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TELEVISION BUSINESS IlkkilAZ A I A JULY/AUGUST 1994 global newsgathering global reporting 1 11L1VISION TO EATE global programming global transmission global perspective global viewership global resources global affiliation Globalprogramming like World News and global recognition International Hour. Regional programs like Noticiero CNN Internacional, World Business Today and Business Asia, plus global weather and sports. Even the world's first global talk show-Lorry King Live. Only global tradition one network has the vision to create programming that makes a difference to viewers every day, in over 200 countries around the world. global commitment CNN International The vision to create. global advertisers The resources to build. The commitment to lead. global expertise SM INTERNATIONAL The World's News Leader ATLANTA TEL 404-827-5639 EUROPE TEL 4471-637-6700 LATIN AMERICA: TEL 404-827-5384 ASIA: TEL 852-826-4500 TBI TBI CONTENTS 16 COVER STORY DEPARTMENTS Indian File Monitor South African TV To Reform 6 India is a market of 900 million people with a film and tv industry which is already limbering up to China Impasse Delays Licenses 7 serve a plethora of private stations and a newly- Spanish Cable Law In The Works7 dynamized public broadcaster. Canada Unveils New Contenders8 16 The A -Zee of Indian TV Advertisers Demand Shake-up 8 20 Serious About Software Star TV Brushes Up Its Chinese 9 21 The Elephant Dances Market Drives Aussie Pay -TV 9 24 MARKETS Japanese Debate Ratings Change 10 RTL2 Ups Own Production 11 Travel Business Channel 5 Plan Goes Digital 11 TF1 News Channel On The Air 12 Markets, large and small, themed and regional, are cropping up all the time: should tv marketeers be more selective? EDITOR'S NOTE 26 ADVERTISING American Football 2 PERSPECTIVE Appealing Margins The Networks Stage A Comeback 4 Teleshopping and infomercials are part of a lucrative business which is gradulally moving into the broadcasting mainstream. COMMENT Protecting The Public 14 30 SPECIAL REPORT: NEWS ADVERTISING Top Of The Hour IBM s Predicament Not Unique 40 The news explosion continues to unfold, with DATA a third major player entering the agency busi- TV Is Dead... Long Live TV 41 ness and more broadcasters pursuing the all - news option. But in some parts of the world, unfettered access to news is not encouraged. PRODUCT NEWS What's Wrapped Or Ready t 30 The Information Circus 34 Three Is A Crowd HARD TECH 38 Making The Wrong Kind Of Headlines Europe: A New TV Testbed 48 Television Business International July/August 1494 EDITOR'S NOTE TELEVISIONM BUSINESS TBIINTERNATIONAL Open Goal PublisherPaul Nicholson About a year and a half ago I had dinner with the folks from Group W EditorRich Zahradnik Satellite Communications. Everybody was in a good mood. Country Deputy EditorTim Westcott Music TV, the video music channel Group W and Gaylord Communications were bringing to Europe, already looked a success. We celebrated that Associate Editor Sarah Walker night; champagne followed the meal, and has happens at the best of busi- Contributing Editors ness dinners, we stopped talking about business. Barry Flynn, Toby Syfret, I brought up my personal obsession - football - an obsession I'd been Jean -Luc Renaud, Chris Dziadul, Barbara Bliss Osborn (U.S.) able to indulge since moving from the U.S. to Britain. Lloyd Werner, Group W Satellite's executive vice-president, offered that he had played soccer as a Editorial AssistantMarie Beardmore kid, in fact that he'd probably won the national scoring title playing for Col- Director of SalesSally -Anne Wilse gate University. He was only pretty sure about the title because no-one kept track of statistics then. Amazed, I asked if he'd brought up his football Sales ExecutiveCaroline Haybyrne exploits as he met European tv execs. He hadn't even thought to. It was Sales Representative then that I told him about the most important attribute I found I had as an David Field (Australasia) American doing business in Europe: I love to talk about football. Dutch dis- tributors, British broadcasters, Spanish salesmen, they'll all talk with me for Art Editor/Business Publications Matthew liumberstone hours about football. Over Mip dinners, once we've bored each other to death with what we know about Lithuanian barter regulations, the real con- DesignerMarie Calvert versations can begin. We talk football. ProductionDebbie Williams So why all this football talk? I've spent the past seven weeks in Dallas working for the host broadcaster at the World Cup. In that time, I've Managing Director, watched as ABC and ESPN missed a colossal marketing opportunity. My 21st Century PublishingNick Snow work -place was the International Broadcast Center, headquarters for compa- Correspondents: Argentina Mike Galetto