Tag: Shanghai Media Group

Alibaba Group to invest $193.6 million in SMG’s China Business News

MUMBAI: Alibaba Group has signed a strategic agreement with Shanghai Media Group (SMG) to leverage both companies’ Internet technology and media resources in order to penetrate China’s financial information services industry.

As part of the strategic agreement, Alibaba Group will invest $193.6 million (RMB1.2 billion) into China Business News (CBN), a Chinese financial media company under SMG, to create a financial data and information services company that will help Chinese small and medium enterprises tap a rich mine of financial data.

By utilizing Alibaba Group’s big data and cloud computing capabilities, both companies will jointly develop a comprehensive financial data and information platform that will provide users with timely financial news and information in order to enhance their investment and financial decision-making capabilities.

The aim of this platform is to raise the bar on enterprise efficiency in China by leveling the information playing field. By giving a greater number of Chinese enterprises access to precious financial data that can be easily mined and analyzed for actionable investment and business decisions, this platform is expected to help these enterprises scale and expand their businesses.

Currently, Alipay and CBN are collaborating to provide users with stock quote information and CBN’s wealth management information product will also soon launch on Mobile Taobao. Alipay is part of Ant Financial Services Group, a related party of Alibaba Group. Alibaba Group and SMG will also work toward enhancing digital and traditional media convergence in the industry through the launch of innovative new media products for the market.

“The era of Data Technology is here and it will surpass the Information Technology era. The DT era is about transparency, sharing of information and enabling others. Alibaba is excited about the possibilities of the DT era and how it can bring value to society,” said Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma.

This strategic agreement with SMG is expected to help Alibaba Group develop DT-era products and services to enrich the lives of Chinese users, be it in academia, business or media sectors.

Through this tie-up, CBN is well-poised to expand its financial media information services and continue to innovate in China’s traditional financial media industry. CBN is China’s leading financial media group with a variety of media assets, such as television, radio, newspaper, magazine and news agencies.

June 5, 2015
FremantleMedia inks JV with Shanghai Media Group

MUMBAI: FremantleMedia has inked an exclusive joint venture deal with Shanghai Media Group’s (SMG) BesTV and China Media Capital (CMC). Under the JV, the companies will create and develop entertainment formats for the China market, set to reach millions of viewers on Dragon TV and BesTV platforms, and take proprietary China content to the world market through FremantleMedia’s global distribution network.

Based in Shanghai, the bespoke development team will include international experts and local producers and will draw on FremantleMedia’s creative strength to develop original entertainment IP. Outside of mainland China, FremantleMedia International will represent the newly-created IP through its worldwide distribution network.

FremantleMedia global CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz said, “The Chinese television market is rapidly becoming one of the most important in the world. This new relationship with BesTV, SMG and CMC allows FremantleMedia to build on its existing presence in China and strengthen our ties in this territory. It brings with it the opportunity for FremantleMedia to showcase its world-renowned creativity to millions of new viewers, with content that is made specifically for them.”

CMC founding chairman Ruigang Li added, “China’s TV sector is undergoing the most exciting transformation, and the value of premium content is being created and manifested with unprecedented enthusiasm. CMC is delighted to team up with SMG and FremantleMedia, a global leader in entertainment content, to bring together the profound understanding of the market, the established creative capacity and the strength of a global network to further shape the China TV landscape and take more of China’s original content to the world market.”

SMG president Madame Wang Jianjun said, “We envision BesTV to be a new media conglomerate after the restructuring and China’s foremost OTT service provider. It will build a new media eco-system in which BesTV straddles over content production, distribution channels, and products and services. As format and idea development is a key part in content production, the joint venture will undoubtedly bring the best resources from all the companies together and gives a strong boost to BesTV. The collaboration will give SMG the wonderful opportunity to learn how to create good ideas and how to grow these ideas into formats and productions. It will greatly enhance SMG’s production capacity and help SMG make phenomenal variety shows in the future.”

