Not directly related to HRCT, but bullish:
China sees "happy end" to AOL, News Corp talks
BEIJING, Sept 6 (Reuters) - China's talks with media giants
AOL Time Warner Inc (NYSE:AOL - news) and News Corp (Australia:NCP.AX - news) on expanding their broadcast access on the mainland might be ``finalised soon with a happy ending'',
the official China Daily said on Thursday.
China's media regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), was likely to open the door to foreign entertainment companies in the immediate future following conclusion of the talks, the newspaper said. It also confirmed details of the talks, quoting SARFT head Xu Guangchun as saying the two firms would be allowed to broadcas television programmes directly to people in some parts of the prosperous southern
province of Guangdong. In exchange, the firms would have to
guarantee that an English-language channel run by China Central Television (CCTV) would be broadcast and accessible to all American television viewers, it said.
Star Group Ltd, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (Australia:NCP.AX - news), said on
Wednesday it was in ``advanced discussions'' with Beijing on broadcasting rights in Guangdong.
Australia-based News Corp already has a significant presence in China.
An AOL spokeswoman told Reuters in New York ``we have had positive and constructive
discussions with the Chinese government to get increased access for CETV (China Entertainment
Television) in China.''
Both companies have courted the Chinese government heavily and winning the right to broadcast
in parts of the mainland would mark a major, if initially symbolic, penetration of China's huge but
tightly regulated TV market.
The China Daily said the two firms would mainly provide entertainment-related programmes, while
CCTV's Channel Nine, a newly launched English-language channel, would provide the United
States mainly with news and cultural programmes.
China has 90 million cable customers, the most in the world.
But analysts say any significant financial benefits for foreign broadcasters in the mainland are years
away.
end
AI
