|
With approval by China's State Administration of Radio, Film and
Television (SARFT), MTV is the first global brand to be granted
the rights to telecast a music channel 24 hours a day in the economically
booming Pearl River Delta in Guangdong, Southern China. One of 10
dedicated MTV channels in the Asia Pacific region, MTV China will
begin its 24-hour broadcast next month, and will be distributed
by Guangdong Cable.
Viacom is the latest international media conglomerate to start
distributing a channel directly to Chinese households in Guangdong.
AOL Time Warner and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation got permission
a couple of years ago. Apart from Guangdong, foreign channels are
not allowed to broadcast direct into Chinese homes.
An official release informs that in a separate agreement, Nickelodeon
will co-produce and distribute Chinese language Nickelodeon television
series on DVD/VCD with Shanghai Audio & Video Press (SAVP).
MTV China has been available as a 24-hour channel in hotels and
foreign compounds since 1995, while MTV branded programming airs
on terrestrial and cable channels across China, reaching 70 million
TV households. Nickelodeon branded programming is currently seen
via terrestrial and cable channels reaching 50 million TV households
in China.
Speaking on the latest development, Viacom's Chairman and CEO Sumner
Redstone said, "MTV's launch in Guangdong is a new milestone in
the long-term relationship between Viacom and China that extends
our local production partnerships and opens up a vast potential
audience for MTV Networks branded programming."
The release informs that MTV Networks' agreement with SAVP for
the production and distribution of Nickelodeon's popular TV series
on DVD/VCD in China will bring customised programming to Chinese
audiences, featuring locally produced, Chinese language content.
This will mark the first time that children's content from Viacom
will be distributed via DVD/VCD in China. Under the terms of the
deal, SAVP will sell and distribute up to 26 episodes per series
of many of Nickelodeon's award-winning live action and animated
TV programmes, such as Rugrats, Clarissa Explains it All,
Cousin Skeeter and Invader Zim.
Currently, MTV Networks distributes China's English language channel
CCTV9 in hotels across the US. Other examples of Viacom's support
for Chinese culture include sponsorship of the China Broadcasting
Cultural Orchestra's US Tour in February 2003; organising the Development
of Media Industry in 21st Century Conference in Beijing in July
2002; establishing a scholarship program for the Beijing Central
Music Academy; and, promoting the Cheers to China Music Gala
(an annual Chinese pop music show that travels to Johannesburg,
London, Los Angeles, Athens, and Moscow).
In 1999, CCTV and MTV co-produced the inaugural CCTV-MTV Music
Honors, which has since become a major annual music event in
China. The show has aired on various CCTV channels in China reaching
over 300 million households, and is broadcast annually to all of
MTV's 150 million TV households across Asia. The event is also made
available to all MTV channels worldwide, which reach more than 379
million households across 164 countries.
|