FremantleMedia Asia Pacific CEO Ian Hogg added, “This is a ground breaking deal, not only for Best TV, SMG, CMC, and FremantleMedia, but for Chinese audiences. The opportunity to create and execute story telling that focuses on Chinese values and tastes blended with western structure and creativity is a very powerful combination.”

FremantleMedia has already forged strong relationships with a number of China’s broadcasters and has licensed around 20 titles, including Got Talent, Idols, The X Factor, Don’t Stop Me Now, Take Me Out Hole in the Wall and Family Feud.

April 14, 2015
Walt Disney, Shanghai Media Group to develop Disney-branded movies

MUMBAI: Walt Disney Studios has inked a deal with Shanghai Media Group Pictures to develop Disney-branded movies. This is the latest move by a US studio to grow its presence in China’s entertainment business.

US-based writers will team up with local scribes and directors to develop stories and scripts that incorporate Chinese themes in Disney movies, the studio said in a statement.

The studio said the multi-year partnership with Shanghai Media will develop training opportunities between Chinese and American writers and filmmakers.

Tony To, the studio’s executive vice president of production, will oversee the co-development program, which could allow for easier releases of English-language films in China.

A Film Censorship Committee comprising of 37 members filters every movie in China for nudity, violence and politically sensitive scenes. Western films in addition must meet the committee’s “amendment opinions” to be one of the 34 Hollywood films permitted in China each year.

Last year, Disney’s superhero film Iron Man 3 debuted in China and included a top Chinese actress and footage shot in China, additions that helped the film ease past strict censors and often confusing rules for Western films.

In February, the official Xinhua news agency reported that China will maintain its quota for imported Hollywood movies this year, rejecting reports it had planned to increase access for US films to the world’s second-largest cinema market.

Production companies like Viacom Inc’s Paramount Picture and DreamWorks AnimationSKG Inc have also hired Chinese actors and set up co-productions with Chinese firms.

China’s entertainment and media market is estimated to grow to $148 billion by 2015 from around $120 billion in 2013, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ outlook for the global entertainment and media business 2011-2015.

March 10, 2014
China-Dreamworks deal creates Oriental Dreamworks

MUMBAI:In a deal endorsed by China‘s vice-president Xi Jinping, DreamWorks Animation has unveiled a joint venture Oriental DreamWorks with three Chinese companies.

The deal to create the new outfit will have DWA in partnership with China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment Limited to produce films, TV series and other content aimed at the Chinese market.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, DWA chief executive met Jinping this week at a State Department event held in Washington. “It‘s hard to over estimate how big a deal this is for DreamWorks Animation,” Katzenberg has been quoted to have said.

“When you look at this in the context of what the world will look like in five to seven years from now, China will be the world‘s number one media market. It will be the largest live entertainment market, the number one consumer products market … so to create a family-branded entertainment company [in China] is an honour for us and a huge opportunity.”

The Chinese groups involved in the venture will hold around 55 per cent of the shares in Oriental DreamWorks while DWA will control the rest. DWA said the that the new company would initially be capitalised with cash and intellectual property valued at $330m. Oriental DreamWorks will launch in Shanghai this year.

The scale of the deal makes it the most significant tie up yet between a Hollywood studio and a Chinese partner.

Hollywood studios have been keen to partner with Chinese groups to give them a foothold in China which has been seen upping the number of cinema screens at a rate of about three screens a day.

China is forecast to be the world‘s biggest cinema market within the next decade and touched $2bn in box-office receipts in 2011, a near $400m increase on 2010.

February 18, 2012
Chinese vice-president set to unveil jv with Hollywood

MUMBAI: Chinese vice president Xi Jinping will endorse the growing ties between his country and Hollywood on Friday when he is scheduled to unveil a joint venture between DreamWorks Animation (DWA) and two state-owned Chinese media groups.

Xi, who is due to visit Los Angeles on the final leg of his US visit will announce the tie-up between Shanghai Media Group, China Media Capital and DWA, according to several people familiar with the situation.

Under the terms of the joint venture, the companies will construct a studio facility in Shanghai with the aim of developing film, television and live stage productions for the fast-growing Chinese media market.

