SATELLITE & CABLE: Sweet music to mainland ears - "CCTV and MTV are building a relationship which clearly intrigues the Chinese government"

<p>In an exclusive article for MEDIA, CMM-I talked to MTV Networks </p><p>International president William Roedy about the CCTV-MTV Music Honours, </p><p>Channel V and China's accession to the WTO and looks at the growth of </p><p>music TV sponsorship on the mainland. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>On June 12, the second annual CCTV-MTV Music Honours were held in </p><p>Beijing as China's national TV broadcaster and the global music network </p><p>build on a relationship that clearly intrigues the Chinese government </p><p>and which is generating keen interest from major advertisers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to Mr Roedy, this year's CCTV-MTV Music Honours was broadcast </p><p>on CCTV to over 500 million households in China and more than 70 million </p><p>households in Asia through MTV. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Roedy said sponsorship from leading Internet portal Sina.com and </p><p>German electronics manufacturer Siemens have made the event profitable </p><p>despite differences in their corporate cultures. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The co-production with CCTV has brought together two very different </p><p>companies and we have been sitting side-by-side collaborating on </p><p>everything from choosing the acts and the awards, down to the right </p><p>camera positions," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This year's collaboration resulted in the China debut of international </p><p>star Alanis Morissette and the presentation of 22 awards including the </p><p>band of the year, best new artist and song of the year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Roedy saw great potential for the Chinese TV market because it has </p><p>the necessary cable infrastructure in place, which, he added, was ahead </p><p>of many other countries. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, he noted that current regulations on foreign involvement have </p><p>made progress slow. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We have built a strategic relationship and co-operation with CCTV and </p><p>we produce shows with other key local TV stations. We are here for the </p><p>long term and are devoted to doing things the legal way," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As for China's likely accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), </p><p>Mr Roedy saw it as representing something of an anticlimax for MTV. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We have been working in China for so long and nothing in the agreement </p><p>has specifically addressed the television industry." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While he does not believe in being too euphoric about the China market, </p><p>Mr Roedy is clearly excited that accession to WTO will encourage more </p><p>advertisers to come into the Chinese market. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, the CCTV-MTV Music Honours are not the only music event that </p><p>has come to Beijing in recent months and MTV is not the only </p><p>international player seeking to win the music wars in China. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Music awards and shows give international networks distribution clout in </p><p>a market that still restricts the screening of foreign programming. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While the direct broadcast of foreign channels is prohibited in China, </p><p>foreign providers have made headway through the barter of programming </p><p>blocks to mainland channels, co-production of local shows and by making </p><p>estimates as to how many households might have access to their channels </p><p>via satellite dishes and cable networks. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Heineken recently brought six international and local bands together in </p><p>its "Heineken Beat" two-day open air concert in Beijing (MEDIA, May 26), </p><p>while Star TV's music channel, Channel V, held its fifth annual music </p><p>awards at the beginning of the year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The China Music Awards, held in conjunction with Beijing Cable TV, </p><p>gained distribution to more than 50 cable stations with the support of </p><p>the China Cable TV Association. Sponsors for the Channel V show were </p><p>Motorola and Netvigator. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Meanwhile, MTV and Channel V both claim a superior following among the </p><p>mainland Chinese audience. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The latest PeopleMeter study conducted by ACNielsen for Star TV has </p><p>reported that Channel V ranked 12th in a list of the top 21 channels in </p><p>China. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Although the survey is representative of TV households with access to </p><p>Star TV, the percentage of Star households in the national total remains </p><p>an unknown. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Commenting on the survey, Mr Roedy told MEDIA that, "in every objective </p><p>study, MTV outperforms Channel V in all respects including ratings, </p><p>distribution and revenue". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Roedy said that MTV would continue to develop its relationship with </p><p>CCTV and other partners in China especially in bridging the still wide </p><p>gap between music television MTV style and similar shows on CCTV. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Source: CMM Intelligence. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>