MEDIABLAB DAILY DIGEST MAY 6: MICROSOFT YAHOO FALLOUT; CAMBODIAN NGO MEDIA SURVEY SCORNED
May 6th 2008 00:44
DUTCH CITIZEN JOURNALISM WEBSITE SHUTS DOWN AFTER PROVING FINANCIALLY UNVIABLE
Reuters reports that Dutch ‘citizen journalism’ website Skoeps will shut down after failing to find a sustainable business model.
Such ‘citizen journalism’ sites have become increasingly popular in recent years and have been seen as a possible challenge to the more established publishers. Many media companies, such as broadcasters CNN and BBC, also ask viewers to submit photos or videos as local people armed with cameras on their mobile phones are often the first on the scene when a major event develops.
“The ambition of the news site was partially successful, but Skoeps did not succeed in developing a financially healthy perspective,” the owners, publisher PCM Uitgevers and investment company Talpa Media, said in a statement.
Skoeps - the name is a play on the English word ‘scoop’ - received 1,000 to 1,500 submissions per month, the companies said.
BBC WORLDWIDE TO RESUME UNVETTED BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN
The Guardian reports that the BBC World Service has been cleared to resume news broadcasts in Pakistan on an unrestricted basis, ending a long-running dispute that saw it accused of compromising its editorial independence.
The BBC Trust is considering complaints from staff and union officials after it emerged that the World Service agreed to the former Pakistani government vetting its news broadcasts.
Under an agreement with a local FM service, BBC World Service executives agreed to allow the state regulator to listen to its BBC Urdu news bulletins 15 minutes before they were broadcast, prompting fears of censorship.
The National Union of Journalists raised its concerns with the World Service director, Nigel Chapman, as well as the BBC Trust and the director general, Mark Thompson.
The BBC will argue the deal with Pakistani regulators gave them no additional control over its bulletins, other than the opportunity to preview them in full. Meanwhile, it has permission for unrestricted live news broadcasts from Tuesday, after six months off air.
BLOGS A DUD WHEN IT COMES TO TRUST IN MEDIA, ACCORDING TO GLOBAL SURVEY
National television is the most trusted news source, ahead of newspapers and public radio, but the internet is gaining ground, especially among the young, according to a major worldwide survey of trust in the media.
Reuters reports that the poll, conducted in 10 countries by GlobeScan on behalf of Reuters, the BBC and the Media Center, found that 82 percent of 10,230 adults questioned rated national television as their most trusted news source overall.
That compared with 75 percent who trusted national or regional newspapers, 67 percent who said they trusted public radio and 56 percent who opted for international satellite television.
Despite the popularity of the internet in more developed countries and the emergence of 'web-logging' or blogging, neither fared well in the survey, according to Globescan President Doug Miller.
He told Reuters, “The internet is gaining ground among the young. The jury is still out on blogs - just as many people distrust them as trust them,' he told Reuters. The research found that just 25 percent of respondents said they trusted blogs, while 23 percent said they did not trust them.
But Dean Wright, managing editor of consumer media at Reuters, said he believed blogs would eventually come of age, as newspapers themselves once did.
CHINESE TV NEWSCASTERS COP FINES FOR BAD PROLUNCIATION
Dud pronunciations by TV newscasters will result in a nominal fine at China’s national broadcaster but a slip of the tongue may be forgiven, according to Xinhua.
In an afternoon news show on China Central Television (CCTV) on April 26, Guo Zhijian, a promising young newscaster, chose an unlucky variant from a few different pronunciations for a same word. He repeated the gaffe three times. Liang Ruini, a CCTV News outreach coordinator, said Guo would be fined for his negligence
Another newscaster, Xu Wumei, was caught out by the audience for a slip of the tongue. At the beginning of a news program when newscasters were usually expected to say ‘Good afternoon,’ Xu blurted out a few eerie words that could hardly be deciphered as ‘Good afternoon’. Some decoded that she said ‘Good this day,’ which is rarely used by native Chinese speakers. Xu’s slip didn’t deserve monetary punishment because it was not a technical mistake for broadcasting, Liang told a local news paper.
He said, “We thank our audience for paying meticulous attention to our news shows and will circulate a warning to our newscasters
VIACOM IGNORES US ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND POSTS A 16 PERCENT FIRST QUARTER REVENUE RISE
Media Daily News reported that Viacom’s overall revenue in the first quarter for its media nets climbed a healthy 16 percent to US$2.02 billion, and advertising sales rose 8 percent overall, led by Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and TV Land.