From a long time, Hollywood studios have been eager to find ways into China‘s fast-growing film market and this at a time when they are facing challenges on the domestic front: the decline of DVD sales.

On the other hand, film business is booming in China where new cinemas are being added at a rate of about three screens a day, faster than that in any other country.

China is forecast to be the world‘s biggest cinema market within the next decade and touched $2bn in box-office receipts in 2011, a near $400m increase on 2010.

February 16, 2012
Channel [V] Chinese Music Awards celebrated in Shanghai

MUMBAI: Channel [V] staged the the 13th Chinese Music Awards ceremony at the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

The event was jointly presented by Channel [V], China Central Television (CCTV) and Shanghai Media Group for the fifth consecutive year.

Chinese artists from Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China, including Eason Chan, Wang Leehom, Mayday, S.H.E., Fan Fan, Kenji Wu, Show Luo, A-mei Chang and Tank were present at the ceremony.

Thirty-one awards were handed out last night at the 13th Channel [V] Chinese Music Awards including Best Male Artist to Eason Chan and Best Female Artist to A-mei Chang.

Other award winners included Wang Leehom as Most Popular Male Artist and Best Singer-Songwriter, Angela Zhang as Most Popular Female Artist, S.H.E. as Best Group and Tank as Best Newcomer.

The event also launched the inaugural [V] Wireless Original Music Award. The new award follows the [V] Wireless Original Music service launched in November 2006, a Channel [V] initiative that invites aspiring musicians to create and upload original Chinese songs to China Mobile’s WAP service, monternet.

Subscribers to the monternet service can then download the songs onto their mobile handsets, and vote for their favourites. The debut award was picked up by Xiao Fei from Beijing for his song “Instant Noodle”.

Global mobile entertainment company Jamster joined the Awards for the first time this year as the presenting sponsor. Sony Ericsson was the official sponsor, supporting the Awards with a host of original music initiatives in mainland China.

January 27, 2007
China Telecom, Utstarcom to expand commercial IPTV coverage in Shanghai

MUMBAI: The IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and services provider Utstarcom has announced that it has signed a follow-on contract to deploy its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution to China Telecom, the largest fixed-line telecom operator in China.

The commercial IPTV network is initially designed to support 51,000 users in Shanghai, which is also the largest city in China with a population of approximately 18 million. The number of broadband users in Shanghai continues to grow at a rapid rate approaching two million subscribers at the end of first quarter of 2006. UTStarcom believes these factors provide a solid foundation for the IPTV market in both Shanghai and China.

“We believe the opportunity to deploy a commercial IPTV network with China Telecom for a large number of additional subscribers in Shanghai will lay a solid foundation for UTStarcom’s future market development of IPTV in China,” says UTStarcom China chairman & CEO . “We believe that RollingStream is the best-in-class IPTV solution in the market. It is a mature, IP-based platform that is designed to provide carrier-class, end-to- end triple-play services to carriers worldwide.”

Prior to this deployment, China Telecom Shanghai selected UTStarcom to deploy an initial 5,000-user IPTV network in November 2005. During the first stage of deployment, UTStarcom’s RollingStream solution was put through a rigorous series of technology tests, states an official release.

Partnering with Shanghai Media Group (SMG), China Telecom Shanghai plans to offer subscribers a service package of live broadcast television and videos-on-demand. Additionally, the service is designed to offer subscribers “time-shift” capabilities — the ability to pause and rewind live television, as well as an expansive amount of storage to record any program and watch on each subscriber’s own schedule. Shanghai is the largest city of China with a total population of approximately 18 million.

The number of broadband users in Shanghai approached two million at the end of first quarter of 2006. UTStarcom believes these factors provide a solid foundation for the addressable market of IPTV in China, adds the release.

July 13, 2006
AOL partners with Shanghai Media Group to beam programs

MUMBAI: The Internet unit of Time Warner, AOL is set to begin carrying news content from Shanghai Media Group on its Chinese-language website.

