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  • Airbnb teams up with FIFA for three World Cups and global fan stays

    Airbnb teams up with FIFA for three World Cups and global fan stays

    MUMBAI: Fans won’t just be travelling for the beautiful game, they’ll be checking in for it too. In a landmark move that blends football fever with hospitality hustle, Airbnb and FIFA have announced a three-year global partnership across three blockbuster tournaments: the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, FIFA World Cup 26, and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027. Airbnb will serve as Official Fan Accommodation across all events with perks that include booking fan experiences, stadium adventures, and even one-on-one training with football legends like Tim Howard.

    From Dolby Atmos goal celebrations in Miami to melt-in-your-mouth brisket tacos in Houston, this tie-up isn’t just about beds, it’s about bringing the soul of the Host City to the fan’s front door.

    “The World Cup brings the world together and so do we,” said Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, adding that the partnership will help create “once-in-a-lifetime experiences” for fans while fuelling local economies.

    With fans expected to flood the 16 host cities of the FIFA World Cup 26, a Deloitte study estimates that over 380,000 Airbnb guests will contribute nearly 3.6 billion dollars to local economies. Hosts alone could rake in up to 210 million dollars, with Airbnb’s stays projected to support the equivalent of 34,000 full-time jobs through 2026.

    The collaboration will also see Airbnb roll out a 5 million dollars Host City Impact Fund, supporting local initiatives and enhancing the visitor experience through targeted investments in community infrastructure.

    Football meets fandom in a more literal way too Airbnb is offering original fan experiences like watching matches with Cobi Jones, dissecting tactics with FIFA’s Technical Study Group, or suiting up for a private goalkeeping session with Tim Howard. All these are bookable during the Club World Cup 2025, kicking off 14 June at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.

    With 89 per cent of fans worldwide planning to travel for matches, Airbnb’s bet on blending the love of sport with the love of stay is shaping up to be a golden goal.

    Or in this case, maybe a golden guest room.

  • Dazn to live broadcast Fifa Club World Cup ’25 for free globally

    Dazn to live broadcast Fifa Club World Cup ’25 for free globally

    MUMBAI: Here’s even more good news for football fans. There’s more football fever being kicked into your living rooms to cheer for until you are hoarse. 

    The international football federation Fifa has signed up with streamer Dazn making it the exclusive global broadcaster of the FiFa Club World Cup 2025. Under the agreement, the tournament which will see 32 clubs from all over the world fighting it out for the trophy over 63 matches is to be live streamed on Dazn free globally in multiple languages, and includes the possibility of sub-licensing to local free to air linear broadcast networks. 

    The Fifa Club  World Cup 2025, which was launched in 2000, but had gone through a bumpy ride in certain years, was  converted into a quadrennial competition (starting 2025) when it was last held in 2023. The teams are drawn into eight groups of four, with each team playing three group stage matches in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage, starting with the round of 16 and culminating with the final.

    In its previous avatar when it was an annual competition, Real Madrid emerged as the winner on five occasions, Spanish teams have won the tournament eight times. The current champions are Manchester City which held the trophy aloft in 2023.

    The agreement to hold the exclusive global broadcast rights to the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 marks the start of a broader partnership between Dazn and Fifa. This includes integrating Fifa+,   Fifa’s library of iconic football moments and full-match replays, as well as live fixtures, into the Dazn platform. 

    The partnership begins with the draw of the Fifa Club World Cup which will be broadcast live on Dazn on 5 December. The 32 participating clubs will discover their group-stage opponents in a live studio event that will kick off at 13:00 EST/18:00 GMT/19:00 CET. The Fifa  Club World Cup 2025, which kicks off on Sunday 15 June 2025 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami will have matches being played in 12 venues across the US over a 29-day period, culminating with the final at MetLife Stadium, New York New Jersey on Sunday, 13 July 2025.

    Making a top club competition freely available to every single fan globally, the ground breaking partnership combines Dazn’s unique expertise and vision for the future with Fifa’s commitment to making football truly global, claims a press release issued by the two. 

    It also helps that the Fifa Club World Cup has finally found a home as this will help the football federation rope in sponsors. Reports say that the clubs have been asking for $50 million per head to participate ; so far it has managed to sign up Chinese electronics firm Hi-sense, Anheuser Busch (AB InBev) and Bank of America as sponsors.  Additionally, reports say that the deal between Dazn and Fifa is valued at about $1 billion, though no financial terms were disclosed. 