"While it is still early in the quarter, we anticipate our second-quarter domestic ad sales growth to be comparable to growth in the first quarter," said Philippe Dauman, chief executive of Viacom, during a conference call with analysts.
Viacom also said it will contribute $100 million to its new, as-yet unnamed pay movie channel, but that it will not be a majority owner, just a significant shareholder.
Although many analysts question the logic of starting another pay TV service in a well-established marketplace, Dauman said the new premium channel will be "a game changer."
The three movie studios – Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate – will now be able to offer their films with more flexibility than is currently available in the pay-TV window.
Viacom's first-quarter results had its net income soar 33 percent to $270 million on 15 percent increased revenues to $3.12 billion.
Viacom's cable channels ratings were up 5 percent in the first three months of 2008.
Filmed-entertainment revenue rose 12 percent to $1.15 billion on a 22 percent increase in DVD revenues.
ADVERTISERS RESIST PROPOSED PRICE HIKE FOR CHINESE-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS IN HONG KONG
Marketing magazine reports that the Hong Kong & Kowloon Newspaper Association is expecting local vendors and convenience stores to maintain or lower the costs of Chinese-language newspapers despite a call from the association's chairman to raise cover prices.
The South China Morning Post quoted the association's chairman Cheung Kowk Ting saying the increase is reasonable, but it was up to individual companies to decide on a cover print.
But Cheung Tak, Hong Kong & Kowloon Newspaper spokesman, said the increase of Chinese-language newspapers costs from HK$6 (A82c) to HK$8 would lead to lower readership and less opportunities for print advertisers.
"Not to mention HK$6, most vendors are selling the papers at HK$5," Cheung tolf Marketing magazine.
He said advertisers are opposing this plan because it will drive away readers.
"If the costs did go up, I think most newspapers like The Sun would plan to hand out free paper."
There are eight Chinese newspaper companies in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong & Kowloon Newspaper will decide in the next two days whether or not to increase the costs of newspapers.
THE FINANCIAL TIMES LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN PROMOTING ITS WEEKEND EDITION IN HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE
The Financial Times has launched a campaign themed ‘Light up your mind’ to promote its weekend newspaper in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Marketing magazine reports, “The campaign, which will run in two phases for eight weeks includes point-of-sale, sampling and in-paper press ads, with a targeted campaign focusing on direct marketing initiatives to convert trial users into paid subscribers via edm, inserts and promotional partnerships.”
Creative adaptations by DDB Hong Kong featuring images of brain scans to show how the paper is a stimulating weekend read are also displayed in-store at Dymocks stores in the territory.
Additionally, the Financial Times will supply branded marketing collaterals to 30 upmarket country clubs, coffee houses and restaurants in Hong Kong and Singapore including an exclusive offer for Parkview members to sample copies of the paper at its premises.
Jocelyn Cripps, regional marketing director for the Financial Times in Asia, told Marketing said there is a "substantial opportunity" to increase readership and circulation of the weekend edition.
She said, “We are aiming at a wide group of smart, intellectually curious individuals who value quality over quantity in their weekend newspaper."
EIGHTH CASBAA SATELLITE INDUSTRY FORUM IN SINGAPORE IN JUNE
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) will stage the eighth CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum on June 16 in Singapore at the Four Seasons Hotel.
The one-day annual conference provides a dynamic platform for global and regional satellite operators, content providers, satellite manufacturers and government officials to exchange key information on the development of the satellite industry across the Asia Pacific.
David McGlade and Dan Goldberg, the ceos of global satellite operators Intelsat and Telesat will deliver the keynote addresses. Other featured speakers will include:
Laureen Ong, COO, STAR Group
Huang Baozhong ,VP, China Direct Broadcast Satellite
Jean-Yves Le Gall, CEO, Arianespace
Rob Bednarek, CEO, SES New Skies
Peter Jackson, CEO, AsiaSat
Dave Bettinger, CTO, iDirect Technologies
Tony Colucci, VP Marketing & Sales, Space Systems Loral
Philip Father, CEO, Protostar
Shardul Shroff, Managing Partner, Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co.
Wisnu Wardana, Head of IT Group, BNI
Tim Floerchinger, Director of Strategic Development, Government Satcom
Tom Choi, CEO, Asia Broadcast Satellite
Andrew Jordan, VP & GM, SAT-GE
Dr Ali R. Ebadi, Vice President, Engineering & Operations, MEASAT
Themed “Ahead of the Curve”, the CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum 2008 will investigate the vast potential for satellite services provided by the increasing appetite for communications products in Asia.
