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Spanish broadcasting - the World Cup on La Sexta

Traditionally the Spanish national squad has never built up passion among their fellow citizens, mainly because they have never obtained good results in important international competitions.  And in this country, if a Spaniard does not win, the event itself does not inspire much passionate interest. Having said this, Spanish audiences in this World Cup are especially low compared to previous years because of the broadcasting arrangements. 

The La Sexta channel came on the scene at the beginning of this year with very low coverage in homes.  Faced with the challenge of making the Spanish population take up their signal, it decided to buy the broadcasting rights of the 2006 World Cup.  No better way to move people than to place a juicy carrot before their noses! They paid what no other channel was prepared to pay, because no other channel was going to pay more than the revenue to be obtained from the sale of publicity.  In the end, they were allotted the World Cup in the midst of heated debate, because many Spaniards were not going to be able to see Spain’s matches.  Finally, agreement was reached with Cuatro, another channel with almost universal coverage.  In this way, matches of general interest and those in which Spain played would be on the screens of almost all Spanish households. That was not the best solution to maximize audience in Spain.

What has been the outcome of all this?  La Sexta sees it as an investment that is giving them a lot of visibility and, at the same time, speeding up the process of spreading their signal. By using such a unique event as the World Cup, they will most likely speed up to the maximum their presence in the Spanish home, which will allow them, after the World Cup, to compete on equal terms with the rest of the channels and obtain a slice of the advertising pie.

It seems that things are going well for them. Spain won 4-0 in its first match against Ukraine and the original scepticism has turned into unleashed passion. With almost ten million spectators, the opening match of the Spanish national squad has surpassed figures for the same match in the World Cup of 2002, in spite of the low audience data obtained up to now in the championship. We could well win the World Cup. If Fernando Alonso wins the F1 races, Barcelona, the Champions League, Nadal, the Roland Garros Tournament, why can’t such young players as Torres, Alonso, Fábregas and company win the World Cup? And in the meantime, La Sexta sees the number of Spaniards tuning onto their channel increasing day by day.

Jon Artolozaga, Strategic Resources Director, Initiative Madrid

Read the full article in English or Spanish

Rwanda: a World Cup experience

I'm a Brit on holiday in Rwanda currently.  I've been away since day 1 of the World Cup.  Plenty of advertising here in the capital Kigali about the tournament - mainly MTN phone network and drinks brands (coca-cola especially).  I say plenty of advertising, that is a relative term here for even in the capital there aren't that many ad hoardings etc.  The local English language daily (New Times) has a smattering of coverage - mainly its back page.  The new weekly paper "Focus" featured a pull-out wall chart in its latest edition, with KO times in BST, even though we are on continental time here.  I haven't really checked what the local Kinyrwanda language papers are doing. 

Bars show the matches, that is for sure.  Some with English commentary, some French (Canal+).  But only a few matches seem to generate much local interest and audience.  Ghana's first match was the main one I have seen have a strong local following.  But I have been out on the road and/or staying in places without a TV, so don't have a full picture.  Can't get English commentary on radio though, which is annoying. 

People seem only mildly interested in the World Cup here, certainly compared to what I was expecting.  I have asked a variety of men and youths  - in my mixture of French, Swahili and English - which team they support.  The most common response .... Arsenal!  Seen many Arsenal shirts and other fake merchandise around and being worn.  The ex-pat community is very different though!  They were handing out German flags at the German-run supermarket in town yesterday.  And a meeting in the Finance Ministry was postponed yesterday as the English people there wanted to see the England-Trinidad match.  I caught a few Min's of it in a very popular bar. Yet it wasn't that popular last night.  We were the only Wang (white people) there and there were maybe a dozen Rwandans watching too.  Perhaps the timing had something to do with it, I don't know.  Don't get me wrong, the football passion is alive here, just not to nearly the same extent as many other countries this month.

Malcolm Clark

Metallica vs. the World Cup - the people of Estonia decide!