    “I am delighted to announce that Fifa, in partnership with Dazn and Fifa+, will bring the best of club football for free to everywhere in the world, meaning that every single football fan across the globe can watch the best players from the 32 best clubs compete in the new Fifa Club World Cup to be the first official Fifa Club World Champions’,” said Fifa president Gianni Infantino “The new Fifa Club World Cup is a merit-based, inclusive tournament that will be the pinnacle of global club football, capturing the imagination of players and fans across the world. Through this broadcasting agreement, billions of football fans worldwide can now watch what will be the most widely accessible club football tournament ever – and for free. Football Unites the World.” 

    Added Dazn chief executive officer Shay Segev: “This groundbreaking deal with Fifa is a major milestone in Dazn’s journey to be the ultimate entertainment platform of choice for sports fans everywhere. We’re delighted to have the exclusive rights to this new chapter in global club football, marking the start of our long-term relationship with FIFA and cementing our status as the home of football. Dazn is the only sports streaming platform that has a truly global reach, with world-leading technology and a single-minded focus to deliver the very best digital experience for all sports fans. We’re committed to ensuring that every fan can watch every moment of the thrilling action from this new prime club tournament.”

    Dazn – a fully interactive and immersive platform  – enables fans to watch, play, buy and connect, all in one place and with a single account. It is available on all connected devices, including smart TVs, smartphones, tablets and game consoles. It has a large portfolio of sports  rights and  that includes the world’s most prestigious leagues. Its content is watched by over 300 million viewers in more than 200 markets. It is normally charges a subscription fee for premium sports tournaments.

    A detractor says that Dazn and Fifa have taken the decision to stream the Fifa Club World Cup for free as the tournament is working on gaining prestige amongst football fans. As well as advertisers.

    “It does  not have the respectability of the La Liga or the EPL. In its annual avatar it did not get even a fraction of the eyeballs the EPL does. Hence by streaming it for free, both Fifa and Dazn are hoping it will grow on football fans,” says a football rights expert. 

    The critics can carp from the sidelines, but with both Fifa and Dazn working in tandem, the Fifa Club World Cup 2025 could well end scoring well with viewers. And come out a winner!

                                             FIFA Club World Cup 2025 – participating clubs

    Africa: Al Ahly FC (EGY), Espérance Sportive de Tunis (TUN), Mamelodi Sundowns FC (RSA), Wydad AC (MAR) 

    Asia: Al Ain FC (UAE), Al Hilal (KSA), Ulsan HD (KOR), Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN) 

    Europe: Atlético de Madrid (ESP), FC Bayern München (GER), SL Benfica (POR), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Chelsea FC (ENG), FC Internazionale Milano (ITA), Juventus FC (ITA), Manchester City (ENG), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), FC Porto (POR), Real Madrid CF (ESP), FC Salzburg (AUT) 

    North and Central America and the Caribbean: CF Monterrey (MEX), CF Pachuca (MEX), Club León (MEX), Inter Miami CF (USA), Seattle Sounders FC (USA) Oceania: Auckland City FC (NZL) 

    South America: CA Boca Juniors (ARG), Botafogo (BRA), CR Flamengo (BRA), Fluminense FC (BRA), SE Palmeiras (BRA), CA River Plate (ARG)

  • Ed Hauber Is Latest Addition to Digital Nirvana Executive Team, Joining as Director of Business Development

    Ed Hauber Is Latest Addition to Digital Nirvana Executive Team, Joining as Director of Business Development

    FREMONT: Signaling Digital Nirvana's continued momentum in the fast-growing market for compliance monitoring and metadata generation services, the company today announced the appointment of Ed Hauber as director of business development. Reporting to Russell Wise, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Hauber will oversee all business and solution development for major broadcasters in the U.S.

    Hauber is the latest in a series of recent executive appointments at Digital Nirvana. Earlier appointments include Wise in January, Anant Khanolkar as senior director of international sales in February, and Keith DesRosiers as director of sales solutions in April.

    "I worked with Ed at Volicon for 10 years, so I've had firsthand experience with his keen ability to develop successful business and technical solutions for leading broadcasters, as well as his expertise in winning new customers and completing successful deployments," Wise said. "Ed was the most productive member of the Volicon senior sales team, and he has outstanding insight into broadcasters' requirements for compliance logging and associated technologies. He'll be a huge asset as we continue to expand Digital Nirvana's sales and solutions leadership team."

    Before joining Digital Nirvana, Hauber served for three years as director of sales for Verizon Digital Media Services (VDMS), where he led the North American broadcast sales practice for the Volicon brand after it was acquired by VDMS. Prior to the acquisition, he was director of sales for Volicon for 10 years. Hauber has also held sales and marketing management positions with Pinnacle Systems and Truevision, and earlier in his career served as producer and editor for NBC TVSD in Miami. He holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and communications from Point Park University. 

  • Agencies in India Have 18 Finalists in 45th Annual One Show, Including 10 for McCann Worldgroup India

    Agencies in India Have 18 Finalists in 45th Annual One Show, Including 10 for McCann Worldgroup India

    Agencies in India have 18 finalists’ entries for the 45th annual One Show, as announced by The One Club for Creativity, the world’s foremost non-profit organization celebrating creative excellence in advertising and design.

    McCann Worldgroup India, Mumbai leads the way with 10 finalists, including seven with McCann Health, Delhi for Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan “The Immunity Charm”.  

    Hindustan Petroleum has five finalists for its own “Roads That Honk”.  

    Agencies in India with one finalist each are Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai for RNW Media “#NotMusicToMyEars”, FCB India, Mumbai for Times of India“Shindoor Khela – No Condition Apply” and Famous Innovations, Mumbia for CaratLane “The Personalised Ring Box That’ll Get You a Yes”.

    To view the complete list of The One Show 2018 finalists by discipline, please visit http://www.oneshow.org/finalists/2018/.

    This year’s One Show has 1,643 finalists representing 42 countries, selected from 19,800 total entries.  The US has the most finalists with 669, followed by the UK with 117, Japan with 94, Canada with 86, Germany with 78, Brazil with 70, France with 65 and Australia with 59.

    Globally, BBDO New York is the agency office with most One Show finalists with 68, including 10 for Downtown Records’ “Live Looper” featuring the band the Academic and eight for P&G “The Talk”. 

    Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago has 34 finalists, including 16 for SC Johnson “Kiwi Portraits Completed” campaign and individual ads, and Wieden+Kennedy, Portland has 33 finalists, including 11 for a variety of KFC work and eight each for Old Spice and Nike entries.  

    Other offices with the most One Show finalists entries are Dentsu Tokyo with 32, McCann New York with 29, Droga5 New York with 25, Jung von Matt in Hamburg and DDB Paris both with 21, and AlmapBBDO, São Paulo and DAVID Miami with 20 finalists each.

    The entry collecting the most finalists is SC Johnson “Kiwi Portraits Completed” campaign and individual ads by Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago with 16 spots.  

    Droga5 New York’s “The Truth is Hard to Find” campaign and ads for The New York Times picked up 14 finalists, while McCann New York’s “Fearless Girl” for State Street Global Advisors has 13 finalists spots.  Both Cossette Toronto’s “SickKids VS” work for SickKids Foundation and DAVID Miami’s “Google Home of the Whopper” for Burger King have 11 finalist spots.

    The One Club for Creativity awards shows each have their distinct focus.  The The One Show focuses on creativity of ideas and quality of execution, while theADC Annual Awards maintains its historical concentration on craft, design and innovation.

    This year’s winners will be announced on two nights of The One Show during The One Club for Creativity’s Creative Week, May 7-11, 2018 in New York (http://www.oneclub.org/creativeweek/).  

    The first night of The One Show, covering Branded Entertainment, Design, Direct Marketing, Health, Wellness & Pharma, Intellectual Property, Moving Image Craft, Public Relations, Responsive Environments, Green Pencil and Cultural Driver will be Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 6:00 pm-12:00 am at the Ziegfeld Ballroom, 141 West 54th St.

    The second night of The One Show, awarding work in Cross Platform, Film, Interactive, Mobile, Print & Outdoor, Radio, Social Influencer Marketing, Social Media, UX / UI, Penta Pencil, Best of Show and other special awards, takes place on Friday, May 11, 2018, 6:00 pm-2:00 am at Cipriani, 55 Wall St.  

