Post by QPR Report on May 10, 2009 6:00:47 GMT
Although when I think China and football, I think... 
(Just part of how QPR were tied in to Chelsea and how the club under Paladini was run- as in the Official Statement at the time: "The Club has had it brought to its attention that Ceefax and Teletext are reporting a game between QPR and China on February 8. We would like to confirm that no such fixture is taking place at Loftus Road and we have already asked both parties to remove the story." - Factual but misleading
[And speaking of "The China Brawl": Two years ago today - QPR Report China Brawl Update - qprreport.blogspot.com/2007/05/qpr-china-brawl-update.html
The Times
Premier League targets China
'Big four' clubs force through changes in the League's overseas rights strategy to prioritise attracting foreign viewersNick Harris
PRESSURE from the Premier League’s “big four” clubs has forced a change in strategy in the way it will sell its next tranche of overseas rights, with the league desperate to get back on terrestrial television in China.
This comes after lobbying by Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, all furious at attracting a relatively low number of viewers in the world’s most populous country. China is home to 1.3 billion people but under the current deal there with a minor pay-per-view operator, hardly anybody subscribes.
WinTV won the Chinese rights for 2007-10 after bidding about £8m a year, a small amount in the context of the £210m gained from all overseas territories combined (about £630m over three years) but the highest bid from China. Its dreams of attracting 1.2m subscribers were hit by high pricing and bad marketing, and ratings in the tens of thousands remain so low they barely register.
Asia in general and China in particular are key markets for the big four; United are among clubs who will tour there this summer. The club’s chief executive David Gill says: “We must have better exposure. The reality is that [will] help us with our business goals and other commercial aims.” Well-placed sources confirm that Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool feel the same.
Related Links
1,000,000,000: Beijing sets world TV record
Manchester United will add new destination
A Premier League source said last night: “We envisage a switch in strategy, probably to a dual approach with some pay-TV games and others free to air in China on state-run CCTV, if we can achieve that.
“With the way China is developing, there is a need for a more sophisticated approach. It’s not just a case of wanting the Premier League to be more popular than Serie A or La Liga in China, or even trying to make football as popular as basketball, it’s about fighting for viewers in the whole cultural landscape.”
A report released tomorrow, which will name the Beijing Olympics as the most-watched televised event in history with 1 billion viewers, shows that making it big with a Chinese audience makes an event, de facto, a global success.
While the Premier League is the richest and most popular division in the world, with games screened live in more than 200 countries, ratings are relatively small in global terms. Selling to pay-TV operators in places such as China and Thailand was seen as good for the bottom line in the past. But it will now try to take a leaf from Formula One’s book and seal key free-to-air deals in big markets, possibly in conjunction with pay TV, to get “more eyeballs”.
The league will go to market with its overseas rights in June and July, selling three-year packages for 2010-13. Invitations to tender will be sent out next month and its international rights negotiating team will then travel around the world doing deals.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article6256033.ece
(Just part of how QPR were tied in to Chelsea and how the club under Paladini was run- as in the Official Statement at the time: "The Club has had it brought to its attention that Ceefax and Teletext are reporting a game between QPR and China on February 8. We would like to confirm that no such fixture is taking place at Loftus Road and we have already asked both parties to remove the story." - Factual but misleading[And speaking of "The China Brawl": Two years ago today - QPR Report China Brawl Update - qprreport.blogspot.com/2007/05/qpr-china-brawl-update.html
The Times
Premier League targets China
'Big four' clubs force through changes in the League's overseas rights strategy to prioritise attracting foreign viewersNick Harris
PRESSURE from the Premier League’s “big four” clubs has forced a change in strategy in the way it will sell its next tranche of overseas rights, with the league desperate to get back on terrestrial television in China.
This comes after lobbying by Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, all furious at attracting a relatively low number of viewers in the world’s most populous country. China is home to 1.3 billion people but under the current deal there with a minor pay-per-view operator, hardly anybody subscribes.
WinTV won the Chinese rights for 2007-10 after bidding about £8m a year, a small amount in the context of the £210m gained from all overseas territories combined (about £630m over three years) but the highest bid from China. Its dreams of attracting 1.2m subscribers were hit by high pricing and bad marketing, and ratings in the tens of thousands remain so low they barely register.
Asia in general and China in particular are key markets for the big four; United are among clubs who will tour there this summer. The club’s chief executive David Gill says: “We must have better exposure. The reality is that [will] help us with our business goals and other commercial aims.” Well-placed sources confirm that Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool feel the same.
Related Links
1,000,000,000: Beijing sets world TV record
Manchester United will add new destination
A Premier League source said last night: “We envisage a switch in strategy, probably to a dual approach with some pay-TV games and others free to air in China on state-run CCTV, if we can achieve that.
“With the way China is developing, there is a need for a more sophisticated approach. It’s not just a case of wanting the Premier League to be more popular than Serie A or La Liga in China, or even trying to make football as popular as basketball, it’s about fighting for viewers in the whole cultural landscape.”
A report released tomorrow, which will name the Beijing Olympics as the most-watched televised event in history with 1 billion viewers, shows that making it big with a Chinese audience makes an event, de facto, a global success.
While the Premier League is the richest and most popular division in the world, with games screened live in more than 200 countries, ratings are relatively small in global terms. Selling to pay-TV operators in places such as China and Thailand was seen as good for the bottom line in the past. But it will now try to take a leaf from Formula One’s book and seal key free-to-air deals in big markets, possibly in conjunction with pay TV, to get “more eyeballs”.
The league will go to market with its overseas rights in June and July, selling three-year packages for 2010-13. Invitations to tender will be sent out next month and its international rights negotiating team will then travel around the world doing deals.
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article6256033.ece