Bloomberg mainland movement
Co. gains limited access in China
Under the agreement, Bloomberg can begin broadcasting its 24-hour Asia Pacific feed to hotels rated three stars or above, foreign housing compounds and government offices from this month. The feed will be distributed using the government's SinoSat satellite TV platform.
License was awarded by China Intl. Television Corp., the commercial arm of the nation's broadcasting regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
Bloomberg's announcement came one day after News Corp.-backed and Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV said its 24-hour Mandarin-lingo news channel, InfoNews, had won similar landing rights.
'Extremely beneficial'
"This is extremely beneficial as it's going to allow us to target the financial professional," said Bill McHugh, Bloomberg's distribution manager for Asia Pacific. "We're looking to get access to the international business traveler in China and the expatriated foreign professional."
McHugh admitted that's a very narrow market segment but said it's one that is appealing to advertisers because of its huge disposable income. Analysts agree that the license will have little impact on the company's bottom line -- particularly since 28 foreign channels are already licensed for distribution in hotels and foreign compounds. "Basically, it's a symbolic move for them into an important market," said Andrew Collier, media analyst for CLSA in Hong Kong.
Emerging Star
Star TV is also expected to announce next week that its Mandarin-lingo entertainment channel Xingkong Weishi (Starry Sky) has been granted similar nationwide landing rights. Xingkong Weishi's distribution is currently restricted to about 1 million cable households in the Guangdong province.
Star's main foreign competitor, AOL Time Warner, is believed to be working on securing a similar license for CETV, another Mandarin-language entertainment channel currently distributed only in Guangdong.
"The reason we're getting all these approvals now is there's been a hiatus ever since 9/11," explained Norman Waite, media analyst for Salomon Smith Barney. The 2001 terrorist attacks sparked an embarrassing controversy for state-run China Central Television, which floundered and ignored the news while viewers flocked to Phoenix's extensive coverage. "Now all these things that are overdue are starting to flow all at once," he said.
(Magz Osborne in Singapore contributed to this report.)