Meanwhile, Satellite Industry Forum panelists will examine issues such as new satellite applications, customer demand, as well as government and military satcom applications.
“The increased demand for spectrum devoted to HDTV, interactive and broadband TV content is boosting the Asian satellite market. We also see unfulfilled demand from undeveloped video services such as mobile TV and Asian VSAT networks,” said David Ball, chairman of the CASBAA Satellite Industry Committee and regional vice president, Asia Pacific, for Intelsat.
“The satellite services industry grows ever stronger in Asia,” said Simon Twiston Davies, ceo of CASBAA. “The CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum remains a premier event for industry leaders to network and discuss the best strategies for business growth.”
FREE TV AUSTRALIA GROUP APPOINTS FORMER QUEENSLAND PREMIER AS INAUGURAL INDEPENDANT CHAIR
HIRES Peak industry group, Free TV Australia, announced the appointment of former Queensland Premier, Wayne Goss to the newly created role of Independent Chair.
The role has been created to provide a focused and united voice for the industry as it faces a number of important challenges in the lead up to digital switchover.
Commenting on his appointment, Goss said, “It’s an exciting time for the industry and a time of significant change.
“Free-to-air commercial television is an important part of our culture; it’s in 99 percent of Australian homes and three quarters of the population rely solely on free-to-air for their television service. So I look forward to working closely with the government and the community to ensure that Australian families continue to receive the services they have come to value so highly.”
Goss will work closely with the organisation’s chief executive, Julie Flynn and its board
members on matters affecting the free-to-air television industry.
Ms Flynn says, “We are very excited to have Mr Goss on board. His commitment to public life has been outstanding and we value the experience and knowledge he will bring to the table.”
The position of Chair has previously been held on a rotating basis by the ceos of the commercial television networks.
Mr Leckie, current Chair, welcomed the appointment. He said, “I have strongly encouraged an independent and dedicated Chair of Free TV because of the expansion of the role due to the introduction of digital terrestrial television, multichannelling and the many changes that will come with them. We are fortunate in having been able to secure Wayne Goss who will bring a wealth of experience to the role.”
Leckie has served as chairman for three terms including two in his time while ceo of the Nine Network.
Wayne Goss is currently chairman of Deloitte Australia and of Ausenco Ltd. He is a former chairman of the Queensland Art Gallery and the Government Reform Commission with the South Australian Government.
HOW WILL MICROSOFT OUTDO GOOGLE NOW THAT THE YAHOO DEAL HAS GONE DOWN THE CHUTE
MediaPost reports that Microsoft will have to find another way to outdo Google now that the software giant has withdrawn its offer to acquire Yahoo. Even after Microsoft raised its bid by nearly US$5 billion to $47.5 billion, the two companies were unable to make a deal this weekend.
Ceo Steve Ballmer said Microsoft increased its offer to $33 per share, up from its initial bid of $31 per share in cash-and-stock. But Yahoo management would not go below $37 a share.
The result? No deal.
"Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly $5 billion, Yahoo has not moved toward accepting our offer," Ballmer said in a statement released on Saturday.
Following weeks of negotiation, Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang and its co-founder David Filo met once more with Ballmer and Microsoft's platforms and services division President Kevin Johnson in Seattle on Saturday.
"After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal," Ballmer said.
Here is the letter from Microsoft, announcing it is withdrawing its bid for Yahoo Inc:
May 3, 2008
Mr. Jerry Yang
CEO and Chief Yahoo
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Dear Jerry:
After over three months, we have reached the conclusion of the process regarding a possible combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!.
I first want to convey my personal thanks to you, your management team, and Yahoo!'s Board of Directors for your consideration of our proposal. I appreciate the time and attention all of you have given to this matter, and I especially appreciate the time that you have invested personally. I feel that our discussions this week have been particularly useful, providing me for the first time with real clarity on what is and is not possible.
I am disappointed that Yahoo! has not moved towards accepting our offer. I first called you with our offer on January 31 because I believed that a combination of our two companies would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers, and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace. Our decision to offer a 62 percent premium at that time reflected the strength of these convictions.
In our conversations this week, we conveyed our willingness to raise our offer to $33.00 per share, reflecting again our belief in this collective opportunity. This increase would have added approximately another $5 billion of value to your shareholders, compared to the current value of our initial offer. It also would have reflected a premium of over 70 percent compared to the price at which your stock closed on January 31. Yet it has proven insufficient, as your final position insisted on Microsoft paying yet another $5 billion or more, or at least another $4 per share above our $33.00 offer.
