Media

Beijing has started radio English lessons to get its citizens up to speed in the race for the 2008 Olympic Games, according to local reports.

A leading executive with Olympic TOP sponsors Coca-Cola has called on the IOC and NBC to jointly design a new model for leveraging the advertising power of new media.

Eurosport.com has signed a new strategic partnership with tennis.net, part of the Umbrella Media group.

German media giant Kirch and media group EM.TV & Merchandising could raise $1 billion to exercise an option to buy a further 25 percent stake in Formula One holding SLEC, Kirch vice president Dieter Hahn has said.

Greek Olympic chief Gianna Angelopoulos said on Monday that the sudden resignation of her number two would not upset the Athens 2004 Games preparations.

The concluding session of the first day of the IOC Sports and New Media conference re-emphasised the key values of rights exclusivity, but according to Christopher Murray, Chairman of the Entertainment & Technology Dept of O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Los Angeles: "The web has so radically changed the dynamics of publishing, that with one keystroke anyone can download a CD or video and become a pirate".

Soccer players in Singapore may face lie-detector tests next year as the local league battles to stamp out match-fixing and restore the confidence of bettors.

Established figures from the Olympic Television broadcasting establishment asserted their dominance at the IOC Sport and New Media Conference in Lausanne today, but not without some furious objections from television rightsholders who have been frustrated in their own internet ambitions, and others who have succeeded in webcasting other sports.

How can rightsholders control the power of new media to distribute valuable content free on the Internet? This was the question that dominated the second session of the IOC new media conference in Lausanne.

Broadband will replace existing broadcasters once the delivery system is all pervasive in the major markets, delegates were warned at a question and answer session this afternoon at the IOC World Conference on Sport and New Media.

Olympic marketing chief Dick Pound has warned the sports world that the internet is not yet the gold medal winner of money-making as business, sporting and New Media chiefs prepared to begin a special conference on online markets on Monday. For the full story see the FEATURES section of sportbusiness.com.

German media giant Kirch and EM.TV & Merchandising AG , in which Kirch is taking a minority stake, said on Monday they were still open to the participation of carmakers in Formula One holding company SLEC.

Greece's deputy chief for the 2004 Olympics resigned on Monday citing personal reasons after six months in the job, the organising committee (ATHOC) said.

Dick Pound, Chairman of IOC Internet Committee confirmed today that the Internet and TV rights for the Olympics will remain linked through to the 2008 games but also expressed the expectation that the territorial rights issues that currently prevent live video and audio broadcast over the internet could be solved.

Broadband Sports has partnered with adidas America to create a special area of NBA star Kobe Bryant's official website on AthletesDirect, a division of Broadband Sports, that tells the story behind the advertising campaign for Bryant's new shoe The Kobe.

Today sees the start of the IOC World Conference on Sport and New Media ? and you can stay up-to-date with all the latest news and views on sportbusiness.com.