ANALYSIS: Television - Will China revamp create new difficulties? - New worries are raised as China orders TV mergers

<p>The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television order for </p><p>China's city TV stations to merge is the latest effort in the </p><p>Government's drive to overhaul its clunky TV business (media, June </p><p>22). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Advertisers are hoping a clearer picture will emerge when consolidation </p><p>is completed, but they worry that bargaining power will shift to the TV </p><p>stations once the dust settles. As with most consolidations, the cutback </p><p>in vendor numbers is expected to concentrate bargaining clout in the </p><p>hands of the few entities left standing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>China appears to be heading in such a direction. Last month's merger </p><p>directive follows an earlier order revoking the licences for ad sales </p><p>and programme production of county TV stations, leaving only their </p><p>transmission rights intact. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For some time now, the TV scene has been ripe for an overhaul - it is </p><p>highly-fragmented, programming quality is a serious issue and so is </p><p>clutter since advertising is permitted in 20-minute blocks between </p><p>programmes. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It's clear too that the estimated 2,000 TV stations have become too </p><p>unwieldy to manage, not to mention to support at a time when media </p><p>agencies feel that about 30 cities out of China's 240 are sufficient for </p><p>rolling out a national advertising campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Authorities have long treated TV as a cash cow - but the cow isn't </p><p>pumping as much cash this year, say media agencies. For the first time, </p><p>stations are bracing themselves for TV spend to either remain static at </p><p>best, or to head south at worse. Media managers say the market is far </p><p>less buoyant than ACNielsen's figures of a 22 per cent adspend gain for </p><p>the first four months suggest. The 20 top spending brands in the first </p><p>quarter were Chinese firms as economic worries have reined in </p><p>multinational spending. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the same time, government policy limiting state-owned enterprises to </p><p>spending just two per cent of sales on advertising and the ban on </p><p>prescription drug advertising have begun to bite into TV revenues. Says </p><p>Zenith Media's research director Zoe Tan: "That the top 20 list only has </p><p>local companies is shocking because local advertisers enjoy the deepest </p><p>discounts." But the methodology ACNielsen employs does not allow it to </p><p>include such perks, which would otherwise show a very different picture. </p><p>Sources say national broadcaster China Central TV suffered a </p><p>single-digit loss and Beijing TV a double-digit loss in the first </p><p>quarter. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>By ordering its stations to merge, China should rein in costs as the </p><p>consolidation is expected to whittle station numbers to under 300 by </p><p>year-end. The final count will comprise stations operating in its 240 </p><p>cities and 31 provinces, in addition to CCTV. But with the reduction, </p><p>wary advertisers fear one or two of the bigger stations will end up </p><p>monopolising the few quality programmes that are available. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The concern is that stations with sought-after programmes may try and </p><p>push through conditional sales packages - bundling a lower-rating show </p><p>or station with a stronger-rating show or station. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Echoing a sentiment voiced by his peers, Simon Woodward, executive </p><p>director of broadcast for Carat China, says: "As far as Carat is </p><p>concerned, our job is to secure quality programmes at a cost-effective </p><p>price for our clients. Consolidation could make this more challenging in </p><p>terms of negotiation clout. However, I would hope that the costs saved </p><p>by this consolidation will be re-invested in more quality programming </p><p>for our clients to advertise within." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Whether the merged organisations take to bundling their programme or </p><p>station offerings will depend on how far China is willing to go with the </p><p>revamp. Clearly, it's keen to overhaul the clunky TV business. But </p><p>whether it wants to risk creating a TV monopoly at a time when </p><p>advertisers are demanding better programming and a cleaner advertising </p><p>environment is another matter. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Zenith Media Beijing general manager Derek Kwok went as far as to </p><p>predict that 70 per cent of the mergers would be cosmetic. As an </p><p>example, he cited the merger of Zhejiang cable and terrestrial stations, </p><p>saying both were still operating as separate entities. "The Government </p><p>knows it but it has to keep one eye closed because of revenue </p><p>considerations, and it also does not want to create a monopoly </p><p>situation," he says. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the case of the Beijing Radio, TV, Film Group, which also includes a </p><p>newspaper publisher, media sources say they've been told the "priority </p><p>is to keep the stability of the structure after its major </p><p>transformation". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Adds Woodward: "We have to remember that China is unique in terms of </p><p>trading and the media landscape. So it's dangerous to assume that the </p><p>same thing which happened in other places which consolidated their TV </p><p>market will also happen in China." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Which may explain why some believe that consolidation will only reduce </p><p>competition in the short-term. Says MindShare China chief executive </p><p>Chris Walton: "The negotiation tactic in the medium to long-term will be </p><p>to play off one market against another. Increasingly, advertisers are </p><p>looking at the potential of market A versus market B rather than TV </p><p>station one versus station two." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>