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Viacom’s MTV International has reached agreements with China Central
Television (CCTV) for three major programming initiatives. They
consist of two deals for Nickelodeon and CCTV’s first partnership
to fight HIV/AIDS.
Nickelodeon and CCTV will co-produce China’s first awards show
for kids later this year. In this manner Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice
Awards (KCAs) has been extended to China. The other versions of
the show are made in the US, Brazil, Australia and Holland. The
annual US event is made available to all 30 Nickelodeon channels,
with a potential worldwide reach of 285 million TV households.
CCTV also hatched a deal with Nickelodeon forCat Dog and
Wild Thornberrys. They air a total of 1.5 hours daily on
CCTV’s new children’s channel. This marks the debut of Nickelodeon
animation in China.
The company's chairman and CEO Sumner redstoine had spent several
days in China during the negotiations. He was quoted in an official
release saying, " These announcements are the latest milestones
in Viacom’s long-term commitment to developing our businesses and
relationships in China. They closely follow MTV’s breakthrough as
the first global brand to launch a 24-hour channel in China.
"The partnership with Shanghai Media group not only significantly
expands our position in Shanghai, but also paves the way for us
to extend the distribution of our 24-hour MTV China channel and
pursue expansion in other areas such as children’s educational programming.
Viacom’s joint venture with SMG will produce Chinese language kids
and youth programming for distribution to SMG’s channels. In addition,
the joint venture intends to distribute the content to channels
outside Shanghai. Viacom stated that it was the first global player
to announce an equity stake in a Chinese content company. This follows
the change in Chinese law announced several weeks ago that allowed
foreign participation in Chinese production companies for the first
time.
The Viacom/SMG agreement includes ad sales of the content produced
by the JV to Chinese and international clients. The companies’ alliance
extends a longstanding partnership, which includes syndication of
MTV and Nickelodeon programming on SMG channels and the co-production
of the MTV Style Awards Show.
Showing its social conscience Viacom also announced its intention
to invest in HIV/Aids content and events in China. Viacom will partner
with CCTV on initiatives that will help bring Chinese audiences
important health information about the menace. In cooperation with
the UN MTV China is currently exploring concepts for HIV/AIDS related
programming and events. MTV has also announced plans to launch a
Mandarin language version of its Staying Alive web site. This will
provide information on the crisis.
The relationship between CCTV and MTV goes back five years. In
1999 the two parties had co-produced the inaugural CCTV-MTV Music
Honours, 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 TV 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 over 400 million TV households
worldwide.
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