News and Highlights
72nd ABU Sports Group Conference resolves to diversify its services to serve members-
Opening the 72nd ABU Sports Group Conference ABU Secretary General highlighted the Importance of Sports and events. The conference took place on October 29 at the KBS in Seoul, Korea, on the side-lines of 60th ABU General Assembly.
ABU Secretary General said, the demand for sports content keeps increasing despite ever increasing rights fee. Describing content as King, Ahmed Nadeem said ABU will emphasize the importance of supporting and facilitating content production. Nadeem said, the recently ended Asian Games in Hangzhou is one good example of cooperation between ABU and its members.
ABU collaborated with members and produced venue feed for three sports. Sepak-Takraw, Cricket and Squash. ABU also provided the English commentary service for the Games.
KBS Sports Director, Bong Jin Kim, emphasized the importance of ABU’s support in promoting the growth of sports and broadcasting. He said in an increasingly commercialised industry, ABU have been, and can playing a special role to support ABU members.
ABU Sports Chairperson Lorrain Yuen said- ABU plays a pivotal role between content owners and broadcasters. She commended ABU Sports for its efforts to support all ABU members and helping to bring as many sports events as possible to their citizens.
The Sports Director presented ABU Activities and events and future scheduled events. Cai Yanjiang said, ABU is focussing increasingly on serving the members. It is also diversifying services to production during events, besides right acquisition. Capacity building of members, through skilled trainings he said, is a priority.
The day log conference featured several presentations by broadcasters, federations and partners. These include KBS Korea, to NHK Japan, CMG China and RTM Malaysia among members. World Archery Federation, Alibaba Cloud, and ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals Busan 2024 were also presented.
The next Sports Group Conference is being scheduled in May 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
ABU Sports at 19th Asian Games, Hangzhou 2022
Hangzhou 2022, the 19th Asian Games, took place from September 23 – October 8, 2023.
The ABU Sports team produced the live television broadcast signal for these countries from the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Hangzhou. The tailormade feed focused on athletes and sports catering to the need of these countries. Sports selection is based on the specific requirement of these members.
The production at the IBC is managed by a team of experienced broadcast professionals from ABU Sports partners and members. The team has been involved in all major ABU productions including the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in the past.
The ABU also put up a similar on-site production during Tokyo in 2020.
TVRI Sports broadcast Grand Finals of Snapdragon Pro Series Season 3 SEA Challenge
Mobile Legend Bang Bang (MLBB) has captured the hearts of the young generation across South-East Asia, and the Snapdragon Pro Series Season 3 SEA Challenge has solidified its position as a premier esports event in the region. Over the past few weeks, the tournament has witnessed intense competition between the best 16 teams from South-East Asia. TVRI, the national television broadcaster of Indonesia, aired the three-day grand finals event on their sports channel TVRI Sport.
The grand finals took place at the Istora Senayan, Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex in Jakarta from July 21st to July 23rd, 2023. The event was hosted by EFG, a potential key partner for ABU Sports, making it a major spectacle for esports enthusiasts in the region.
ABU Sports visit TVRI Sports to enhance Sports content
TVRI Sports, the 24-hour sports channel under TVRI Indonesia, has recently engaged in fruitful discussions with ABU Sports.
The meeting took place at TVRI Sports headquarters, where representatives from ABU Sports led by Director of ABU Sports Cai Yan Jiang were welcomed by TVRI Sports colleagues and the TVRI Director of Programme, Pipiet Irianto.
Irianto shed light on TVRI Sports’ 24-hour operations and its content sourcing strategy, which heavily relied on partnerships with sports marketing agencies. TVRI Sports has been broadcasting LIVE content from ABU Sports such as the Universiades Games, World Fist-Ball Championship, and more.
Expressing keen interest in expanding their sports content, TVRI Sports aims to strengthen ties with ABU Sports for additional offerings from ABU Sports’ vast catalogue on its exchange ASEN.
ABU Sports recently provided TVRI Sports with free rights content for the 3-day E-Sports event, Snapdragon Mobile Legends, held in Jakarta. The live streaming of the event was seamlessly transmitted via SRT and broadcast on TVRI Sports’ Free-to-Air (FTA) platform, delighting sports fans across the nation.
World Archery Shows on ASEN (ABU Sports & Entertainment Network)
Beginning July, ABU Sports & Entertainment Network, will distribute a 17-minute Magazine Show featuring World Archery events and other related sports. The monthly magazine will have both English and international version with transcripts and run-down. The shows are a result of a partnership agreement signed between ABU and World Archery in April 2023. Registered members of ASEN can download and use the content for free- as part of ABU’s service to its members.