Football in Estonia is one of the most popular ballgames, right next to basketball, but ratings of the World Cup games have been relatively low so far, around 4 - 6%. Although the Estonian football team is quite far from qualifying for the World Cup and cross-country skiing is still the most watched sporting event on TV, hopes were high for Brazil vs. Croatia to attract the largest World Cup audience in Estonia so far.

The match started at exactly the same time as the hugely popular metal band Metallica came on stage at Tallinn Song Festival Ground and nearly 80 000 fans raised their hands to welcome them. Many believed that the gigantic open-air concert would distract some of the football fans and keep them away from the TV. Luckily enough, it seemed that there were enough people for both events. Football appeared somewhat more popular – 117 000 viewers of Brazil vs. Croatia match compared with 80 000 Metallica fans. To be honest, lots of fans (an estimation of 30 000) had also come from the neighbouring countries, as this was the only concert Metallica had in Eastern and Northern Europe. On the other hand, tickets to Metallica’s concert were limited and the concert was sold out.

The most popular sporting event in 2006 in Estonia was women’s 30km cross-country skiing event on Torino Winter Olympics, with a rating of 25.4%. About 330 000 people were watching it – Estonia is a small country with only around 1.3 million people. The extraordinarily high ratings were only natural in this case, as Estonians won many medals in Torino and patriotic feelings were high.

All major sports events (like Olympic Games, World Championships, etc.) as well as The World Cup in Football are broadcast on ETV, the national channel without commercial advertising. Therefore, although a major attraction to advertisers, there is no possibility to use those broadcasts for ordinary advertising.

Italians tune in for Italy vs USA drama

Italy's World Cup campaign continued last Saturday with a 1-1 draw against the USA. Although this result was seen as a slight disappointment for the Italians it still puts them at the top of Group E before the showdown clash with the Czech Republic later this week.

The game was broadcast by Rai 1 in Italy and the channel enjoyed huge ratings for what was one of the most exciting matches in the tournament.  19.3m people (representing a 71% share for Rai 1) tuned in to be entertained by 2 goals (including an own goal by Italy's Zaccardo), 3 red cards, a disallowed USA goal and numerous other incidents to keep the 'armchair pundits' talking.

Read the report from Initiative Milan on the viewing statistics for the match 

Failure to qualify for the World Cup does nothing to dampen local TV audiences

Initiative’s most recent ViewerTrack shows that TV audiences for World Cup 2006 are very high in several countries which haven’t even qualified to play.  This highlights that Soccer is a game that maintains its truly global appeal to people even when there is no direct local involvement.

Among non-participating countries, the World Cup has so far been most popular in Hungary, relative to the size of its population.  Each match has been watched by an average of 13 per cent of its population.  The last time Hungary qualified for the World Cup was in 1986.  50 years ago, they were considered the best team in the world and were nicknamed the “Magical Magyars”.  Very high ratings have also been achieved in Bulgaria (12 per cent), Norway (10 per cent) and Austria (10 per cent).

These average ratings are even higher than in a number of countries whose teams are playing at the World Cup.  In the UK, 9 per cent of the population has watched on average so far, and in France that figure is 8 per cent, both figures are higher than their overall average for the 2002 tournament which stood at 7 per cent for both countries.  The average rating in the host nation, Germany, is significantly higher than the UK and France, at 14 per cent.

Major international soccer tournaments often draw large audiences among non-participating countries.  At the last World Cup, half of the top 16 countries ranked by average audience hadn’t qualified for the tournament.

One nil to the Eng-er-land! Looking back to England's first match

After hoping all year we finally got the call we had been waiting for with a week to go to the big day...."You wouldn't fancy some England-Paraguay tickets would you?" What a question! So away we went, courtesy of our good friends at ESPN, to England's first group game in Frankfurt.  Somehow we managed to get last minute flights and a hotel slap bang in the centre of Frankfurt with remarkably little stress.