Also, after giving this week's conversations further thought, it is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders. This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo! undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.
We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a "hostile" bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons:
• First, it would fundamentally undermine Yahoo!'s own strategy and long-term viability by encouraging advertisers to use Google as opposed to your Panama paid search system. This would also fragment your search advertising and display advertising strategies and the ecosystem surrounding them. This would undermine the reliance on your display advertising business to fuel future growth.
• Given this, it would impair Yahoo's ability to retain the talented engineers working on advertising systems that are important to our interest in a combination of our companies.
• In addition, it would raise a host of regulatory and legal problems that no acquirer, including Microsoft, would want to inherit. Among other things, this would consolidate market share with the already-dominant paid search provider in a manner that would reduce competition and choice in the marketplace.
• This would also effectively enable Google to set the prices for key search terms on both their and your search platforms and, in the process, raise prices charged to advertisers on Yahoo. In addition to whatever resulting legal problems, this seems unwise from a business perspective unless in fact one simply wishes to use this as a vehicle to exit the paid search business in favor of Google.
• It could foreclose any chance of a combination with any other search provider that is not already relying on Google's search services.
Accordingly, your apparent plan to pursue such an arrangement in the event of a proxy contest or exchange offer leads me to the firm decision not to pursue such a path. Instead, I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft's proposal to acquire Yahoo!.
We will move forward and will continue to innovate and grow our business at Microsoft with the talented team we have in place and potentially through strategic transactions with other business partners.
I still believe even today that our offer remains the only alternative put forward that provides your stockholders full and fair value for their shares. By failing to reach an agreement with us, you and your stockholders have left significant value on the table.
But clearly a deal is not to be.
Thank you again for the time we have spent together discussing this.
Sincerely yours,
Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
HOW WILL YAHOO COPE NOW THAT MICROSOFT HAS WALKED AWAY FROM A DEAL
Silicon Alley Insider reports, “So Microsoft called Yahoo's bluff and walked away. Yahoo now has no other recourse but to do everything in its power to secure a Google deal. Given Yahoo's (read: Jerry Yang's) obsession with remaining independent, a Google outsourcing deal makes sense because it allows Yahoo to focus on battles it can win, ‘instead of throwing money at a war it has already lost.’
”Since Yahoo has already lost, its only concern should be user query share. Yahoo's share is already down to 20 percent and will probably continue to fall no matter how much money the company throws at Panama, its search technology platform.”
Online Media Daily comments, “Understandably, the most pressing concern from Yahoo employees was that its stock might fall below US$20 per share.”
CAMBODIA INFORMATION MINISTER BUCKETS SUPPOSED JOURNALIST SURVEY BY NGO GROUP
Cambodian human rights group Licadho gave a rather gloomy and perhaps inaccurate picture of the kingdom’s media in a report it released to coincide with World Press Freedom day.
The NGO described Cambodian media as “cowed, censored and sometimes bribed” and said, “The broadcast media in Cambodia is biased and by and large incapable of serving the public interest.”
The report was supposedly the findings of 141 journalists, but no mention is made in the report of how many of these journalists are mainstream journalists and how many are the sort of untrained fringe foreign journalists who plague the NGO scene in developing countries.
Cambodia’s Information Minister Khieu Kanharith was quite cutting in his assessment of the quality of journalists surveyed for the report.
He told the Cambodia Daily, “The people who say that have never been journalists. They don’t know the ABC’s of journalism.”
He also pointed out the obvious – that Cambodia now has a growing mass of free publications.
CANADIAN ‘EXPERIENTIAL TV’ AD FOR FORD GETS SUCH A BIG RESPONSE A CALL CENTRE HAD TO BE HIRED
Media In Canada reports that Montreal’s Saint Jacques Vallee the Mediaedge, along with Videotron and TVA, offered Canadian TV viewers what it calls a brand new televisual experience: experiential TV.
TVA viewers in Quebec could order a Ford vehicle road test whenever they saw an ad from Association des concessionnaires Ford du Quebec.
Every time one of the Ford ads was broadcast, viewers could push the onscreen "Select" button via an Illico remote control. Within a few clicks, the viewer's request was confirmed. Within 48 hours, the viewer got a call to schedule a road test with the nearest Ford dealer. The road test menu ran as an overlay on the bottom third of the screen while the creative continues.
