5m Euro media value exceeds expectations
22 October 2008
In brief:
- Watch the iShares Cup Amsterdam final this weekend: Programme 5 is showing in the UK on Sky Sports over Friday 24-Saturday 25 October.
- From media evaluation by independent agency SMS, 5 MILLION+ Euros projected media value for the iShares Cup 2008.
- Over 10 HOURS of international news distribution coverage secured to date.
- Six-part iShares Cup TV Series available in 119 TERRITORIES.
- Event website www.iSharesCup.com sees an 86% INCREASE IN WEBSITE TRAFFIC on 2007.
- Nearly 200 JOURNALISTS attended five iShares Cup events.
In detail:
The final round of the iShares Cup hosted in Amsterdam will be on TV screens around the world soon. Programme 5 shows all the drama of the final that saw the 10 teams battle to secure their overall placings. Programme 6 is a ‘Review’ of the season showing all the highlights and action from the iShares Cup 2008.
Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland:
Programme 5 – Amsterdam Final
Friday 24 October 1730 on Sky Sport 2
Saturday 25 October 0200 on Sky Sport Xtra
Saturday 25 October 0400 on Sky Sport 2
Saturday 25 October 0600 on Sky Sport 2
Programme 6 - Review Programme
Sunday 14 December 0600 on Sky Sports 2
Sunday 14 December 1230 on Sky Sports Xtra
Sunday 14 December 1700 on Sky Sports Xtra
Sunday 14 December 2230 on Sky Sports Xtra
Monday 15 December 0400 on Sky Sports 3
For latest TV listings around the world, click HERE to find out broadcast times in your area. If you miss seeing it on TV, the full TV series can be viewed online at www.isharescup.com/video (programmes go online 2 weeks after first UK TV broadcast date).
Jean-Marie Liot/DPPI/OC Events
A media success as preliminary media figures announced
The iShares Cup 2008 media evaluation is nearly complete and the level of exposure generated by this year’s spectacular five-event series has smashed the 2007 levels, with over 5 million Euros of media coverage anticipated to be received by the end of November 2008.
Monitoring and evaluation is being conducted by leading media evaluation agency, Sports Marketing Surveys, who concentrated on the iShares Cup key territories of UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and The Netherlands. plus international broadcast media.
Nearly 200 journalists attended the iShares Cup this year, of which over 40 took advantage of the unique “fifth-man” position onboard an Extreme 40 catamaran; an opportunity to report right from the heart of the racing, by joining one of the 12 international teams that took part.
“The iShares Cup's organisers have, with their 5th man spot on the Extreme 40, offered journalists and cameramen a truly unique and exciting perspective to observe close-quarter action at the highest level of international match-racing. Few opportunities for sailing writers come close to this in witnessing the cut and thrust of competition while being secure in the knowledge that you are being protected by professional sailors and race officials. The series, with its stadium-style events, also draws in spectators in port cities who relish the thrills and spills on offer - long may it go from strength to strength." Simon Greaves, the Financial Times London’s FT.com sailing correspondent.
Key for the 2008 media strategy was the international news distribution, managed by Sunset&Vine|APP, who created unique footage for broadcasters, with local language interviews with skippers and crews taking part, to penetrate those countries that weren’t hosting an actual event. This resulted in over 10 hours and 26 minutes of news coverage after four events, with the footage from the final Amsterdam event still to be evaluated. Key highlights include four appearances on the world’s most-watched sport magazine show, Gillette World of Sport, as well as in five editions of the internationally distributed Seamaster Sailing, which is distributed in 137 countries and across 28 international TV networks.
Vincent Curutchet/DPPI/OC Events
News highlights for 2008 include:
• Just under a minute on Channel 4 News in the UK, from the Amsterdam final: HERE
• 11 minutes of live TV on NDR Hamburg, the national TV station in Germany, from the iShares Cup Kiel.
• A four minute feature on NOS Studio Sport, from the iShares Cup final in Amsterdam.
In addition to the news distribution, Sunset&Vine|APP also produced a six-part TV series which is being distributed internationally to 119 territories across 16 TV networks — with an audience reach of 199.9 million homes per programme. That’s a massive 40 hours worth of programming each month! Sports Marketing Surveys has evaluated this coverage, after five programmes have been broadcast, at just under 1.3 million Euros. One programme has been broadcast from every venue, plus there will be a sixth programme with the overall highlights from the whole series. This final show will also be screened on 10 international flight networks.
“Send some of the video to your non-sailing friends. This is the future - especially of top-level, sponsor supported sailing.” Sailing Anarchy website.
The focus for the print strategy was to spread the interest across newspapers and magazines, working not only with sports journalists, but also the lifestyle and features press. To date, with coverage still to come in from Amsterdam and further international long-lead titles, the print coverage has a value of over 1.3 million Euros.
The 2008 iShares Cup provided photographers with dynamic photographic opportunities throughout the series, resulting in some of the most eye-catching images ever generated from sailing adorning front covers and double page spreads across Europe.
OnEdition / OC Events
The iSharesCup.com website saw an 86% increase in total visits to the site with a 100% increase in unique users: up to 54,109 in 2008. Over 138,750 videos have been viewed online, with the most popular videos including America’s Cup defenders Alinghi’s dramatic capsize on Day 1 of the first event in Lugano, and Tommy Hilfiger’s spectacular pitchpole and recovery at Round 2 in Hyères. 209 online news and feature articles in French, Germany and English were posted on the site, plus nearly 700 images from across the five events, and 80 videos — including the six feature-length programmes were uploaded to iShares Cup TV.
Media coverage highlights:
• Channel 4 National News in UK: HERE
• Sport France (nationally distributed free sports magazine): double page spread featuring the iShares Cup in Hyères (circulation: 500,000)
• EasyJet Magazine August edition: double page spread seen by over 3 million people
• Three articles in The Sunday Times (circulation: 1.3 million) about the iShares Cup including three-quarter page prior to Cowes Week:
• Two features on RTL Germany from iShares Cup Kiel, aired to an audience of over 280,000 for each feature.
• Live interview with Shirley Robertson, skipper of JPMorgan Asset Management, on GMTV (audience: 95,000), the leading commercial breakfast show on UK terrestrial television.
• Double page spread in L’Equipe Magazine (circ: 365,411) showing the JPMorgan Asset Management capsize in Cowes.
• Over 500 articles and features online and over 45,000 downloads of iShares Cup footage on You Tube.