LEADER: Marathon session hides weaknesses

<p>That China's national broadcaster still managed to beat the odds in </p><p>the current climate and post a double-digit revenue growth in its annual </p><p>auction is truly astonishing. Despite the many and frequent complaints </p><p>levelled at China Central Television, the broadcaster has once again </p><p>confounded critics with a marathon and frenzied auction of its peak-time </p><p>slots. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In today's weak market conditions, the auction is an anachronism, </p><p>belonging to another age and time when the national broadcaster had no </p><p>competitor to speak off and adspend was in a boom mode. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But with a fair share of rivals nipping at its heels and despite the </p><p>active bidding at this year's auction - the fourth held by the company - </p><p>the process clearly cannot continue for much longer. Even if local </p><p>competitors have yet to dampen Chinese advertisers' appetite for CCTV </p><p>prime-slots, the opening of the mainland's media market under WTO </p><p>membership rules in the next few years will change the television </p><p>landscape in more ways than can be currently imagined. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The auction of peak-time slots demonstrates two things: both the station </p><p>and local advertisers are still enamoured with buying slots rather than </p><p>audiences, unlike the situation in most other parts of the world. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>CCTV is making programing improvements next year - a jewel in its 2002 </p><p>line-up is the broadcasting of the World Cup football tournament - but </p><p>the broadcaster could still do a lot more to build viewership outside </p><p>peak-time. Until it does so, it stands little hope of stemming the slide </p><p>in its rankings, which have fallen from 38.6 per cent in 1997 to 32.6 </p><p>per cent this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>On a broader level, as rosy as the figures are for CCTV, few in the </p><p>industry are comforted into thinking that 2002 will be banner year for </p><p>China, monitored adspend figures notwithstanding. If anything, the steep </p><p>prices paid to CCTV could mean a rougher ride for provincial stations, </p><p>which are already looking at the unfamiliar prospect of declining </p><p>revenues this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>