Sports, Film&Entertainment Committee

• view member profiles
• member login
• become a member
• membership benefits

• opportunities & careers
• chat & forums
• calendar
• resources & links
• courses & workshops

• SFEC features
• industry news
• photo gallery

• profile
• SFEC conference
• our services
• our partners
• sponsorship & donating

instant payday loans

September, 27th 2004

In a move to forge relationships with Chinese broadcasters before anticipated market-opening moves, Viacom announced a production alliance with Beijing Television and an expansion of its MTV China footprint to 10 million households.

Both steps were intended to build Viacom's standing with the Chinese government, said Viacom chairman and chief executive Sumner Redstone, who is visiting China.

"They have now opened the doors," Mr Redstone said. "We are committed to the principle that we will have a 24-hour MTV channel in Beijing and in Shanghai. We have been told by government officials that it is not impossible."

However, the Chinese government has shown few official signs that it will speed into law earlier proposals to relax restraints on foreign media ownership.

Chinese officials have given Mr Redstone no timeline for widening the audience for MTV. And a Viacom joint venture to produce programming with the state-owned Shanghai Media Group, announced by Mr Redstone on a visit to China in March, still has not been formally approved by authorities.

Foreign media concerns have little direct access to the Chinese broadcast market, the world's largest, except for a small number of channels such as Viacom's MTV China. It has broadcast rights in the southern province of Guangdong and in hotels and special compounds. Some Chinese broadcasters are also allowed to buy limited blocks of programming from foreign producers, such as China Central Television's newly extended deal with Viacom to broadcast Nickelodeon content such as SpongeBob SquarePants on its children's channel.

Some of those restrictions are expected to ease as China's central government pushes its more than 1000 state-supported broadcasters to expand beyond official state propaganda vehicles to become profit-making businesses.

This year, China's State Administration of Radio Film and Television announced in-principle guidelines that would allow some foreign participation in domestic TV-program production. However, the agency known as Sarft and China's Ministry of Commerce have yet to make those guidelines into law. That step would answer a number of crucial questions, such as what share a foreign company can hold in a joint-venture production company, and whether all foreign investors in such joint ventures must be film and television companies or whether financial investors such as private-equity funds would also be allowed.

"We have received strong indications from Sarft that these regulations will be issued soon, and certainly before the end of the year," said Marcia Ellis, a partner with law firm Paul, Weiss who specialises in Chinese media deals.

Mr Redstone said he was not upset by the legal delay. "I have met with ... all the people who make the decisions, not only in times gone by, but in the last two days," he said. "They have given us their verbal approval, and they have encouraged us to go ahead, and we are going ahead as fast as we can."

Mr Redstone also said the joint venture with Shanghai Media Group would be in production by the first quarter of 2005.

instant payday loans
small loans
cash advance
payday
no credit check loans
instant payday loans
small loans
cash advance
payday
no credit check loans
quick payda

source: Financial Review
instant payday loans
small loans
cash ad