MUMBAI: Travel books may tell you what to do on a trip but National geographic channel?s show, ?Banged Up Abroad?, aims to offer a guide on what not to do when travelling abroad.

The new season of the show kicks off on 20 August at 10 pm.

So what are these ?don?t dos?? These include falling, in love with a married woman in Philippines, revealing sexual preferences in Saudi Arabia and offering to help business men in Argentina transfer Gold.

The infotainment broadcaster will showcase first- hand accounts of survivors who escape their self inflicted doom in a foreign land.

Banged up Abroad will tell tales from countries around the world like Saudi Arabia, Spain, Argentina, Tokyo, Iraq and Columbia.

Viewers can watch how an innocent Iraqi soldier is forced to switch lives with the evil son of Saddam Hussain. Practically aping his identity, he escapes several assassination attempts until he finds himself in a situation where he has to choose between death and escape.

In another scandalous scenario, a student nurse and crack addict makes a daring escape by hitchhiking and swimming across an international border only to turn herself over to authorities in England.

?Banged Up Abroad? sheds light on the spirit of survival when caught in situations caused by an error in judgment.
 

MUMBAI: The total European football market grew to a record ?15.3 billion in 2010/11 with the English Premier League clubs generating highest revenue at ?2.3 billion, according to the 21st Annual Review of Football Finance from the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

Premier League is followed by Germany and Spain (each ?1.6 billion), Italy (?1.4 billion), and France (?0.9 billion).

However, Germany?s Bundesliga remained Europe?s most profitable league with operating profits of ?154 million, a 24 per cent increase on the previous year and widening the gap to the Premier League, where operating profits decreased by ?16 million to ?68 million.

In total, the top 92 clubs in English football saw revenues increase by nine per cent to ?2.9 billion driven largely by broadcast revenue increasing by 13 per cent, to ?1.2 billion in the first year of a new three-year broadcast cycle.

More than 80 per cent of the Premier League clubs? revenue increase was spent on wages, which increased by ?201 million to almost ?1.6 billion, and resulted in a record Premier League wages/revenue ratio of 70 per cent. The top 92 English clubs invested ?167 million in stadia and facilities.

Deloitte Sports Business Group Partner Dan Jones commented, ?The uplift (in revenue) was primarily due to an increase in overseas broadcast deal values, demonstrating once again the Premier League?s unrivalled global popularity.?

The study noted that the operating profits of the clubs reduced by ?16 million to ?68 million and combined pre-tax losses were ?380 million despite increase in revenue as gross transfer spending by Premier League clubs witnessed a 38 per cent increase to reach record level of ?769 million.

?The challenge for clubs remains converting impressive revenue growth into sustainable profits. This will become even more important for a number of clubs as the financial results for 2011/12 will, for the first time, count towards their Uefa Financial Fair Play break-even calculation,? noted Deloitte Sports Business Group Consultant Adam Bull.

Of the ?2.4 billion net debt in the Premier League, 62 per cent is in the form of non-interest bearing ?soft loans?, of which almost 90 per cent relates to three clubs - Chelsea (?819m), Newcastle United (?277m) and Fulham (?200m).

On the positive side of the balance sheet, Premier League clubs recorded a carrying value of tangible fixed assets of almost ?1.9 billion, reflecting the huge investment in facilities seen over the past two decades and a carrying value of player registrations of around ?1.2 billion.

Commenting on the regulatory developments in the game, Deloitte Sports Business Group Director Paul Rawnsley said, ?The rulebooks in England have evolved in recent years to enable a more interventionist approach by the football authorities at all levels of the professional game. In addition, clubs competing in Uefa competitions from the 2013/14 season will be monitored for compliance with the break-even requirement. This is the cornerstone of Uefa?s financial fair play regulations which aim to help clubs across Europe achieve a more sustainable balance between their costs and revenues and encourages investment for the longer term benefit of football.

"A significant number of clubs around Europe have some distance to travel on the road towards compliance. For many clubs there is a renewed focus on increasing revenues and the cost-side of the business model of some clubs also needs adapting. Overall, we expect the effective implementation of these measures, at both domestic and international levels, will help deliver a better balance between clubs? costs and revenues."

MUMBAI: The broadcast rights of the lucrative Premier League championship for the local UK market are up for grabs with the availability of Invitati on to Tender (ITT) spanning seasons 2013 through to 2016.

The broadcast rights comprises two packages: live rights to a total of 154 matches - split into seven packages; and a free-to-air highlights package - including ?catch-up? rights.

The live rights consist of five packages of 26 matches and two packages of 12 matches with no single buyer allowed to acquire more than 116 matches.

The extra 16 live games comes as matches are moved away from Saturday 15:00 kick-off times, due to Europa League involvement or police advice. No 15:00 kick-offs can be shown live.

?This creates a more attractive and compelling offering for both broadcasters and fans; whilst allowing the continued protection of the Saturday 3 pm ?closed window? and minimising further displacement of Premier League fixtures,? the statement read.

Under the existing contract 138 games are telecast with 115 matches being broadcast on Sky Sports each season, while ESPN shows the remaining 23 games. The current agreements with Sky and ESPN are worth ?1.78 billion effective 2013.

The Premier League will conduct a separate sales process for other packages described in the ITT which includes two "Near Live" long form packages each containing 226 matches; one for linear and the other for on-demand exploitation; and an Internet-based Clips package for all 380 matches.

Both the Live and "Near Live" packages will be available for exploitation on a technology neutral basis, the statement said.

Qatari-based Al Jazeera, which had recently ventured into sports broadcasting segment with the launch of its channel beIN Sports in France, is widely expected to bid aggressively for the rights as part of its ambitions to become a global player.

Eurosport, however, suggested last week that these rumours might just be a good marketing ploy by the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera has reportedly announced the launch of its new sport channel, beIN Sports, in the USA this August. It will cover La Liga from Spain, Serie A from Italy and of Ligue 1 from France.

?Backed by the resources of Qatar Media Corporation and the global expertise of Mediapro, beIN Sports will provide soccer fanatics in the USA with an experience that is unmatched by any rival,? the company claims.

MUMBAI: ITV Studios has optioned the rights to Passion Distribution?s ‘100 Mile Challenge‘, which was originally created by production team Paperny Entertainment for Food Network Canada and is a part reality series, part docu-soap, part social experiment.

ITV Studios? agreement covers territories including UK, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, with the initial interest stemming from ITV Studios France, who optioned the rights in 2010 and have completed the production of the first series (6 x 52?) called ?200 Kilom?tres ? la Ronde? for France T?l?visions.

The show focuses on six families in a close community who accept the challenge to only eat food produced within a 100-mile radius of their homes for 100 days.

The finished programme version of ‘100 Mile Challenge‘ has also sold well to date, with the rights being licensed to territories such as Pan Asia (Sundance International), Germany (Gusto TV), USA (Planet Green), Africa (Royal Channels), Spain (Canal Cocina), Finland (MTV3 for Ava) and Japan (NHK), the company said.