Saint-Jacques Vallee the Mediaedge media group leader Paul Guite told Media in Canada that testing began on April 28 and, in three weeks, the effort had achieved a GRP of 500, "at least twice what we were expecting. We had to hire a call centre, and most road tests lead to a serious potential buyer."
Guite said the tech would also work for other advertisers: for example, a perfume company running a sampling campaign.
Reuters reports that Dutch ‘citizen journalism’ website Skoeps will shut down after failing to find a sustainable business model.
Such ‘citizen journalism’ sites have become increasingly popular in recent years and have been seen as a possible challenge to the more established publishers. Many media companies, such as broadcasters CNN and BBC, also ask viewers to submit photos or videos as local people armed with cameras on their mobile phones are often the first on the scene when a major event develops.
Skoeps - the name is a play on the English word ‘scoop’ - received 1,000 to 1,500 submissions per month, the companies said.
BBC WORLDWIDE TO RESUME UNVETTED BROADCASTING IN PAKISTAN
The Guardian reports that the BBC World Service has been cleared to resume news broadcasts in Pakistan on an unrestricted basis, ending a long-running dispute that saw it accused of compromising its editorial independence.
The BBC Trust is considering complaints from staff and union officials after it emerged that the World Service agreed to the former Pakistani government vetting its news broadcasts.
Under an agreement with a local FM service, BBC World Service executives agreed to allow the state regulator to listen to its BBC Urdu news bulletins 15 minutes before they were broadcast, prompting fears of censorship.
The National Union of Journalists raised its concerns with the World Service director, Nigel Chapman, as well as the BBC Trust and the director general, Mark Thompson.
BLOGS A DUD WHEN IT COMES TO TRUST IN MEDIA, ACCORDING TO GLOBAL SURVEY
National television is the most trusted news source, ahead of newspapers and public radio, but the internet is gaining ground, especially among the young, according to a major worldwide survey of trust in the media.
Reuters reports that the poll, conducted in 10 countries by GlobeScan on behalf of Reuters, the BBC and the Media Center, found that 82 percent of 10,230 adults questioned rated national television as their most trusted news source overall.
That compared with 75 percent who trusted national or regional newspapers, 67 percent who said they trusted public radio and 56 percent who opted for international satellite television.
Despite the popularity of the internet in more developed countries and the emergence of 'web-logging' or blogging, neither fared well in the survey, according to Globescan President Doug Miller.
He told Reuters, “The internet is gaining ground among the young. The jury is still out on blogs - just as many people distrust them as trust them,' he told Reuters. The research found that just 25 percent of respondents said they trusted blogs, while 23 percent said they did not trust them.
But Dean Wright, managing editor of consumer media at Reuters, said he believed blogs would eventually come of age, as newspapers themselves once did.
CHINESE TV NEWSCASTERS COP FINES FOR BAD PROLUNCIATION
Dud pronunciations by TV newscasters will result in a nominal fine at China’s national broadcaster but a slip of the tongue may be forgiven, according to Xinhua.
In an afternoon news show on China Central Television (CCTV) on April 26, Guo Zhijian, a promising young newscaster, chose an unlucky variant from a few different pronunciations for a same word. He repeated the gaffe three times. Liang Ruini, a CCTV News outreach coordinator, said Guo would be fined for his negligence
Another newscaster, Xu Wumei, was caught out by the audience for a slip of the tongue. At the beginning of a news program when newscasters were usually expected to say ‘Good afternoon,’ Xu blurted out a few eerie words that could hardly be deciphered as ‘Good afternoon’. Some decoded that she said ‘Good this day,’ which is rarely used by native Chinese speakers. Xu’s slip didn’t deserve monetary punishment because it was not a technical mistake for broadcasting, Liang told a local news paper.
He said, “We thank our audience for paying meticulous attention to our news shows and will circulate a warning to our newscasters
VIACOM IGNORES US ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND POSTS A 16 PERCENT FIRST QUARTER REVENUE RISE
Media Daily News reported that Viacom’s overall revenue in the first quarter for its media nets climbed a healthy 16 percent to US$2.02 billion, and advertising sales rose 8 percent overall, led by Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and TV Land.
"While it is still early in the quarter, we anticipate our second-quarter domestic ad sales growth to be comparable to growth in the first quarter," said Philippe Dauman, chief executive of Viacom, during a conference call with analysts.
Viacom also said it will contribute $100 million to its new, as-yet unnamed pay movie channel, but that it will not be a majority owner, just a significant shareholder.
