HONG KONG: MTV Asia Online Entertainment has lost its
Singapore-based general manager, Cindy Wu, to rival satellite
broadcaster Star.
The wholly-owned News Corporation subsidiary created the position of
senior vice-president for China business development specifically for
mainland-born Wu, who - according to MTV - is relocating to Beijing for
"personal reasons".
Wu's appointment is effective immediately and marks a renewed effort by
Star to beef up its presence in the mainland. Wu was with MTV for a
little over a year.
Star's executive vice-president (China), Laurie Smith, said: "Cindy has
a wide range of experience in the media industry in China and will be an
invaluable asset."
The broadcaster's Beijing office said the station sees strong prospects
in developing its China media business further. Other new positions are
expected to open soon as Star puts its plans in place to tap the
mainland market's growth potential.
With more than 12 years experience in traditional and new media in both
Asia-Pacific and North America, Wu has been involved in numerous
media-related projects.
Prior to joining MTV, Wu also worked in the IT publishing industry in
the US and China for several years. This included positions at IDG China
and CMP Media Inc, during which time Wu launched newspapers and
magazines such as the Chinese edition of Cosmopolitan under a licensing
arrangement with Trends magazine.
Wu's management expertise covers multinational operations, joint-venture
development, international licensing, government relations, business
development and sales and marketing.
"The China media market is growing rapidly, and Chinese media consumers
are becoming more sophisticated in terms of their tastes and needs,"
said Wu.
"China's development is quite uneven between the east and west regions
and in media, where there is an imbalance between the current supply and
demand."
She said demand for media has picked up tremendously, but supply was
limited by a lack of variety, differentiation and quality.
Wu believes Star is well placed to tap China's demand for better media
choices. "News Corporation has a bigger vision for China than any other
Western media company."
Meanwhile, MTV Asia Online has promoted former Asiacontent.com executive
Randall Maxwell to general manager. Asiacontent and MTV are partners
behind MTV Online.