Arriving on Friday night we sampled what it was like to be on tour with England. So to the pressing issues...would there be trouble, were the hooligans able to get through? Thankfully no, the banter was good natured and fans mixed easily without any real problems.  The German fans were in good voice as they were celebrating their opening group win against Costa Rica and the atmosphere was buzzing even in the sleepy parts of the financial district during the evening. England away is now a different affair to the troublesome times that have preceded previous major tournaments and we can only hope that this continues throughout the tournament.

On the day of the game we followed the hordes of ticket-less England fans down to the banks of the Main river where the huge screens and countless beer stalls were located.  After sampling more of the local special brew we headed off to the stadium.  The heat was relentless and it was inevitable that this would take a toll on the speed of the game.  Inside the impressive Walstadion we were greeted with a sea of Red and White.  It appeared 90% full of England fans with their Flags of St George ringed around the whole ground... so much for only 3000 tickets supposedly going to England supporters! Clearly the Black Market had been busy and it's a credit to England fans, both in and out of the ground, so starved of real success, that their support is unrelenting.

The game itself passed by without much happening... apart from the odd goal to England that gave us an all important 3 points despite an uninspiring performance. There's plenty of room for improvement and England surely must if they are to proceed to the latter stages.

But the most important thing was to say we were there... a World Cup in Germany! It doesn't get much better than this... of course unless we manage to blag some tickets for the next round!

Matt Casey (International Account Manager) and Jason Hayford (International Account Director), Initiative London

Italy vs. Ghana: Italians tune in both in- and out-of-home

The Italian team kicked-off their 2006 World Cup campaign with victory over Ghana. Close to 20 million fans watched the game live on TV on Rai 1, while many other Italians chose to follow the action out-of-home.  City squares were crowded with fans from both Italy and Ghana who had come out in force to support their teams and to socialise with their fellow World Cup fans.

Read the report from Initiative Milan on Italian viewing statistics for the match

Forza Azzurri! Who do Italians think will win the World Cup?

Using Initiative survey tool Intuition, our colleagues at Initiative Milan have carried out a survey to see who the people of Italy think will win the World Cup.  And despite the presence of world-class players like Buffon, Nesta and Totti in the Italian team, more Italians still believe that it will be Brazil who will take the trophy home rather than their home nation.

38% of respondents believed that Brazil will become the first South American team in almost 50 years to win the cup on European soil, while 35% fancied Italy to win.  England trailed a distant third with only 8% believing they had enough to win it.

Interestingly, the survey threw up a strong male/female divide on who the eventual winner would be.  Of those who believed Brazil would win, 64% were female.  However, Italian males certainly appear to be the more patriotic of the two sexes:  64% of those who believed Italy would win were male.

But what do the employees of Initiative Milan think?  Barbara Dati (Senior Market Analyst) believes that Brazil will win but that Italy will "perform well", while Monica D'Urso (Market Analyst) and Francesca Leto di Priolo (Market Analyst) follow the survey results by claiming that Brazil will win.  Giuseppe Lubrano (Market Analyst) also really likes the World Cup and is expecting a victory for England.  However, the burning issue in the Milan office appears to be whether Monica (who has a huge new LCD TV) will invite her colleagues to her house to watch the game...! 

England vs. Paraguay - the English view

Apart from the shock of winning - just - our first game on Saturday, this World Cup has seen other changes to how England, and the English, have approached Germany 2006.  The high TV audience was expected, although general ad demand throughout June has faltered.  Even now there is good availability in the outdoor market for week commencing June 26 across all formats.

The Cross of St George, the flag of England since the Thirteenth Century, has been "reclaimed" from the far-right by an increasing number of individuals across the country. This process started in the mid-Nineties, and accelerated in Japan 2002 and then again for the European Championships in 2004.  The distance and cost involved in going to Japan prevented the hooligan element from travelling.  The effect was a hooligan-free World Cup.  For the first time England supporters were liberated from negative expectations from the host country.  England held its breath in Portugal 2004, but a combination of some Banning Orders (preventing travel outside of the UK for recognised hooligans) and a general desire to build on the success of 2002, created a carnival atmosphere where anti-social behaviour was simply unacceptable for 99.9% of those who watched the games.  Flying the flag became an expression of Englishness rather than some wider political statement.

