HONG KONG: Chinadotcom's subsidiary hongkong.com has formed an
advertising partnership with Shanghai Xinhua Yatai TV Production.
The latter is a subsidiary of the Shanghai branch of Xinhua News Agency,
which has a stake in the portal.
The joint-venture will have the exclusive rights to sell advertising for
finance-related television programming produced by Yatai Shanghai.
The move is seen as strengthening Chinadotcom's integrated media
capabilities, and is hongkong.com's first venture into mainland
China.
Chinadotcom chief executive officer Peter Yip said the partnership was
an opportunity for the portal to increase revenue in a "tough market
climate".
Yip added: "We believe that our deep penetration of this vertical sector
will enable us to capture new, profitable revenue streams. As China
enters the WTO, we think that ventures like Yatai Shanghai will thrive
by providing much-needed market information."
Yatai Shanghai programmes include Listed Companies in China and Hua Din
Finance.
Zenith Media Beijing research director Zoe Tan said cross-media
collaborations were increasing in China.
"As a news agency, Chinadotcom wants to diversify its revenue stream by
crossing the medium line and creating a production company. On the other
hand, the production company needs to ensure that whatever it produces
has a place to go, which is why it has selected to partner with an
online firm," said Tan.
"What makes this alliance unique is not its format, but ultimately the
television content produced."
The company claims its programmes are broadcast in more than 50 cities
in China, with a potential television audience of 100 million.