MTV boss encouraged by media opportunities
By Liu Baijia (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-05-12 09:58
Global broadcaster MTV Networks will expand into Internet and mobile
value-added services in China, according to a top executive with the US-based
firm.
"I am not discouraged, but encouraged by what is happening in
China," said William Roedy, vice-chairman of MTV Networks and president of MTV
Networks International.
There are more than 340 million families with
access to TV broadcasting, over 400 million mobile phone users and 111 million
Internet users in China.
These figures are expected to continue growing
in coming years, with more demand for value-added services.
MTV, the
entertainment channel that is owned by media giant Viacom, is aired in the Pearl
River Delta in South China and a number of luxury residences and hotels in other
parts of the country.
It also has a production joint venture with
Shanghai Media Group.
Although China has allowed foreign broadcasters to
establish joint ventures relating to content production, broadcasting is still
forbidden.
Another global media giant, News Corp, did gain indirect
control of a satellite TV channel in Northwest China, but it was told last year
to drop the project.
Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp, said last
September that his company had "hit a brick wall in China."
A
report by the Financial Times newspaper in February said News Corp might
withdraw its stakes in Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, which is the most successful
overseas channel on the Chinese mainland.
Roedy said China should not
only be regarded as a market to make money, but also as a good location for
research and development.
This could allow MTV to use the experience of
China's digital media businesses in other markets.
Roedy told Chinese
media at an interview that his company would launch broadband services "very
soon," as China has the second largest Internet population, second only to the
United States.
He said services could be conducted either in partnership
with local firms or through acquisitions.
The broadcasting giant has
already acquired four Internet companies in recent years, as it builds a
converged media empire that includes TV, mobile phones and the
Internet.
News Corp also tried to acquire a leading Chinese online firm
late last year, but it gave up due to the high price.
MTV also aims to
upgrade its co-operation with China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier
in terms of subscribers.
Last year, the two companies agreed to offer MTV
content to China Mobile users in the form of ring tones, music and picture
downloads.
Roedy said that as China is about to launch third-generation
mobile systems, which have much bigger bandwidth, the two companies will talk
about launching services such as video streaming to phone
users.
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