HEADLINES: Lai plans media empire expansion into Taiwan

<p>Hong Kong media magnate Jimmy Lai is understood to be attempting to </p><p>expand his media business into Taiwan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A one-year-old evening newspaper, Power News, is among the titles the </p><p>Next Media Group has approached in Taiwan, where there is no investment </p><p>restrictions on foreign involvement in the print industry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Targeting young affluent metropolitan readers, Power News took on a </p><p>non-conventional newspaper format with focus on graphics, colour photos </p><p>and human interest stories, and it carries no editorial commentary. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Power News managing director Alec Lu told MEDIA that executives from the </p><p>Next Media Group have begun discussions on a potential business </p><p>alliance. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is understood that Next Media Group has also talked to other media </p><p>companies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Next Media Group declined to comment on possible investments in Taiwan, </p><p>and an executive said the group was unable to announce anything at the </p><p>moment as nothing concrete has come up yet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The speculations come amid reports that Mr Lai is relocating to Taiwan </p><p>to spearhead the launch of a new title in the island. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mergers tend to be a common and natural move in the media world, and Mr </p><p>Lu said that he did not rule out a potential business alliance in the </p><p>future. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Power News is owned by multimedia company Power Network which is also </p><p>involved in cable TV, radio and the Internet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Power Radio, Power TV, Power Links, Power Kids and Power 168 are among </p><p>the media assets owned by Power Network in Taiwan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Next Media group was not the only media company which has approached the </p><p>Power group, as Mr Lu said other foreign parties have, on and off, </p><p>showed interest in forging an alliance of one type or another. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Power Network's ultimate goal is to develop a multimedia platform which </p><p>will integrate the group's media assets to offer audiences 24 hours news </p><p>information. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With a daily print run of up to 350,000 copies, Power News was described </p><p>as the Taiwanese Apple Daily when it rolled out a year ago. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Power News did take Apple Daily as a reference for new ideas, and Mr Lu </p><p>said that the paper aimed to give readers something fresh. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The biggest change in our media scene came from the TV sector. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"But newspapers have remained largely unchanged which is the opposite to </p><p>Hong Kong's media development," said Mr Lu. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We wanted to give readers something they couldn't currently get from </p><p>traditional newspapers here," added Mr Lu. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Power News has set a new precedent. Other newspaper titles have followed </p><p>its trend by increasing the number of colour pages. But as a new title </p><p>in the market, Mr Lu admitted the paper is still losing money, and he </p><p>expected it would break even in three years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Currently with 306 staff, Mr Lu said Power News had no plans to trim </p><p>overhead costs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It has, in fact, done the opposite by hiring another 40 people for its </p><p>financial news website. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>