Australia Liz Fell; Brazil Mac Margolis; nies TBI covers all the time. TV Globo, ITV, France 2 and 3, ARD and ZDF Canada KarenMurray; Denmark Thomas all had studios in the IBC. They and others were interested in American Dodd; China Ma Yuanhe; Finland Eddie Hawkins; France Serge Siritzky; Germany reactions to World Cup football. They kept asking to meet with ABC and Klaus Linke, Jack Kindred; Greece Stylianos Papathanassopoulos; Hong ESPN; some wanted interviews with U.S. tv people. But though ABC and Kong Owen Hughes; Hungary Len Scott; ESPN controlled U.S. rights to the tournament, both had stayed home, ABC India Indrajit Lahiri, Asoka Raina; Ireland Fergal Ringrose; Israel Barry Chamish; in New York, ESPN in Connecticut. It got so bad, I called the ABC and Italy Cecilia Zecchinelli; Japan Mark Schilling; Kenya Kazunga Katana: Nether- ESPN press offices to point out they were passing on an international PR lands Dick Versteeg; New Zealand Vicki event of some importance and maybe they might want to send down some Hyde; Nigeria Titus Ogunwale; Portugal Eduardo Cintra Torres; South Africa Dezi executives and on -air types to do interviews in the 100 or so tv and radio Rurich; Spain Justin Webster; Sweden studios pumping feeds out of Dallas day and night. ESPN listened politely Goran Sellgren; Turkey Serhan Yarar; Serbia Branka Otashevich and said they'd think about it. In the end, they held a conference call aimed U.K. (Editorial and Advertising) mainly at American print journalists. ABC was more blunt: "They know our 531-533 King's Road London SW10 OTZ Tel: (071) 352 3211 phone number." I pointed out you can't do a tv interview over the phone. Fax: (071) 352 4883 or (071) 352 9657 "They know our phone number." Both networks, with all their global aspi- Telex: 925030 rations, faced an open goal and missed. If they knew what that was, they'd Australia (Advertising) Tel.(02) 439 1730 Fax: (02) 439 3103 know how much they screwed up. TBI is published monthly except January and August, 10 Issues (ISSN 0953-09411 by Television Business International. a 21st Century Publishing company. TBI is ava,ahle by subscription only at an annual subscription price of L50 United King dom. US$102 Europe and US$89 USA US5110 Outside Europe including air speed delnery. Send address changes to: TBI. 531-532 King's Road. London SWSO 0120 All contents copynght 21st Century Publishing The Editor Pnnted in England by Headley Brothers Ltd Ashford gent 4cS Reproduction by Grephic Ideas Studios. 1-11 Bathes Sheet, London NI 60L U.S.A. POSTMASTERS; Send address changes to Television Business International. Publications Expediting,. Inc., 200 Meacham Ate.. Elmont. N.Y. 11003. /or freight and mailing In the U.S.A. by Publications Expediting. Inc.. 200 Meacham Ave., P.S. My thanks to Paul, Sally, Tim, Sarah, Caroline and everyone else at TBI Elmont. N.Y. 11003. Second class postage paid at Jamaica. N.Y. 11431. for helping a little kid's dream come true. Television Business International July/August 1994 2 A TELEPORT FOR LONDON Starbird Satellite Services and its parelt con pany, Worldwide Television News (WIN), together low °aerate a Teleport facility at their London headquarters. The options available for routing your signal tc our Teleport are: via fibre optic cable from your own site tape playout direct from WIN's MCR live programme production from WTN stud.os turn -around from other satellites In each case the signal can be transmitted via our Teleport to Eutelsat, Intelsat, PanAmSat and, from 1995, Crion. As a full broadcast services provider, WT\l's Master Control Room provides complete monitoring and control of *e service. In addition to this facility Starbird also operates Teleports in Frankfurt and Moscow. Whether you require one 10 minute feed or a 'Lill contract service call the Starbird office nearest to you. London: Tel:+44(0)1 71 413 8301 Fax:+44(0)1 71 4 3 8326 Frankfurt: Te1:+49 69 69 79 0721 Fax:+49 69 69 4063 Moscow: Tel:+7 095 290 7446 Fax:+7 095 254 8728 STARBIRD /1" SATELIJTE _SERVICES Sierbinel Satellite Services wleolly-owned subsidiary of Worldwide Television News Corporeal. wog. PERSPECTIVE NEW YORK Rupert Murdoch's audacious June raid on affiliates of CBS, ABC and NBC had its heartening aspect to the shaken Big Three. In spending $500 mil- lion to bag 12 affiliates (eight from CBS The Networks alone), Murdoch showed the world that he was betting on the future of old-fash- ioned broadcast tv at a time when other big players are putting down chips on almost anything interactive. When Murdoch struck, the major net- Stage A Comeback works had been enjoying heady times. After a decade in a free -fall, during which their ultimate survival was in some doubt, the three had pulled out of to give up what the public had got sick it and became masters of the universe and tired of anyway.