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MediaCorp in regional channel bid |
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Written by Patrick Frater
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Monday, 03 March 2008 |
HONG KONG – Singapore TV group MediaCorp is to invest in a Vietnamese channel start-up and is launching an Indian channel in its home market.
Both moves by the state-backed broadcast conglom are intended to give MediaCorp a more international or regional profile.
Company announced last month that it is taking a 20% stake in newly formed company International Media Corp, alongside media advertising firm FS Communications and confectioner Kinh Do Corp.
IMC will provide news content and channel management services to state-controlled Vietnam Multimedia Corp which is launching new net in the second half of 2008.
"This collaboration with IMC is MediaCorp’s first strategic investment in Vietnam (where the) advertising market has been growing at 20-30% annually. We also see this as the beachhead for more opportunities as we begin to
participate actively in this market," Lucas Chow, MediaCorp Chief Executive Officer said.
James Yip, currently MediaCorp's sales head has been assigned to represent the conglom in the IMC venture. Former Alcatel Lucent senior VP, Clifton Yong is joining MediaCorp as Yip's replacement.
In its home market, company will launch Vasantham in the fourth quarter of the year, targeting Singapore's growing Indian community. Programming, currently amounting to some 29 hours per week on MediaCorp's Central TV net, will be expanded to 65 hours and migrate to Vasantham (which means 'Spring' in Tamil.) Content will focus on family entertainment consisting mainly of long-form skeins, reality and talk shows and Tamil-language news.
Following the move, Central will be repositioned as an English-language children's channel by day. In the late evening it will focus on docus, fine arts and more adult-themed anime.
MediaCorp demonstrated its int'l corporate ambitions last year when it paid some $90 million for a 6.5% stake in Media Nusantara Citra T, a TV stations owner and operator, and an 80%-owned unit of Bhakti Investama Tbk PT's 53%-owned Global Mediacom Tbk PT subsidiary.
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 March 2008 )
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