Although many analysts question the logic of starting another pay TV service in a well-established marketplace, Dauman said the new premium channel will be "a game changer."
The three movie studios – Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate – will now be able to offer their films with more flexibility than is currently available in the pay-TV window.
Viacom's first-quarter results had its net income soar 33 percent to $270 million on 15 percent increased revenues to $3.12 billion.
Viacom's cable channels ratings were up 5 percent in the first three months of 2008.
Filmed-entertainment revenue rose 12 percent to $1.15 billion on a 22 percent increase in DVD revenues.
ADVERTISERS RESIST PROPOSED PRICE HIKE FOR CHINESE-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS IN HONG KONG
Marketing magazine reports that the Hong Kong & Kowloon Newspaper Association is expecting local vendors and convenience stores to maintain or lower the costs of Chinese-language newspapers despite a call from the association's chairman to raise cover prices.
The South China Morning Post quoted the association's chairman Cheung Kowk Ting saying the increase is reasonable, but it was up to individual companies to decide on a cover print.
But Cheung Tak, Hong Kong & Kowloon Newspaper spokesman, said the increase of Chinese-language newspapers costs from HK$6 (A82c) to HK$8 would lead to lower readership and less opportunities for print advertisers.
"Not to mention HK$6, most vendors are selling the papers at HK$5," Cheung tolf Marketing magazine.
He said advertisers are opposing this plan because it will drive away readers.
"If the costs did go up, I think most newspapers like The Sun would plan to hand out free paper."
There are eight Chinese newspaper companies in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong & Kowloon Newspaper will decide in the next two days whether or not to increase the costs of newspapers.
THE FINANCIAL TIMES LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN PROMOTING ITS WEEKEND EDITION IN HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE
The Financial Times has launched a campaign themed ‘Light up your mind’ to promote its weekend newspaper in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Marketing magazine reports, “The campaign, which will run in two phases for eight weeks includes point-of-sale, sampling and in-paper press ads, with a targeted campaign focusing on direct marketing initiatives to convert trial users into paid subscribers via edm, inserts and promotional partnerships.”
Creative adaptations by DDB Hong Kong featuring images of brain scans to show how the paper is a stimulating weekend read are also displayed in-store at Dymocks stores in the territory.
Additionally, the Financial Times will supply branded marketing collaterals to 30 upmarket country clubs, coffee houses and restaurants in Hong Kong and Singapore including an exclusive offer for Parkview members to sample copies of the paper at its premises.
Jocelyn Cripps, regional marketing director for the Financial Times in Asia, told Marketing said there is a "substantial opportunity" to increase readership and circulation of the weekend edition.
She said, “We are aiming at a wide group of smart, intellectually curious individuals who value quality over quantity in their weekend newspaper."
EIGHTH CASBAA SATELLITE INDUSTRY FORUM IN SINGAPORE IN JUNE
The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) will stage the eighth CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum on June 16 in Singapore at the Four Seasons Hotel.
The one-day annual conference provides a dynamic platform for global and regional satellite operators, content providers, satellite manufacturers and government officials to exchange key information on the development of the satellite industry across the Asia Pacific.
David McGlade and Dan Goldberg, the ceos of global satellite operators Intelsat and Telesat will deliver the keynote addresses. Other featured speakers will include:
Laureen Ong, COO, STAR Group
Huang Baozhong ,VP, China Direct Broadcast Satellite
Jean-Yves Le Gall, CEO, Arianespace
Rob Bednarek, CEO, SES New Skies
Peter Jackson, CEO, AsiaSat
Dave Bettinger, CTO, iDirect Technologies
Tony Colucci, VP Marketing & Sales, Space Systems Loral
Philip Father, CEO, Protostar
Shardul Shroff, Managing Partner, Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co.
Wisnu Wardana, Head of IT Group, BNI
Tim Floerchinger, Director of Strategic Development, Government Satcom
Tom Choi, CEO, Asia Broadcast Satellite
Andrew Jordan, VP & GM, SAT-GE
Dr Ali R. Ebadi, Vice President, Engineering & Operations, MEASAT
Themed “Ahead of the Curve”, the CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum 2008 will investigate the vast potential for satellite services provided by the increasing appetite for communications products in Asia.
Meanwhile, Satellite Industry Forum panelists will examine issues such as new satellite applications, customer demand, as well as government and military satcom applications.
