Time Warner in talks for China TV tie-ups
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-17 14:38

Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. is talking with China's top two broadcasters about partnerships in the country's newly opened TV program-making sector, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

Richard Parsons, CEO of Time Warner Inc, speaks at the FORTUNE Global Forum in Beijing May 17, 2005. Parsons said Time Warner is talking with China's top two broadcasters about partnerships in the country's newly opened TV program-making sector. [newsphoto]

Officials from Time Warner, owner of the CNN and HBO television networks and the Warner Bros. movie studio, have met recently with counterparts from China Central Television (CCTV) and Shanghai Media Group (SMG) about ways they can work together, said Chief Executive Officer Richard Parsons.

"We have an awful lot of both content and expertise we think can be helpful to developing the TV industry here in China," he told reporters at a media briefing at a business conference in Beijing.

"In terms of target dates, we're really at the beginning of trying to create these relationships and I would hope that by next year we would have some success."

Time Warner and many of its peers, including Sony Corp and Viacom Inc., have announced a string of TV- and movie-making ventures in recent months, following the opening of the industry to foreign investment late last year.

But whereas the others, including a News Corp. venture still in negotiations, are focused on TV programs, Time Warner's venture announced last year was focused on movie making, also a largely undeveloped sector in China.

In one of its few recent TV initiatives in China, the company's HBO unit formed a partnership last year to provide movies to CCTV.

Many believe that China has the potential to become one of the world's biggest media markets, with ad spending rising 25 percent last year to reach 194 billion yuan ($23.43 billion), according to CTR Market Research.

But development has been slow due to the highly fragmented market with thousands of TV stations, most provincially run, and a lack of compelling programs in a country.

Parsons said Time Warner saw big potential in the Chinese market, but he acknowledged that any meaningful contributions to the company's sales were still at least five years off. He said that China and Hong Kong combined now contributed just half of 1 percent of Time Warner's total revenue.

"We're talking longer term in China," he said. "We're here now strengthening our relationships, getting our feet wet with local partners. ... We think over time it will pay huge dividends for our company, but that's a five- to 10-year timeframe."

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