ITV

Tag: China TV

  • News Corp drops China TV joint venture plan: ‘WSJ’

    MUMBAI: Media conglomerate News Corp has dropped its plans to broadcast in China through a local partnership due to increasing government resistance to foreign influence in the domestic media, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

    The paper said that News Corp had invested in a complicated joint venture aimed at leasing the operations of Qinghai Satellite TV Station in north-west China to expand its audience reach and help boost advertising revenue.

    It was reported that News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch had told investors six months ago that the venture would give the company almost 50 per cent of a prime-time television channel in China with access to well over 100 million homes.

    The venture pushed the regulatory limits of foreign involvement in Chinese television, the report said. Foreign broadcasting is currently restricted to parts of southern China, hotels and other designated complexes, with some foreign media companies allowed to sell limited blocks of programing to state-owned channels.

    But the plan has now been dropped and the News Corp affiliate involved has pulled out, the paper said.

    The report blamed the failure of News Corp’s plans on the withdrawal of key political support for the project plus a wider government crackdown on foreign media in China.

    News Corp’s current presence in China includes the Xing Kong Wei Shi channel and a stake in Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Holdings.

  • Casbaa announces China TV animation forum

    MUMBAI: The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) has announced its programme for the CIRTV International Forum, “Animating the Future”, on 25 August 2004 in Beijing.
     

    The one-day Casbaa CITVC animation forum is the programming centerpiece of the China International Radio Film & Television Expo (CIRTV), hosted by China’s pay-TV regulator the State Administration of Radio Film & Television (SARFT) and the China Media Group (CMG).
    CITVC is the commercial arm of state broadcaster CCTV and the exclusive distributor of all foreign pay-TV channels in China.

    The CIRTV meeting is Mainland China’s most-wide ranging broadcasting conference and exhibition aimed at further promoting the development of China’s domestic film and television industry as well as its relationship with overseas partners.

    The “Animating the Future” forum should attract some 250 senior executive-level government officials and China-based pay-TV professionals. It has been developed as a key component in the Central Government designated “Year of Animation” for the China pay-TV market, which was recently marked by a decision to mandate that each of China’s 32 provincial cable systems must develop their own animation channel.

    “This is an exciting time for the children’s television sector in China,” said Marcel Fenez, Chairman of CASBAA. “This collaboration between CITVC and Casbaa marks a significant advance in our continuing efforts to support China’s fast-growing pay-TV market. With children’s television being a core element within any pay-TV platform we see this conference as being central to advancing industry growth.”

    Meanwhile, Casbaa, as CITVC’s international partner for the Forum, is also assisting with the promotion of the exhibition area of the China International Exhibition (August 25th – 27th) and related sponsorships.

    The core objective of the “Animating the Future” forum is to provide domestic and international delegates with as broad a view of the pay-TV animation industry as possible, highlighting the differing global animation styles, business models and its role within the broader Children’s Television industry.

    “This is a great opportunity to showcase China’s Children’s TV industry within an international context,” said Simon Twiston Davies, CEO of Casbaa. Keystone contributions from the likes of Nickelodeon, IBM, Animax, Walt Disney, and Cartoon Network as well as KOCCA (Korea) and CCTV will ensure the event’s success.