The programs will be available to users of http://aol.com/chinese, which carries news and programming, webcasts of sports events and other Internet services related to China.
Shows will be broadcast on AOL’s Chinese language Web site and will focus on Chinese social, business, sports and entertainment topics. Said SMG Broadband spokeswoman Wang Xiaotang,”AOL aims to broadcast that content to Chinese all over the world.”

SMG will provide more than three hours per day to its U.S.-based partner MediaZone, which worked with AOL on the Chinese-language portal. MediaZone is a worldwide provider of online television programming and a partner in China of AOL and Shanghai Media Group.

According to AOL’s Web site, its Chinese language Web site was developed with ChinaPortal.com, a MediaZone division.

“By creating this free, language-specific portal, we can better serve the millions of people in the United States who want access to critical features and communications tools, especially the latest news and entertainment video, in Chinese,” said AOL Web strategy executive Norman Koo in a statement.

State-owned Shanghai Media Group was formed from the merger of the city’s government-run radio and television stations in 2001 and ranks as one of China’s biggest media and entertainment conglomerates.

April 18, 2006
Sportel Asia attracts 658 participants

MUMBAI: 658 participants, representing 324 companies from 43 countries worldwide, attended the recently concluded sports television market Sportel Asia 2006.

The event took placeat the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai, China.

Following on the heels of last year’s inaugural Sportel Asia in Hong Kong, the Shanghai market featured a 60 per cent increase in the number of stands and an increase of almost 25 per cent in terms of participants.

Sportel executive VP David Tomatis says, “Shanghai and in particular the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel proved to be a wonderful venue for our clients. The decision to move to Mainland China encouraged many Chinese companies to join our ranks for the first time, affording new business opportunities for our clients.”

“We also wish to extend our special thanks to Shanghai Media Group president LI Ruigang, and his staff for their invaluable partnership and Rai trade president Roberto DI Russo and his team, for sponsoring our opening cocktail.”

Sportel Asia 2006 brought together executives representing broadcasters, cable and satellite services, new mobile technologies, professional leagues, programme distributors, sports marketing agents, event organisers, satellite services, producers, hardware/software and facilities providers, sponsorship and investment groups, sports federations, new media and international press from around the world.

Sportel’s next event is Sportel Monaco 2006, which will take place from 16 to 19 October 2006 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Last year, Sportel Monaco 2005 included a total of 1,884 participants, representing 868 companies from 65 countries worldwide.

March 24, 2006
Sports television conference Sportel partners with Shanghai Media Group

MUMBAI: Shanghai Media Group will be the official partner of the sports television event Sportel Asia 2006 in Shanghai, China.

Sportel executive VP David Tomatis says, We are extremely proud to be associated with the Shanghai Media Group, one of the major media players in Asia and especially China and we are looking forward to working closely with them in promoting Sportel Asia 2006.

Sportel Asia 2006 will take place from 20 to 22 March at the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai, China. The event will feature top-level sports executives representing broadcasters, cable and satellite services, hardware/software and facilities providers, programme distributors, event organisers, satellite services, producers, sports marketing agents, sponsorship and investment groups, sports federations, new media and international press from around the world.

Sportel Asia 2006 will focus on new technologies and in particular the reception of TV sports programmes, highlights, sports news and updates on mobile receivers. Telecom operators, manufacturers and software providers are invited to present their new systems which make it possible to receive TV sequences on mobile handsets (UMTS, TNT, DVB-H, DMB, WiFi, WiMax).

SMG says that it is pleased to be joining efforts with Sportel towards developing the global sports television industry. Hosting Sportel Asia in Shanghai offers not only a platform for exchanges between Chinese and international sports television, but also a good opportunity for China to display its sports television to the world.

Cosmopolitan development has allowed the sports industry to blossom in Shanghai. Each year, Shanghai hosts nearly 100 sporting events at national and international level. Prestigious events such as the ATP Masters Cup, the International Sports Production Exhibition, the Formula One Grand Prix, the ITTF World Championship and the NBA China Game have served to boost the image of Shanghai as well as to nurture a first class sports city in Asia.

As the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games draws nearer, SMG says that it believes that China will become the focus of world sporting industries.

March 10, 2006