“The increased demand for spectrum devoted to HDTV, interactive and broadband TV content is boosting the Asian satellite market. We also see unfulfilled demand from undeveloped video services such as mobile TV and Asian VSAT networks,” said David Ball, chairman of the CASBAA Satellite Industry Committee and regional vice president, Asia Pacific, for Intelsat.
“The satellite services industry grows ever stronger in Asia,” said Simon Twiston Davies, ceo of CASBAA. “The CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum remains a premier event for industry leaders to network and discuss the best strategies for business growth.”
FREE TV AUSTRALIA GROUP APPOINTS FORMER QUEENSLAND PREMIER AS INAUGURAL INDEPENDANT CHAIR
HIRES Peak industry group, Free TV Australia, announced the appointment of former Queensland Premier, Wayne Goss to the newly created role of Independent Chair.
The role has been created to provide a focused and united voice for the industry as it faces a number of important challenges in the lead up to digital switchover.
Commenting on his appointment, Goss said, “It’s an exciting time for the industry and a time of significant change.
“Free-to-air commercial television is an important part of our culture; it’s in 99 percent of Australian homes and three quarters of the population rely solely on free-to-air for their television service. So I look forward to working closely with the government and the community to ensure that Australian families continue to receive the services they have come to value so highly.”
Goss will work closely with the organisation’s chief executive, Julie Flynn and its board
members on matters affecting the free-to-air television industry.
Ms Flynn says, “We are very excited to have Mr Goss on board. His commitment to public life has been outstanding and we value the experience and knowledge he will bring to the table.”
The position of Chair has previously been held on a rotating basis by the ceos of the commercial television networks.
Mr Leckie, current Chair, welcomed the appointment. He said, “I have strongly encouraged an independent and dedicated Chair of Free TV because of the expansion of the role due to the introduction of digital terrestrial television, multichannelling and the many changes that will come with them. We are fortunate in having been able to secure Wayne Goss who will bring a wealth of experience to the role.”
Leckie has served as chairman for three terms including two in his time while ceo of the Nine Network.
Wayne Goss is currently chairman of Deloitte Australia and of Ausenco Ltd. He is a former chairman of the Queensland Art Gallery and the Government Reform Commission with the South Australian Government.
HOW WILL MICROSOFT OUTDO GOOGLE NOW THAT THE YAHOO DEAL HAS GONE DOWN THE CHUTE
MediaPost reports that Microsoft will have to find another way to outdo Google now that the software giant has withdrawn its offer to acquire Yahoo. Even after Microsoft raised its bid by nearly US$5 billion to $47.5 billion, the two companies were unable to make a deal this weekend.
Ceo Steve Ballmer said Microsoft increased its offer to $33 per share, up from its initial bid of $31 per share in cash-and-stock. But Yahoo management would not go below $37 a share.
The result? No deal.
"Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly $5 billion, Yahoo has not moved toward accepting our offer," Ballmer said in a statement released on Saturday.
Following weeks of negotiation, Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang and its co-founder David Filo met once more with Ballmer and Microsoft's platforms and services division President Kevin Johnson in Seattle on Saturday.
"After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal," Ballmer said.
Here is the letter from Microsoft, announcing it is withdrawing its bid for Yahoo Inc:
May 3, 2008
Mr. Jerry Yang
CEO and Chief Yahoo
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Dear Jerry:
After over three months, we have reached the conclusion of the process regarding a possible combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!.
I first want to convey my personal thanks to you, your management team, and Yahoo!'s Board of Directors for your consideration of our proposal. I appreciate the time and attention all of you have given to this matter, and I especially appreciate the time that you have invested personally. I feel that our discussions this week have been particularly useful, providing me for the first time with real clarity on what is and is not possible.
I am disappointed that Yahoo! has not moved towards accepting our offer. I first called you with our offer on January 31 because I believed that a combination of our two companies would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers, and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace. Our decision to offer a 62 percent premium at that time reflected the strength of these convictions.
In our conversations this week, we conveyed our willingness to raise our offer to $33.00 per share, reflecting again our belief in this collective opportunity. This increase would have added approximately another $5 billion of value to your shareholders, compared to the current value of our initial offer. It also would have reflected a premium of over 70 percent compared to the price at which your stock closed on January 31. Yet it has proven insufficient, as your final position insisted on Microsoft paying yet another $5 billion or more, or at least another $4 per share above our $33.00 offer.
Also, after giving this week's conversations further thought, it is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders. This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo! undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.