    The preeminent festival showcasing the intersection of advertising, innovation and creative thinking, Creative Week also includes the ADC 97th Annual Awards, the dynamic Young Ones Education Festival, inspiring sessions with some of the biggest names in the industry at the Creative Summit, and the exclusive Executive Creative Summit, open to a limited number of top-level leaders (founders, CCOs and managing partners).

    The One Club for Creativity (http://www.oneclub.org), producer of the prestigious One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Creative Week and Portfolio Night, is the world’s foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design.  The ADC Annual Awards honors the best work across all disciplines, including Advertising, Interactive, Design and Motion. Creative Week takes place in New York City every May and is the preeminent festival celebrating the intersection of advertising and the arts.

  • Arre’s ‘A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend’ wins at WebFest

    Arre’s ‘A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend’ wins at WebFest

    MUMBAI: Arré’s first web series A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend has won the best overall web series and best suspense/thriller at South Florida WebFest in Miami. The show has been selected from among a selected screening of the best 27 global web series and short films that were shortlisted.

    A.I.SHA, Artificial Intelligence Simulated Humanoid Assistant (A.I.SHA) is India’s first AI-based digital series. The story pivots around the widely debated and chilling premise of what happens when artificial intelligence develops feelings and consciousness. Sam, the show’s protagonist, creates A.I.SHA, without realising the consequences, and thus begins a series of events that rapidly spirals out of control.

    “I am happy that A.I.SHA has broken new ground in the web series space in India and globally. We’re now excited about Season 2 and hopefully will pack in enough thrills and chills for our viewers,” said Arre founder B. Saikumar.

    The series is directed by Sahir Raza, written by Raghu Ram and Harman Singha and produced for Arré by Monozygotic. The show was presented by Gillette Flexball. To bring technical authenticity, the series has also partnered with Palo Alto Networks, a next-generation security company, as Cyber Security Advisers and Dell as the Technology Partner.

    Following the resounding success of season 1, Arré also launched a Telugu version of the show in association with Yupp TV and also plans to release a Tamil version of the show to reach out to a wider audience.

    The team has also begun pre-production work for season 2, which is planned for launch early next year.

  • Arre’s ‘A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend’ wins at WebFest

    Arre’s ‘A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend’ wins at WebFest

    MUMBAI: Arré’s first web series A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend has won the best overall web series and best suspense/thriller at South Florida WebFest in Miami. The show has been selected from among a selected screening of the best 27 global web series and short films that were shortlisted.

    A.I.SHA, Artificial Intelligence Simulated Humanoid Assistant (A.I.SHA) is India’s first AI-based digital series. The story pivots around the widely debated and chilling premise of what happens when artificial intelligence develops feelings and consciousness. Sam, the show’s protagonist, creates A.I.SHA, without realising the consequences, and thus begins a series of events that rapidly spirals out of control.

    “I am happy that A.I.SHA has broken new ground in the web series space in India and globally. We’re now excited about Season 2 and hopefully will pack in enough thrills and chills for our viewers,” said Arre founder B. Saikumar.

    The series is directed by Sahir Raza, written by Raghu Ram and Harman Singha and produced for Arré by Monozygotic. The show was presented by Gillette Flexball. To bring technical authenticity, the series has also partnered with Palo Alto Networks, a next-generation security company, as Cyber Security Advisers and Dell as the Technology Partner.

    Following the resounding success of season 1, Arré also launched a Telugu version of the show in association with Yupp TV and also plans to release a Tamil version of the show to reach out to a wider audience.

    The team has also begun pre-production work for season 2, which is planned for launch early next year.

  • Viacom to open production studio in Miami

    Viacom to open production studio in Miami

    MUMBAI: Viacom Inc will open a two-stage, 88,000 square foot, state-of-the-art production facility in Miami, Florida. 

     

    The new studio, which was built by the Miami Omni Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) as a public-private partnership with EUE/Screen Gems Studios, will serve as a production hub for Viacom’s global entertainment brands including Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central.

     

    “We are creating more content than ever before across all of our brands at Viacom. The Viacom International Studio in Miami will offer a turnkey facility where we can create even more original, high quality content to meet the increasing demand for long-and-short-form content on all of our global platforms,” said Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) president and CEO Robert Bakish. 

