China pulls rug out from Rupe
News Corp. foiled in boosting penetration
Late last week Chinese authorities pulled the plug on Rupert Murdoch's plans to launch a channel via cable systems in northern China, a complicated stratagem that would have noticeably boosted News Corp.'s penetration of the 400 million TV households reckoned to have sets.
The Chinese decision to nix Rupe's plans follows a probe into allegedly illegal selling of satellite dishes in China by Murdoch-owned pan-Asian satcaster Star TV. And it follows another dictat last month that prevented a Murdoch-controlled company reselling ad slots on behalf of other regional Chinese channels.
The decision is in keeping with the chill wind sweeping China's entire media sector. While China operates a free market in so many other economic domains, media remains much the most regulated and sensitive to government interference.
Foreign companies have been limited, for example, to one joint venture with local partners; and local broadcasters have been banned from leasing channels to foreign operators. On the film side, there's no sign that restrictions on movie imports (including unfavorable revenue splits) will be eased any time soon.
That means the Disney Channel and Viacom's MTV and Nickelodeon, to name just two examples, will have to put the brakes on their own plans to expand their brands in China.
Government censors will also now scrutinize every program co-produced with foreign partners as well as every direct import. (Disney's "Desperate Housewives," which has just been picked up by Chinese behemoth CCTV, will unlikely survive the scissors intact.)
Just six months ago Viacom's Sumner Redstone, Disney's Robert Iger and Time Warner's Dick Parsons (as well as Murdoch) were vaunting their companies' strategy in the world's potentially largest media market.
Now with the new strictures, most Hollywood channels and programming will remain limited -- at least for the time being -- to the highly developed southern Chinese region and to four-star hotels and government complexes.
Essentially what's happened is that existing regs crafted by the watchdog known as SARFT are being more thoroughly applied.
Even Hong Kong movies made as co-prods with mainland firms are now being subjected to the full censorship procedure -- approval by the propaganda police at script stage and again after picture lock.
