| MUMBAI:
The second eidtion of China International Sports Television Forum will be held
on 24 August in Beijing.
The announcement was made by China International
Television Corp (CITV) and the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of
Asia (CASBAA). According to an official
release, New Definitions: The Sports TV Digital Revolution, the forum will be
hosted by the State Administration of Radio, Film & Television (SARFT.
The forum will be co-organized by CASBAA with CITV, the commercial arm of
the state broadcaster CCTV, in collaboration with CITV Sports Promotion Ltd Corporation
(CITVSP).
CCTV-5 will be the media partner of the event. The sessions
will cover sports television and economic development, sports branding and sponsorship
for China, as well as new media opportunities and the lessons learned from the
2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. The day will wrap-up with a high-powered CEO panel
looking at the future of sports television production and HDTV. "This
is a uniquely exciting time for sports broadcasting in China in the run-up to
the 2008 Beijing games", said CITV president Li Jian.
China has made great progress
to lay the foundations of a modern sports television market that can be a major
force for economic change and industry progress. In a rapidly evolving broadcast
market, this forum provides a rare opportunity to examine the best business models
and technologies internationally that can be brought to the China market. "
"The China International Sports TV Forum has already established itself
as the pre-eminent event for China's burgeoning sports television industry",
said CASBAA chairman and PricewaterhouseCoopers Entertainment and Media Practice
Asia Pacific leader Marcel Fenez. The speaker line-up for the one-day conference
at the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing includes CEOs and representatives from companies
and organizations in Asia, the Middle East, North America and Europe. Participants
will include CCTV, Beijing Olympic Broadcasting (BoB), the Beijing Olympic Committee
Organizing Group (BOCOG) and representatives of national Chinese and European
sports bodies, along with global sports TV networks and sports management teams.
Other speakers and delegates will be drawn from the wireless, broadband and HDTV
sectors. | 
