No sooner had his Next Magazine taken tabloid titillation to its logical conclusion by featuring a copulating couple on its cover, reports began to filter through that Lai was mulling a liaison of a rather different sort.
In bidding for the venerable China Times Group, Lai was perhaps hoping to drive the final nail into the coffin of Taiwan’s largest newspaper group. After all, it was the launch of Apple Daily in 2003 that has done so much to hasten China Times’ decline from being the island’s dominant broadsheet to a newspaper haemorrhaging advertising dollars and readers. That Lai’s bid was pipped at the eleventh hour by Tsai Eng-meng, chairman of China’s largest rice-cracker maker, has raised some eyebrows, mainly because Tsai is a newcomer to the media industry.
In bidding for the venerable China Times Group, Lai was perhaps hoping to drive the final nail into the coffin of Taiwan’s largest newspaper group. After all, it was the launch of Apple Daily in 2003 that has done so much to hasten China Times’ decline from being the island’s dominant broadsheet to a newspaper haemorrhaging advertising dollars and readers. That Lai’s bid was pipped at the eleventh hour by Tsai Eng-meng, chairman of China’s largest rice-cracker maker, has raised some eyebrows, mainly because Tsai is a newcomer to the media industry.
For Lai, the outcome is disappointing but hardly disastrous. Not only will Tsai’s media inexperience work in Lai’s favour, but it is thought that the snack food mogul paid a considerable premium for China Times. The paper also tried to ensure that it remained in its current form for the next 10 years. Given its urgent need for restructuring, this condition may yet hand Lai a handsome advantage as he plots further growth for his Taiwan media operations.
Ultimately, it is likely that political forces may have conspired to prevent Lai from wresting too much control of Taiwan’s newspaper market. His ability to turn this outsider status into an advantage should not be discounted. Despite losing the battle for China Times, Lai may yet have the last laugh when the dust settles.
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