     

    “We have had terrific success with the recent live action productions we have coming from Miami, and we are very excited to be committed to doing more. We are constantly looking for new creative ideas and content formats that allow us to tell stories in a completely different way, and this facility will certainly forward that effort,” added Viacom Kids and Family Group president Cyma Zarghami.

     

    “Viacom has demonstrated again and again that hits come from all over the world. With an established track record of multi-lingual hits including Every Witch Way and Talia in the Kitchen being produced in Miami for multiple audiences simultaneously, in global collaboration with the US and local Latin American teams, we’re excited to have the opportunity to further expand our production capabilities in the market,” said VIMN Americas president and Nickelodeon International EVP Pierluigi Gazzolo.

     

    Located in central Miami, the studio location offers access to a highly skilled, multi-lingual talent pool essential to creating global productions in multiple languages. The facilities will include two modern sound stages equipped to create a variety of content simultaneously, from daily scripted series, music specials and game shows to short form content for mobile, digital and on-air.

     

    “We welcome Viacom as a long-term partner at our new Miami studios. Our company has worked closely with Viacom to develop a facility worthy of a dynamic content producer. Today, we celebrate our relationship with Viacom, and we applaud our partners at the Omni CRA, whose vision and efforts have made this building possible,” said EUE/Screen Gems Studios COO Chris Cooney.

     

    EUE/Screen Gems has entered into a long-term lease with Miami’s Omni CRA to operate the new facility.

  • FremantleMedia has two new CEOs for its Latin America Offices

    FremantleMedia has two new CEOs for its Latin America Offices

    MUMBAI: There’s change atop at FremantleMedia’s Latin America office. FremantleMedia, one of the largest creators, producers and distributors of television brands in the world, announced the appointment of two new Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) for its Spanish and Portuguese-speaking operations in Latin America.

     

    Daniela Busoli has been promoted to CEO FremantleMedia Brazil, based in S?o Paulo, while Adrián Santucho becomes the new CEO of FremantleMedia Mexico, US Hispanic and Pan-Regional Productions, based in Miami.

     

    The new CEOs will directly report to FremantleMedia’s Chief Executive Officer, Cecile Cout-Frotaz and will be responsible for the overall management of the day-to-day operation of their businesses and will drive the strategic vision for operations in their respective markets.

     

    The CEOs will develop and produce programmes for broadcasters in their territories and will work closely with FremantleMedia International’s licensing and sales operations.

     

    On announcing the appointments, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, FremantleMedia’s CEO said in a release: “I am delighted to have Daniela and Adrián leading our operations across Latin America and the Hispanic US. Both are well-respected executives, and their drive and experience will really help FremantleMedia exploit the many opportunities available to us as we look to grow our business in these incredibly vibrant markets.”

     

    Busoli and Santucho joined FremantleMedia from Endemol in Latin America and boast extensive experience in working across well-established formats in the entertainment industry. They will take up their respective posts with immediate effect.

  • CBS posts profit of $335 mn in fourth quarter

    CBS posts profit of $335 mn in fourth quarter

    MUMBAI: US media conglomerate CBS has recorded a profit in the fourth quarter from a year ago period.

    This included a major charge to write down the value of its television and radio businesses

    CBS reported net income of $335 million, or 43 cents per share, in the October-December period. A year ago, the company reported a loss of $9.14 billion, or $12 per share. That included a charge of $9.48 billion for the asset impairment.

    Operating income for the quarter is up 14 to per cent to $759.3 million. For the year revenues were $14.3 billion. This marked an increase of one per cent from the prior year, with increases of two per cent at television, eight per cent at outdoor and six per cent at publishing. This was partially offset by a decline of seven per cent at radio.

    For the year, television revenues increased by two per cent to $9.5 billion from 2005 primarily reflecting increases in television license fees and affiliate revenues partially offset by lower home entertainment and advertising revenues. Television license fees increased by 26 per cent primarily due
    to the 2006 availabilities of CSI: Miami, Frasier, Star Trek: Voyager and Without A Trace.

