
* International Games Broadcast Services (IGBS), the newly-named company born out of Doha Asian Games Broadcast Services (DAGBS), was awarded the host broadcast contract for the 1st Asian Beach Games Bali 2008. The 1st Asian Beach Games will take place in Bali, Indonesia, in October 2008. Forty-five nations will participate in seventeen different sports, ranging from beach handball, sailing and surfing to triathlon. This event represents a first contract for IGBS, the 50/50 joint-venture in which resources of the parent-companies, HBS and IMG Media, are to be pooled again. Bali 2008 will be followed by Oman 2010, Haiyang 2012 and Baraclay 2014. sportbusiness.com, 13th Mar 2008
* FIFA has revealed that seven nations have made bids for the 2011 editions of the Under-20 and Under-17 World Cups. The announcement was made as the organising committees for the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups met in Zurich on Tuesday to review the preparations for the events due to take place in Nigeria and Egypt, respectively, in 2009. The Czech Republic, Colombia, Mozambique, Portugal and Venezuela have all put their names forward for the 2011 edition of the Under-20 World Cup. The Czech Republic is also in the running for the Under-17 event, along with Iran and Mexico. Football Insider, 13th Mar 2008
* UEFA president Michel Platini is confident the Spanish national team will take its place at Euro 2008 despite FIFA's threats of a possible international ban hanging over the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). FIFA president Sepp Blatter declared last month that government interference in the administration of football in Spain could result in the national team and Primera División clubs being excluded from international competition. The Spanish government has ordered the RFEF and other non-Olympic federations to hold presidential elections before the Beijing Games. The RFEF lost its appeal to the courts against the government's ruling, but the federation then insisted it would not obey the mandate following a vote on the subject by the RFEF's general assembly earlier this month. Football Insider, 13th Mar 2008
* Kalle Sauerland of Kentaro, the Switzerland-based sports agency, is to take over leadership of the company’s German office after the departure of managing director Marco Schindelhauer. It is understood that Kentaro will seek to drive further international growth by recruiting additional staff in Germany, although it is not yet known in which capacity. The agency also distributed rights in Germany for the German soccer team’s away Euro 2008 qualifying match in Ireland and selected ties from the Uefa Cup, European soccer’s second-tier tournament. Sportcal, 13th Mar 2008
* A broadcast tender for the LNH, French handball's top-tier men’s league, will be launched on Friday, with the number of packages on offer increased from two to three for the 2008-to-2011 period. The first package on offer is for live coverage of the top league match each matchday, the second for the other games and the third for a magazine show. Alain Smadja, the LNH president, would not divulge how much the LNH is hoping to generate from the new league tender but is hoping for a ‘significant increase’ on the current deal, worth in the region of €600,000 ($935,617) a year. Sportcal, 13th Mar 2008
MORE NEWS
China/New Media: Reforms Target High-Tech Industries Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service
China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII), which oversees many of the country's high-technology industries, including the telecommunication sector, will be combined with other government organizations into a single body, according to China's state-owned media. The official Xinhua News Agency described the new body as a "super ministry," incorporating the current MII, some parts of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the State Council Informatization Office (SCITO), most of the Commission of Science and Technology for National Defense (COSTIND), and the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration.
The shakeup is part of a government restructuring plan announced during China's National People's Congress (NPC) this week. The new organization will be called the Ministry of Industry and Information, and is one of five super-ministries created by the plan. The reforms aim to eliminate overlapping responsibilities within China's vast bureaucracy and improve efficiency, Xinhua said. Whether or not the new ministry can achieve those goals will only be determined by the passage of time, but observers are optimistic.
"One thing is clear, decision-making will be faster," said Bryan Wang, Springboard Research's country manager for Greater China. The new ministry should streamline the Chinese government's decision-making process and eliminate some of the bureaucratic rivalries that hampered policy decisions in the past, he said. That will clear the way for important policy changes to take effect, including the long-awaited restructuring of China's state-owned telecommunications carriers, Wang said. Once that restructuring is complete, China is expected to finally issue licenses for 3G (third-generation) mobile services.
Plans to restructure the telecommunications industry are widely expected to create three operators that combine both fixed-line and mobile operations. The country's largest mobile operator, China Mobile, is expected to be combined with China Railway Communications, a small fixed-line provider set up by the Ministry of Railways. The other mobile operator, China United Communications (China Unicom) will be split into two parts. The operator's GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile network will go to fixed-line carrier China Network Communications Group (China Netcom), which will likely change its name to China Unicom. China Unicom's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network will be merged with China Telecommunications Group (China Telecom), another fixed-line operator. Yahoo, 13th Mar 2008
India/New Media: Entry of MVNOs Seen Lowering Prices
India's expected permission for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) will remove a strong entry barrier in the telecom services segment and enable asset-light companies to set up shop in the world's fastest growing mobile market, experts said. It will boost handset sales and also help new service providers, which have recently got license, to utilise their capacity better and enter service circles for which they don't have licence.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plans to allow MVNOs, removing a legal bottleneck that led to a controversy involving the entry of Richard Branson's Virgin brand in a tie-up with Tata Teleservices. All operators in India now operate on their own network. A Mumbai-based analyst said MVNOs would spruce things up for the newcomers to the mobile telephony market in India. MVNOs, such as Virgin Mobile and BT in the UK, would help them gain valuable market experience. Many new licensees believe MVNOs will add efficiency in their roll-out plans. While none of the new entrants would comment officially as they await spectrum, some of them expect that this model would bring in additional revenues and contribute towards the creation of sizeable capital value.
