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Tag: John Barrett

  • BBC commentator John Barrett to step down after 36 years following Wimbledon

    BBC commentator John Barrett to step down after 36 years following Wimbledon

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that commentator John Barrett will step down after 36 years following the Wimbledon Ladies’ Final. He will commentate alongside with John McEnroe and Tracy Austin.

    Barrett said, “It will be a great thrill. I have always enjoyed commentating on the Ladies’ Final and there have been so many great ones – producing champions like Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova – and I’m sure this year’s winner will be equally exciting.”

    Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd and Andrew Castle will commentate on the Men’s Final BBC’s Wimbledon executive producer Paul Davies said, “Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd and Andrew Castle did a great job last year and we want to stick with that successful combination this year.”

    In 2005 the Ladies’ Final was watched by 6.8 million viewers and the Men’s Final achieved 5.8 million viewers. In recent years, the BBC has used a number of different commentators to call the singles finals including John Barrett, Chris Bailey, Andrew Castle, Barry Davies and David Mercer.

    BBC Head of General Sport Barbara Slater said, “We always leave the decision on who will commentate on the finals until the second week and it’s always a difficult decision because of the strength and depth of the team. The two singles finals obviously have equal status and in fact last year’s Ladies Final lasted longer and achieved higher viewing figures than the Men’s Final.”

    He has worked with the BBC at Wimbledon since 1971 – and feels that now is the right time to enjoy some more time off-court. Barrett adds, “It’s been a great privilege to work at Wimbledon over the past 35 years, and to have worked with so many truly talented individuals in a strong BBC team has always been a pleasure.”

  • Digital living in Asia, a global perspective

    Digital living in Asia, a global perspective

    SINGAPORE: In the second session on global digital living, a Parks Associates survey of 13 nations revealed that Asian countries are leading the way in the digital homes arena.

    The session, which was addressed by Parks Associates, USA director of research, John Barrett, analysed the digital trends within Asia and compared them to other countries. He also touched upon key topics like consumer attitudes, market structure and current practices.

    He said, “Asian consumers express high demand for new digital service but a low willingness to pay.” When queried on what is driving the growth, Barrett said, “There are some notable differences with western countries. One is that there is wide availability of content and deeper broadband penetration have resulted in Asians being more likely to use computers a entertainment platforms.”

    Secondly, Asian CATV providers are weaker than their North American counterparts because the demand for TV services is not as strong in Asia as it is in North American. Also, piracy is a much greater concern in Asia because copyright provisions are more weakly enforced and commercial piracy more common.

    Some key points which emerged were:

    * Korea, Taiwan were the top two countries ranked high on the Digital Living index
    *53 per cent of Asian internet households are interested in viewing digital photos on their TV compared top just 43 per cent of European Internet HHs and 28 per cent of North American HHS
    *Asian Internet Households are willing to spend on an average $ 7 per month for a video-on-demand service compared to $11 per month in Europe and North America.