    This was partially offset by the absence of license fees from the prior year second- cycle cable renewal of Everybody Loves Raymond. Affiliate revenues increased eight per cent due to rate increases and subscriber growth at Showtime and the inclusion of the results of CSTV Networks since its acquisition in January 2006. Ad revenues decreased by one per cent from 2005 as higher political ad sales were more than offset by lower revenues from the absence of UPN and decreases at CBS Network.

    Home entertainment revenues decreased by 68 per cent principally due to the switch from self-distribution in 2005 to third party distribution in 2006.

    CBS executive chairman Sumner Redstone says, “CBS’ first year out of the gate was a great one. Our strong performance in the fourth quarter and full year of 2006 is the result of strategic vision and operational excellence. Leslie and his team are building our existing businesses to capitalise on the digital revolution and to position CBS for continued success well into the future.”

    CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves says, “CBS’ fourth quarter results capped off a strong first year as a stand-alone company, Strong fourth quarter operating results at television, outdoor and publishing helped us surpass our key financial targets for the year.

    “Looking forward, we will continue to focus on running our core operations effectively; reshaping our portfolio into better-margin, higher-growth businesses; using the interactive opportunity to deepen and broaden our relationship with audiences; and receiving compensation for our content through retransmission consent agreements and new interactive platforms.

    ” I am confident that the company is well positioned to deliver long-term growth, strong cash flow, and increased value for our shareholders.”

  • SPTI expands mobile entertainment team

    SPTI expands mobile entertainment team

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) has expanded its mobile entertainment team to better serve its existing and new clients.

    SPTI is adding executives to oversee its mobile teams in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, and providing additional support from SPTI’s headquarters in Culver City, California.

    SPTI senior VP, mobile entertainment, Jason Wells says, “Sony Pictures is firmly committed to growing its mobile entertainment business, and is dedicating significant resources to ensure its future growth. With the global team in place, SPTI’s mobile entertainment group will provide not only content from blockbuster movies such as Casino Royale, but also be a single source for SPE’s integrated mobile offerings ranging from TV series on mobile to interactive games.”

    In the Asia-Pacific region, SPTI’s mobile entertainment team has appointed Rosemary Tan as director, mobile entertainment, Asia-Pacific, reporting to Wells. Based at SPTI’s Asia headquarters in Hong Kong, Tan joins SPTI from Universal Music Asia in Hong Kong where she was regional new media director and head of new media business development since 2003.

    Rose Tsang is SPTI manager, mobile entertainment, Asia-Pacific. Tsang was previously senior new media manager at Universal Music Asia in Hong Kong where she worked with Tan. Tsang will be responsible for implementing and managing mobile strategies, as well as content delivery workflow management.

    Andy Bishop, based in Los Angeles, has been promoted to VP, sales and business development, mobile entertainment. Reporting to Wells, he will be directly responsible for sales and distribution in Canada, Latin America and Brazil, and will work with all of SPTI’s regional offices around the world, overseeing business development and sales strategy with mobile operators and other strategic wireless partners worldwide.

    He was previously SPTI’s director, business development and sales planning, mobile entertainment. Prior to joining Sony, he was manager, business development at Disney.

    SPTI’s mobile entertainment team has also expanded in Latin America with the appointment of Stephen Brough as director, mobile entertainment, Latin America, reporting to Bishop. Based at SPTI’s Latin American headquarters in Miami, Brough heads the mobile entertainment team for the region. Brough and his team are responsible for business development and the sale of mobile TV/video, games and personalization products to mobile operators and customers throughout the region.

    Brough previously held a number of executive positions at VSNL International (formerly Teleglobe) in Miami since 2003, most recently as mobile content sales specialist. Prior to that, he served in various executive posts at Sirius Telecom in Santa Barbara, CA, Vonova Communications in Austin, and at Ernst & Young Consulting in Buenos Aires and Lima. He began his career as a business consultant at Andersen Consulting working in Dallas, Kansas City, and New York.

    SPTI’s mobile entertainment team is charged with extending Sony’s theatrical and TV assets, as well as its range of custom-made mobile content, into mobile distribution outside the US. With mobile product such as the James Bond franchise, the Ratchet and Clank Going Mobile game adaptation from the popular Sony PlayStation franchise, and Spider-Man 3 mobile content, SPTI is the international distribution and marketing arm for SPE’s portfolio of mobile content, including mobile games, such as Wheel of Fortune, tones, images, video and text programmes.