TV in China: The Door Opens a Crack
For years, international media giants have been operating on a limited basis in China, hoping to take the first-mover advantage once the market fully opens. While the Chinese domestic media industry has been developing pretty fast, restrictions on foreign media have not been significantly loosened. As this article from Business Week pointed out, despite the gradually increasing incentives provided by Chinese authorities that were supposedly aiming to encourage international competition, it is still difficult to predict when the foreign media corporations in China will be able to get what they really want - the license to operate independently in an open market.
“Consider a recent step toward reform. Three years ago, Viacom, Star TV, and Turner Broadcasting System (TWX ) were given limited broadcasting rights in Guangdong, the province neighboring Hong Kong. But so far, foreigners have managed to get their programming into just 9 million households as they struggle to seal deals with scores of local cable operators. Worse, no one expects such access to be extended beyond Guangdong anytime soon.”
Huawei, ZTE and UTStarcom Share IPTV Deals
Soon enough, Chinese mobile users will be able to watch television on their cell phones. With the fast expansion of the IPTV market, local and overseas equipment suppliers have engaged in heated competition for business contracts with regional telecommunication companies. This article from Sina.com gives a recent example of the business competition.
“Given the fact that the biggest-ever IPTV deal, for China Netcom’s Beijing branch, will not be revealed until next year, industry analysts expect stiffer competition ahead, noting that there are a score of telecom equipment manufacturers competing in the fledgling IPTV field.”
China Launches 3rd Industrial Base For Online Game
The Chinese government has provided a good deal of support to the online gaming industry over the past year through financial investment. At the same time, the authorities have also exercised their power to limit game sessions, which is believed to bring negative effects to the market. Based on this article from Sina.com, the industry seems to be expanding regardless of the barriers.
“More than 200 domestic and overseas software corporations specializing in web games and animation will operate in the zone.”
China’s Not-So-Jolly Gaming Giants
Online gaming has been known as one of the fastest developing industries in China in the past few years. It appears, though, that major online game companies have recently found themselves in tough waters. This article from Business Week provides further explanation and analysis of the situation involving major players in the market.
“Having to deal with gamers who are no longer jazzed by the latest offering is bad enough. But China’s gaming operators have another kind of fatigue to contend with. The government has been up in arms about reports of game addicts spending their lives online—or worse.”
China: Cable TV Companies In The Red
Some speculators were really optimistic when China first announced the opening of its media market to private and foreign investment last year. However, they might not have realized that loosened restrictions on media ownership did not necessarily translate into unrestricted content. As Asia Media reports, private investors in the digital cable TV sector seem to be struggling for their survival.
“The fledgling industry as a whole had signed up only 600,000 fee-paying subscribers as of June this year - a far cry from the eight million subscribers it needs to make a profit.”