Also, some of the new entrants have been granted licenses only for a few circles and can now expand to the rest of India using this model. With the coming of MVNOs, the mobile market would see more bundling of handset with operators looking to tap into niche markets, Indian Cellular Association national president Pankaj Mahendroo said. "It would also lead to improved sales volumes for high-end product categories like music phones and internet-enabled phones," he added. In fact, India is all set for a target of 100-million handsets by the end of this year and MVNOs would add substantially to this number. telecomasia.net, 14th Mar 2008
India/New Media: TRAI for Immediate Measures to Boost Broadband Growth
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has told the Government that India may miss the broadband bus if immediate measures are not taken to boost the usage of high speed Internet in the country.The recent report of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) lists India at the bottom of 34 countries in which countries have been ranked based on the broadband penetration. India is not only below developed countries such as the US and the UK but also far below even smaller countries such as Denmark and Iceland. China adds 3.32 million broadband connections in a quarter whereas India adds just 0.08 million. TRAI said that it has been suggesting measures to boost broadband growth in India but the Government has not taken any action on the same.
DoT had set a target of 9 million subscribers by 2007. This has not been met by far as there are just about 3 million broadband users at present. The telecom regulator issued another set of recommendations on Wednesday reiterating the suggestions made earlier. It said that the last mile local loop owned by the State owned BSNL and MTNL should be opened up for franchisees to offer broadband services. BSNL and MTNL were supposed to provide 1.5 million broadband connections by the end of 2005 whereas actually they could provide only 0.5 million by 2005.
“Even at the end of March 2007, BSNL and MTNL together have provided just 1.45 million broadband connections using DSL technology. As such the available copper loop to provide broadband connections have not been effectively utilised,” TRAI said. The regulator also urged DoT to expedite decision regarding mechanism and pricing of spectrum for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access. “Spectrum for 3G and WiMAX should be made available at the earliest to boost the deployment of broadband using these technologies,” the regulator said. TRAI has said that the Government should expedite the action on allowing resellers for international bandwidth as it will reduce Internet cost. TheHinduBusinessLine.com, 13th Mar 2008
General/Rights: Champions League Broadcast Rights Fees Set For Big Rise
The cost of the UK broadcasting rights for the UEFA Champions League is expected to rise by more than 25%. UEFA's deadline for bids for the rights passed yesterday with the BBC, ITV, Sky and Setanta all understood to be in the running. Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool earned between £15 million and £27 million from their share of TV rights, sponsorship cash and prize money last season. The current ITV and Sky deals are understood to be worth just under £90 million per year, and it is thought that the successful bidders will have to pay around £125 million to clinch the next deal, which is to run from 2009 to 2012.
However, Dan Jones, partner in the Deloitte's Sports Business Group, said any extra disparity between the Champions League clubs and the rest of the Barclays Premier League will be offset by the huge value of the domestic top flight broadcast contracts. The current Premier League deals run until 2010 and are worth £2.2 billion. "It does mean that the gap between those in the Champions League and the rest will grow, but the extent of that will be very much offset by the increase in Premier League rights which is spread across all 20 clubs," said Jones. "I don't expect it to make a massive difference to our domestic market because there is already a gap, and that should not change dramatically.
"Jones said the real differences would be seen in clubs whose domestic broadcast rights were not as valuable. "For the likes of Turkey, Scotland and the Netherlands, the Champions League is a much bigger proportion of their revenue," he said. Jones believes UEFA will try to keep their policy of having one free-to-air broadcaster - ITV and BBC - and one pay-TV channel - Sky or Setanta. The BBC, however, will have to persuade UEFA that it can overcome the hurdle of not carrying advertising from UEFA's partners - currently ITV and Sky show the adverts at the beginning and end of each break. It has been suggested that the BBC may have to pay an extra £10 million if it does not carry advertising, and still promise to ensure sponsors' logos are prominently displayed. Football Insider, Sportbusiness.com , Brand Republic, 13th Mar 2008
Asia/General: Aussie Clubs Arrive In Asia
English clubs have been making waves and history by providing four of the eight quarter-finalists in the European Champions League. It is an impressive statistic. Until 2009 at the earliest, it is physically impossible for any Asian nation to repeat the same feat, it is two entrants per country, though the home of the champs get one more.
If there is a comparison to be made, if there is an Asian equivalent of England, it is South Korea. As it is in the World Cup, the Land of the Morning Calm is easily the most successful in continental competitions. Five different K-League clubs have been crowned Asian champions a total of seven times. Japan and Saudi Arabia are next with four titles each.
Since the quarter-final stage was introduced into the champions league format in 2004, there has never been a last eight without Korean representation. In three of the four years, there have been two. It is an impressive statistic. While it is probably premature with just one match of the 2008 Asian Champions league group stage completed, after all Liverpool drew one and lost two of their first three group stage games last Autumn, but with both Chunnam Dragons and Pohang Steelers crashing 2-0 at the hands of Australian clubs, early signs are not promising for Korean fans. Only one team progresses and few more mistakes can be made.
The victories of Adelaide, who won at the home of a club that has twice been Asian champion, and Melbourne over Korean opposition really announced the arrival of Australian clubs on the continental scene. In 2007, Aussie clubs came to the party and enjoyed a dance or two but now, they are bringing the music, ordering the kegs and starting to turn heads.
Last year was Australia’s first ever attempt in the continental competition and while Sydney and Adelaide failed to progress, they did enough to suggest that more was to come. While talking to people at both Adelaide and Melbourne in recent weeks, the enthusiasm of the A-League clubs has been as refreshing as their professionalism. Sure, having no domestic competition to think about helps focus but Adelaide and Melbourne are excited to be in the champions league and are doing all they can to win it.
With Japanese clubs starting to shine in the competition also, standards are rising. That was much of the point of allowing Australia into the Asian Football Confederation in the first place. It is great for the game in the region and it is up to some of the old hands, like those in Korea, to respond. Clubs and fans in Korea and Japan have often complained about too many games against weak opposition in the competition. There are still a few problems as Kashima Antlers' 9-1 win in Thailand demonstrated but the situation is improving.
The last time a South-east Asian nation visited Gamba Osaka in the competition, there were reports of players shopping and sightseeing in the Kansai city on the afternoon of the game –Vietnam's Da Nang was thrashed 15-0 a few hours later. Last night, Chonburi FC had their fun on the pitch at the Banpaku Stadium, and only a last-minute equalizer prevented the Thais from going home with three points and countless plaudits. Times are changing and if that means a more open, professional and exciting Asian Champions League then few could complain about that. Goal.com, 13th Mar 2008
General/New Media: Computer Replacing TV as Primary Entertainment Source
Disney president and CEO Bob Iger expressed a very bullish take on new media at the McGraw-Hill Media Summit Wednesday morning in New York, chastising media executives for their skittish view of the multiple-platform approach to delivering content. “Brand managers look at technology with a deep-rooted aversion,” he said. “People take a protectionist view of it, but we’re projecting the brand versus protecting the brand.”
Speaking at McGraw-Hill headquarters, Iger spoke of using technology to “completely change the perception” of the Disney brand when he took over in 2005. He forecasted $1 billion in digital revenue for Disney this year, up from $750 million in 2007. Iger also mentioned revamping Disney’s Web presence overseas, in markets such as China and Australia, and beefing up social media, such as Disney’s kids-friendly Club Penguin virtual world and an upcoming interactive platform centered around hit film Cars. He said Disney may again venture into the branded-cell-phone arena after missteps with ESPN and Disney phones. “It’s about embracing the consumer and using technology to do so,” he added.
Iger stressed how social media was far from a Gen X or Gen Y fad, but in fact a part of everyday life for children. He said the computer will soon supplant the television as children’s screen of choice. “In the years ahead, broadband on the computer will be the primary source of entertainment for kids,” he said. “It’s just as important to them as the TV set now.”
The Disney boss gave himself middling marks for his own performance in social media: He lamented having but two Facebook “friends” but said his Club Penguin igloo -- which sees participants accumulate gear based on game performance -- was outfitted with a wide-screen TV, a fireplace and even a basketball hoop. “I’ve never been to an igloo with a basketball hoop,” Iger deadpanned to interviewer John Byrne of Business Week.
Iger expressed satisfaction with Disney’s iTunes sales -- he said the company has sold around 4 million movies and 40 million-50 million TV episodes through iTunes during their 18-month partnership and the sales had not cannibalized Disney’s traditional media revenues. Iger also plugged the traditional media model that has made home runs out of Disney fare like Hannah Montana and High School Musical. “It’s still a very powerful medium,” he said. “We denigrate it by calling it ‘old.’”
He lamented the effect the writers' strike had not only on the entertainment business, but its support businesses in Southern California, and was optimistic about working out an agreement with the actors’ unions. “I hope the actors see fit to agree to terms that are similar to the writers’ and directors’ terms,” he said. Iger, who said Disney was not interested in acquiring AOL if it’s made available, believes Disney’s favorable balance sheet and cash flow position it for acquisitions. “We have the wherewithal to buy something if there’s shareholder value or strategic value in it,” he said, “but we don’t feel the necessity [to make an acquisition].”
In closing, Iger credited his mentors -- including Tom Murphy, Roone Arledge and Michael Eisner -- for shaping his management strategy. He cited Murphy for his ethics, Arledge for his perfectionism and Eisner for marrying “creative genius” with a CEO’s head for business. “I’ve been a lucky guy,” Iger said with a smile. Broadcastingcable.com, 13th Mar 2008