This nascent self-expression through the flying of the English flag also reflects an increasing desire to publicly express Englishness across the board.  For two centuries there has been a blur between being British and being English - certainly for the English if not for the Welsh and Scots.  For many though the Union flag has now become irrelevant.  The relatively new Regional Assemblies in Wales and Scotland have generated a self awareness for the Welsh and Scots, but also crucially the English, who essentially fund both countries through high levels of central taxation.  There is a growing debate about the difference between being British and English as a result.

The crowd in Frankfurt on Saturday was predominantly English, good humoured, and proud.  The old concerns about violence have largely gone.  The stadium was covered in English flags and a kind of collective statement that redefines Englishness - positively - abroad.  As England progress through the tournament this will be clearly tested, but at this early stage it does appear that the trends of Japan 2002 and Portugal 2004 are continuing.

Roy Jeans, CEO ipm London

Is soccer catching on in the US?

Soccer (or football as it is called by most of the world) is obviously an enigma in the US.  It is ubiquitous in US schools and communities - even more so than such "American" sports as Football and Baseball.  The sport has even helped define an important segment of our population, "The Soccer Mom" - so attractive to both marketers and politicians.  The term describes a young, upscale mother on the go with kids heavily committed to activities the key one being, yes, soccer.

Yet soccer has not gotten off the ground as an entertainment franchise.  Or has it?  Hard to beat those numbers on Hispanic television.  And if those ratings are a fact, then hidden within the historically generic English language ratings in the US are big spikes against almost any ethnic community with its roots outside the US.  Can their enthusiasm spill over to the rest of the still large uncommitted fan base?  Is soccer at the tipping point in the US?  Finally?

Here are the things that caught my attention:

• Rights Fees and Holders.  ESPN and Univision have committed $470 million for future World Cup Events
• Based on their investment ABC/ESPN made the 2006 World Cup a top 3 corporate initiative for 2006
• US Team Prospects - They are a contender
• Diverse cultural appeal which is a long term winner

Rights Fees

If rights fees are any indication of the value of a sports franchise, World Cup just had a big vote of confidence.  Earlier this year ESPN and Univision committed $470 million for English and Hispanic language North American rights for 2010-2014.  That is a 250% increase from the expiring deal held by Soccer United and Univision.  This also makes the US the highest valued television market globally for FIFA.

Marketing Support

As a result of the commitment, ABC/ESPN has identified the '06 FIFA World Cup as one of its top 3 corporate initiatives to support both on and off channel.  This includes a dedicated high visibility campaign from Wieden and Kennedy.  Marketing support for a sport event such as World Cup is obviously a key variable in the ultimate success of the event.  The ABC/ESPN commitment is a huge change from the 2002 World Cup.  In particular, promotion is the key to bringing in casual fans especially for late stage games and the more modest support levels of the past probably hurt the Cup in this regard.

US Team Prospects

While soccer touches a huge number of people in the US, it is very decentralized except when it comes to a focused global event that includes the US.  The US has qualified for the 5th consecutive tournament since 1990.  They made the quarter finals for the first time in 2002.  The US is currently ranked 6th in FIFA World Cup rankings which means that if not a favorite they are a significant contender.

Cultural Reach

Can't think of a more diverse cultural event.  While Univision has the Spanish Language rights, I would guess that for many other nationalities the default coverage will be English language.

Committing to a Side

I remember watching my friends play soccer in college (I confess to have played "American Football").  The games were exciting, fun and fast moving.  When my kids were in high school, I watched their friends play and found myself equally engaged.  If as fans - even casual fans - we find appealing reasons to commit to a team, an athlete or a country, the game changes.  If ESPN and Soccer United can pull us in at that level, maybe we can join the rest of the world in this great sport.

Alec Gerster, Global CEO, Initiative