China Eases Foreign Access to TV Producing
15894
China plans to let foreign companies take stakes in local television production companies, in a move giving international media companies better access to the world's biggest market.
47060
Industry experts say that the financial trouble of one of the biggest Chinese makers of television sets will not affect the market much.
96773
(InfoWorld) - Microsoft wants to play a bigger role in China's living rooms, and the company is willing to spend millions of dollars to get there. The company's latest home-entertainment moves in China include aÂ planned $12.3 million investmentÂ in Sichuan Changhong Electric. The deal, announced earlier this week, gives Microsoft a small stake in one of China's largest TV makers, which in turn agreed to develop TVs and other products able to link with the Internet. "Microsoft and Changhong have partnered in exploring the use of digital media technologies to benefit the consumers for a better in-home networked digital entertainment experience," Microsoft said Friday in an e-mail statement. Its investment is intended to build goodwill, rather than bring a specific product to market. "The investment is more like a gesture of saying, 'We're friends strategically,'" said Jason Yin, managing director at In-Stat China. Critics have compared the Changhong deal to Venus, an ill-fated project launched in 1999 to develop Windows CE set-top boxes for the Chinese market. But that's not an accurate comparison. "It's very different," Yin said. Unlike Venus, Microsoft isn't trying to bring a new piece of hardware to market. Current versions of Windows are capable of connecting a TV with the Internet, and these types of systems are already available in China. Changhong's own M10 Living Room Entertainment Center is an example. Based on Windows XP Media Center Edition, the M10 is designed to connect with a television and comes with a remote control and wireless keyboard, allowing users to access music, videos and the Internet from a couch instead of a desk. Changhong also offers other consumer products that connect to the Internet. For instance, it sells a 32-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) television with a camera that can be used for Internet video calls. And the company has worked with China Telecommunications Group Corp., one of the country's two major fixed-line operators, to sell IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) set-top boxes. Microsoft hopes closer ties with Changhong will strengthen the channel through which its home-entertainment software reaches Chinese consumers. Those products include Windows Media Center and Mediaroom, the company's IPTV software. "Microsoft now has a better understanding of the value of local partners in penetrating China's market," Yin said, citing the example of Xiamen Amoi Electronics, which develops and sells Windows Mobile smart phones in China. Whether Microsoft's small investment in Changhong yields the desired result remains to be seen. In past years, the company used investments to build closer relationships with Chinese partners to varying degrees of success. "The investment doesn't always mean they get what they want," Yin said. The Changhong investment is just one part of Microsoft's home-entertainment push in China, and the company continues to seek out new deals and alliances. On Thursday, Microsoft signed an agreement with Shanghai Media Group (SMG), the country's second-largest media company. Under the terms of that deal, SMG will use Microsoft products across its new-media division, which includes Internet video, IPTV and mobile television. The partners hope their combined strengths in software and content will convince more companies to join them. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Â
347087
MTV and Nickelodeon, two cable channels owned by the media conglomerate Viacom Inc., announced several deals Friday to expand their reach in China.
440610
The move by the Bush administration set back media companies hoping to own both TV stations and newspapers in the same markets.
250047
China has imposed a moratorium on new foreign investment in film and TV production companies, a news report on Friday quoted a regulatory official as saying.
387189
Days after banning &quot;sexually provocative sounds&quot; on television, China has now stopped networks showing &quot;saucy&quot; adverts for push-up bras and figure-hugging underwear ahead of a major Communist Party meeting next month.
369508
D'oh! China has banished Homer Simpson, Pokemon and Mickey Mouse from prime time. Beginning Sept. 1, regulators have barred foreign cartoons from TV from 5 to 8 p.m. in an effort to protect China's struggling animation studios, news reports said Sunday. The move allows the Monkey King and his Chinese pals to get the top TV viewing hours to themselves.
736690
Sony Pictures has quietly set up a joint venture with state-controlled China Film Group that will make digital television programmes and feature films.
712195
China to launch high-definition terrestrial digital TV broadcast in 2008    BEIJING, Sept.
473795
Over 50 million people in China still cannot watch TV: spokesman   BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- More than 50 million Chinese, mostly in the rural areas, were unable to receive TV or radio broadcasts at the end of 2005, down from 148 million in 1997, according to a government official.
278666
The military-installed government completed the takeover of the countryâs only independent television station, and said it would temporarily pull it off the air after it failed to pay billions of dollars in fees. The takeover was expected after the station said last week that it could not pay the fees. The government announced yesterday that it would terminate iTVâs license after the deadline had passed for paying nearly $3 billion in fines, broadcasting license fees and interest. The governmentâs move was the latest in a series of decisions that have raised concern among investors and the public about the direction of Thailandâs leaders. Others include the imposition of capital controls and new restrictions placed on foreign ownership of Thai companies. A minister in the prime ministerâs office, told reporters the station would stop broadcasting today but could resume transmission as early as Friday if government officials could resolve legal issues for new ownership.
50663
HONG KONG -- China has decided to restrict the broadcasting of Internet videos _ including those posted on video-sharing Web sites _ to sites run by state-controlled companies and require providers to report questionable content to the government.
124133
The television unit of Japan&#39;s Sony Corp. and a division of China Film Group on Wednesday unveiled a joint venture to make Chinese-language TV shows under a new Chinese law that allows such co-ventures.
721779
China has released new rules governing the domestic distribution of news content by international media organisations, further beefing up state control of the press.
419888
Foreign entertainment channels have been pulled from the air in Jammu and Kashmir, India, following threats from militant groups.
195918
BEIJING -- Press freedom got a new -- but temporary -- boost in China yesterday when the government announced that it would allow foreign journalists greater autonomy in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics.