The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| George Town Festival: Penangites have their say! Posted: 04 Nov 2012 02:49 AM PST  he open call by George Town Festival at China House saw a steady stream of local talents sharing their ideas and showcasing their talents. — Pictures by KE Ooi  Joe Sidek: There will be more open calls and audition in the weeks to come. Holding the open call and audition at The Canteen, China House was probably a great way to get local talents to share their creativity in the open as many of them turned up, some with musical accompaniment, some with proper proposals and some empty handed. They sang, danced or presented their ideas off the cuff. "The response has been encouraging as we are getting a lot of creative ideas from those who turned up," said festival director Joe Sidek. He said holding it at a public open space encourages more people to come as most of them were too shy or reluctant to go to the GTF office to submit their proposals.  "It is encouraging to see so many people turning up to share their ideas and showcase their talents," says Joe. Among the many acts and ideas at the open call was a percussion ensemble using garbage can lids, a dancing flash mob, photography booths and Teochew theatre performances to promote the dying dialect. "We are very happy to be getting all sorts of people from all walks of life, from 18-year-old youths to 70-year-old senior citizens, turning up with their ideas and presenting their special talents," Joe said. One of those who turned up was 73-year-old Gafoor Khan. "I saw the open call on The Malaysian Insider so I immediately typed up a proposal and came here to present it," he said. He proposed performances that bring three generations together to promote a better understanding and to close the gap between the different generations. "When we look at performances, there is this bond between the performer and the audience so my proposal is to create this bond, not only between the performer and the audience, but to have three generations on stage and to bond them together," he said. His idea is to have performances by families where the grandparents, parents and children all come together. Yesterday's open call is just the first as GTF plans to have more open calls in the weeks to come. "We are just going to keep receiving all these proposals and ideas up to the festival," said Joe. The next festival starts on June 7 and it promises to be another spectacular display of George Town's unique arts, culture and heritage through performances, activities and exhibitions throughouth a one-month period. Anyone else with ideas and proposals can go to georgetownfestival.com and pitch their proposals there or stay tuned for another open call coming up soon.  Gafoor Khan presenting his idea at the open call at China House.jpg |
| National sports networks scrum for US ad dollars, viewers Posted: 04 Nov 2012 01:24 AM PDT  US. tennis sisters Serena (left) and Venus with children they are coaching at a clinic at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Academy in Soweto, South Africa, November 3, 2012. — Reuters pic The networks are chasing the big advertising dollars that flow into live sports programming, plus monthly subscription fees paid by cable operators that are far higher than those for other channels. Just this week, NBC Sports Network outbid Fox for the rights to air England's Premier League football. The reported US$250 million (RM762 million) NBC will pay is more than three times what Fox had been paying. NBC Sports Network is expected to be joined by Fox, which plans to convert its car-racing channel Speed to the wide-ranging Fox Sports in the third quarter of next year, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. CBS entered the competition in April 2011 when it launched the CBS Sports Network with programming including qualifying matches of the US Open tennis tournament, college basketball games and a Monday night football show anchored by former NFL quarterbacks who provide colour commentary.  Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger performs during the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix after-race concert at the du Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, November 3, 2012. — Reuters pic But consumers' seemingly bottomless appetite for sports programming and advertisers eager for more live events was fuelling the challengers, said Ed Desser, president of sports consulting firm Desser Sports Media. "It sets up some very meaningful competition for second place" behind ESPN, Desser said. NBC Sports Network The England Premier League deal is intended to bring more viewers to the NBC Sports Network, a fledgling cable sports channel that will carry most of the English-language matches. Formerly known as Versus and the Outdoor Life Network, the network owned by cable giant Comcast Corp drew its biggest audiences this summer by airing Olympic events such as women's football but is grappling with a work stoppage in the National Hockey League that leaves it without a marquee sport. NBC Sports Network is available in 80 million homes, and receives an average monthly fee of 31 cents per subscriber from cable operators. ESPN commands US$5 a month and another 68 cents a month for its ESPN 2, according to SNL Kagan. CBS began plotting its entry into the national sports derby when it paid US$325 million in 2005 for the cable channel College Sports Television. Last year, it renamed the channel CBS Sports Network with the intention of creating a national sports cable channel. The network is now in 50 million homes, up from 13 million subscribers, when CBS first bought the college sports channel. David Berson, president of CBS Sports Network, says the channel intends to aggressively go after sports rights that become available. Getting more prize sports would allow CBS to charge more for the channel and expand to more homes, he said. "Sports fans have a greater appetite for sports content and we intend to try to fill it," he says. "If something comes up we intend to aggressively bid on it, within the confines of what makes business sense for CBS." Even Al-Jazeera, the top news network in the Arab world, is getting into the game stateside. Its 24-hour US sports network "beIN SPORT" launched over the summer and has bought broadcast TV rights for football leagues in France and Spain. On November 2, Time Warner Cable announced it will carry the channel, while Dish Network and DirecTV already have deals with it. Sports juggernaut Even before the rush of new 24-hour national sports channels, ESPN executives say they faced strong competition from broadcast and regional cable channels when bidding for rights. The network, seen in 98 million homes, has its major rights secured through multi-year deals with the NFL, Major League Baseball, Wimbledon and the big college football conferences. "We like our position," said ESPN spokesman Chris LaPlaca. The entrance of new players suggests more people "recognise what we have long known: the power of live sports, especially in light of technological advances, is substantial and brings tremendous value in today's entertainment landscape", he said. To preserve their deals, ESPN and others are fending off competition by locking up rights early. ESPN last summer signed a deal to air college football's Rose Bowl until 2026. The glut of sports channels seeking higher subscriber fees are certain to inflame tensions with cable operators who complain about the already high payments they are required to charge customers who don't watch sports. Time Warner Cable and Cablevision held out for 10 years before they signed a carriage deal with the NFL Network. Customers of DirecTV and Dish were unable to see the Los Angeles' Lakers early season games because the satellite operators refused to pay the monthly US$3.95 fee charged for two Time Warner Cable sports channels. Major advertisers such as General Motors, whose brands Buick and Chevrolet sponsor Major League Baseball, the NFL and NCAA basketball, are rooting for the rookie sports channels. "It gives us more options to get in front of consumers," GM spokesman Tom Henderson said. "That creates a challenge for you because you have to then prioritise and make sure you're in the right place at the right time." Advertisers see a potential home run if the proliferation of sports networks lower advertising rates as ad inventory starts to outstrip demand, said Sam Sussman, sports activation director at media-buying firm Starcom USA. Having more games on TV means more viewers tune in to sports overall, but that average ratings per sports telecast could fall as audiences are split among competing events, he said. "While choice is good from a buyer's perspective," he said, "I do worry about fragmentation and saturation." — Reuters |
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