Channel V hits China high note

<p>It's official: Channel V outperformed CCTV 3 over the period of </p><p>March 20-April 16, according to the results of the first </p><p>StarTV-sponsored Peoplemeter survey in China. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Conducted by ACNielsen, the Peoplemeter study covered 50 homes in each </p><p>of the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan and Shenyang, and is </p><p>a two-year project covering all major competitive channels. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is the most proactive thing in research that any TV company has </p><p>ever done in the world's biggest market," said Channel V sales director </p><p>Jasper Donat. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The ironic thing is that if you talk to anyone impartial, you still get </p><p>asked how many homes you reach." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The purpose of the Peoplemeter survey, which launched late last year </p><p>with initial data available as of December, was to finally establish how </p><p>many people were actually watching, what they were watching and how long </p><p>they watched for. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Up until this point, regional broadcasters transmitting into mainland </p><p>China have either relied on a diary survey conducted by Sofres, or </p><p>simply pointed to penetration (that is, number of homes passed or able </p><p>to view). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Media agencies and advertisers have thus had to largely rely on a </p><p>combination of instinct and good faith when making advertising </p><p>decisions; the availability of the Peoplemeter data now offers a more </p><p>concrete base to start from. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The study covers all the Star TV channels in China, and the results are </p><p>genuinely surprising to us," said StarTV executive vice-president of </p><p>advertising sales, Toby Hayward. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We've always maintained that all our channels are popular in China; now </p><p>we have third-party statistics to back this claim up." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Apart from confirmed numbers (which also allow advertisers to gauge the </p><p>success of any media campaign placed with Star's channels), the study </p><p>also allows for qualititative analysis - and, consequently, for </p><p>programming to be fine-tuned or even designed appropriately for that </p><p>market. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Among our channels in China, Phoenix is the top - that in itself is not </p><p>surprising, given that it is in Mandarin and it is tailored for the </p><p>market - but the Peoplemeter figures show that both Channel V and Star </p><p>Sports are also very popular," Mr Hayward said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The Channel V results are very high given that it is a very niche </p><p>channel. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>What the data shows is that when viewers are offered the choice, the </p><p>quality of our programming comes through very strongly. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Essentially, the quality of all our channels is giving us a very high </p><p>level of coverage in China." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Last year, a much-publicised row broke out between Channel V and MTV </p><p>over who was No.1, and one result of the spat was that StarTV became </p><p>more determined than ever to prove that the old "number of homes" </p><p>standard was, quite simply, irrelevant. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Last year, it was all about homes. (The row with MTV) may have created </p><p>the impression that that is all (the TV industry) is interested in," </p><p>said Mr Hayward. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Now, with the Peoplemeter study in China, we have qualitative data </p><p>which can be used as reinforcement for everything we've always been </p><p>saying about Channel V or StarTV as a whole in that market. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We have a product which is extremely popular with viewers in the </p><p>mainland." But, the purpose of investing in the Peoplemeter study was </p><p>not simply to prove that Star TV is in China, he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We always knew we were there. The purpose was to take the debate </p><p>further on," Mr Hayward told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"A lot of the time, we are selling to people who either can't understand </p><p>our broadcasts into China because of the language issue, or they live </p><p>outside the area of distribution. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The Peoplemeter figures offer reassurance that we are on target." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Of course, not all the questions posed have been or can be answered by </p><p>the Peoplemeter data alone, but as Mr Hayward pointed out, the survey </p><p>results offer progress on previous assumptions and offer an important </p><p>element of feedback, which will be reflected in programming </p><p>decisions. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TOP 21 CHANNELS IN CHINA </p><p>(Ranked by percentage of people on panel who watched each channel) </p><p> % of people Ave viewing hours </p><p>Rank Channels watched watched by </p><p> each viewer </p><p>1 CCTV1 (General/News/ </p><p> Current Affairs) 88.5 8 hrs 6 mins </p><p>2 Phoenix Chinese Channel 76.0 5 hrs 58 mins </p><p>3 CCTV2 (Economics) 69.3 2 hrs 14 mins </p><p>4 CCTV6 (Movies) 67.4 7 hrs 34 mins </p><p>5 CCTV5 (Sports) 61.7 2 hrs 43 mins </p><p>6 Zhejiang Satellite 56.1 2 hrs 2 mins </p><p>7 Shandong Satellite 54.0 2 hrs 17 mins </p><p>8 CCTV8 (Entertainment/Arts) 53.1 4 hrs 23 mins </p><p>9 STAR Sports 51.2 2 hrs 15 mins </p><p>10 CCTV4 (News in foreign lang.) 46.3 1 hr 55 mins </p><p>11 CCTV7 (Child/Military/ </p><p> Science) 43.2 1 hrs 36 mins </p><p>12 Channel (V) 40.0 3 hrs 46 mins </p><p>13 Sichuan Satellite 38.7 2 hrs 46 mins </p><p>14 CCTV3 (Opera/Music) 38.3 3 hrs16 mins </p><p>15 Guangdong Satellite 35.7 1 hr 5 mins </p><p>16 Shanghai Satellite 35.3 2 hrs 8 mins </p><p>17 Beijing TV1 34.8 5 hrs 47 mins </p><p>18 Jiangsu Satellite 32.1 2 hrs 39 mins </p><p>19 Hunan Satellite 31.5 1 hr 52 mins </p><p>20 Yunnan Satellite 30.9 48 mins </p><p>21 Phoenix Movies 28.2 12 hrs 56 mins </p><p>Source: ACNielsen. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>