We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a "hostile" bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons:
• First, it would fundamentally undermine Yahoo!'s own strategy and long-term viability by encouraging advertisers to use Google as opposed to your Panama paid search system. This would also fragment your search advertising and display advertising strategies and the ecosystem surrounding them. This would undermine the reliance on your display advertising business to fuel future growth.
• Given this, it would impair Yahoo's ability to retain the talented engineers working on advertising systems that are important to our interest in a combination of our companies.
• In addition, it would raise a host of regulatory and legal problems that no acquirer, including Microsoft, would want to inherit. Among other things, this would consolidate market share with the already-dominant paid search provider in a manner that would reduce competition and choice in the marketplace.
• This would also effectively enable Google to set the prices for key search terms on both their and your search platforms and, in the process, raise prices charged to advertisers on Yahoo. In addition to whatever resulting legal problems, this seems unwise from a business perspective unless in fact one simply wishes to use this as a vehicle to exit the paid search business in favor of Google.
• It could foreclose any chance of a combination with any other search provider that is not already relying on Google's search services.
Accordingly, your apparent plan to pursue such an arrangement in the event of a proxy contest or exchange offer leads me to the firm decision not to pursue such a path. Instead, I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft's proposal to acquire Yahoo!.
We will move forward and will continue to innovate and grow our business at Microsoft with the talented team we have in place and potentially through strategic transactions with other business partners.
I still believe even today that our offer remains the only alternative put forward that provides your stockholders full and fair value for their shares. By failing to reach an agreement with us, you and your stockholders have left significant value on the table.
But clearly a deal is not to be.
Thank you again for the time we have spent together discussing this.
Sincerely yours,
Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
HOW WILL YAHOO COPE NOW THAT MICROSOFT HAS WALKED AWAY FROM A DEAL
Silicon Alley Insider reports, “So Microsoft called Yahoo's bluff and walked away. Yahoo now has no other recourse but to do everything in its power to secure a Google deal. Given Yahoo's (read: Jerry Yang's) obsession with remaining independent, a Google outsourcing deal makes sense because it allows Yahoo to focus on battles it can win, ‘instead of throwing money at a war it has already lost.’
”Since Yahoo has already lost, its only concern should be user query share. Yahoo's share is already down to 20 percent and will probably continue to fall no matter how much money the company throws at Panama, its search technology platform.”
Online Media Daily comments, “Understandably, the most pressing concern from Yahoo employees was that its stock might fall below US$20 per share.”
CAMBODIA INFORMATION MINISTER BUCKETS SUPPOSED JOURNALIST SURVEY BY NGO GROUP
Cambodian human rights group Licadho gave a rather gloomy and perhaps inaccurate picture of the kingdom’s media in a report it released to coincide with World Press Freedom day.
The NGO described Cambodian media as “cowed, censored and sometimes bribed” and said, “The broadcast media in Cambodia is biased and by and large incapable of serving the public interest.”
The report was supposedly the findings of 141 journalists, but no mention is made in the report of how many of these journalists are mainstream journalists and how many are the sort of untrained fringe foreign journalists who plague the NGO scene in developing countries.
Cambodia’s Information Minister Khieu Kanharith was quite cutting in his assessment of the quality of journalists surveyed for the report.
He told the Cambodia Daily, “The people who say that have never been journalists. They don’t know the ABC’s of journalism.”
He also pointed out the obvious – that Cambodia now has a growing mass of free publications.
CANADIAN ‘EXPERIENTIAL TV’ AD FOR FORD GETS SUCH A BIG RESPONSE A CALL CENTRE HAD TO BE HIRED
Media In Canada reports that Montreal’s Saint Jacques Vallee the Mediaedge, along with Videotron and TVA, offered Canadian TV viewers what it calls a brand new televisual experience: experiential TV.
TVA viewers in Quebec could order a Ford vehicle road test whenever they saw an ad from Association des concessionnaires Ford du Quebec.
Every time one of the Ford ads was broadcast, viewers could push the onscreen "Select" button via an Illico remote control. Within a few clicks, the viewer's request was confirmed. Within 48 hours, the viewer got a call to schedule a road test with the nearest Ford dealer. The road test menu ran as an overlay on the bottom third of the screen while the creative continues.
Saint-Jacques Vallee the Mediaedge media group leader Paul Guite told Media in Canada that testing began on April 28 and, in three weeks, the effort had achieved a GRP of 500, "at least twice what we were expecting. We had to hire a call centre, and most road tests lead to a serious potential buyer."
Guite said the tech would also work for other advertisers: for example, a perfume company running a sampling campaign.
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