Rupert Murdoch’s 20-year pursuit of the Chinese television market and its 1.3 billion sets of eyeballs is effectively over.
+
21st Century Fox Group, the vehicle housing Murdoch’s fast-growing, global film studios and television businesses (last June these were separated from his older publishing businesses, which are housed in the new News Corp) announced this morning that it had sold its remaining 47% stake in Star China TV, the owner of three 24-hour Mandarin language channels and a Chinese film library.
+
It caps off a remarkable turn of events for Murdoch, who the New York Times described in 2007 as ”the Chinese leadership’s favorite foreign media baron” who had exhibited an “ardent” and “unrelenting” approach to business in the Middle Kingdom.
+
What happened? The truth is that Murdoch has been encountering difficulties in China ever since he set foot in the country. Shortly after he bought Star TV for $1 billion in 1993, the mogul delivered a provocative speech in London that upset the Chinese government. He said that satellite TV represented an ”unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes,” by making it easier for “information-hungry residents” in closed societies to get around state-censored TV.
+
But the fast-growing market’s allure proved irresistable, and Murdoch persisted. But in 2005, he said his business in China had “hit a brick wall” after the government surprisingly tightened restrictions on foreign media companies seeking to do business there. By 2010, he had started selling out of Star China, refocusing his ambitions on the equally massive but much more agreeable Indian television market.
+
The real clincher for Murdoch’s China exit might be more personal: his recent divorce from Wendi Deng, the Jinan-born Yale graduate who he married in 1999. Deng and Murdoch met in 1997, when she was plucked from Hong Kong to act as a translator to aid in the billionaire’s Chinese ambitions. At the time, she was working for Star TV.
+
Deng is expected to get the couple’s 2,000 square-meter Beijing residence as part of the divorce settlement. It may be that Murdoch’s latest move is yet another example of how the rich and famous—as the gossip magazines put it—are just like us: They take great pains to erase all memories of an ex after a messy breakup.
Rupert Murdoch recently divorced Wendy Deng, who he met while she was working at Star China TV
Murdoch sells stake in Chinese television stations
Rupert Murdoch recently divorced Wendy Deng, who he met while she was working at Star China TV
Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox has sold its 47% stake in the Chinese television company, Star China TV.
21st Century Fox had owned a majority stake in the television firm but sold that in 2010 to China Media Capital, in a deal interpreted as marking a move away from China for the Murdoch empire.
Mr Murdoch met his former wife Wendy Deng in 1999 while she was working for Star China TV.
The company operates three Mandarin-language television stations.
Ruigang Li, Chairman of China Media Capital, which will now take full control of the television company said in a statement: "This latest transaction marks a new era for Star China and we remain committed to building the company into one of the most respected entertainment companies in China."
'Streamlining'
The announcement, made by Fox and China Media Capital (CMC), said the China-based holding firm would acquire the portion of the joint venture it does not already own.
Formed in 2010 and majority-owned by CMC, the joint venture operates three 24-hour channels: Xing Kong, Xing Kong International and Channel 1/8V 3/8 Mainland China. It also operates the Fortune Star Chinese movie library.
James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's son and chairman and chief executive of international operations at 21st Century Fox, said the divestment "is part of streamlining our affiliate ownership structures".
Ruigang Li said: "As our respective businesses continue to evolve, we look forward to more opportunities to work together going forward."
Mr Murdoch split his corporate empire into two parts in June under a long-promised plan to "unlock value" by separating high-flying entertainment operations from struggling publishing activities.
He remains in charge of both.
The 21st Century Fox group includes the Fox Hollywood studios and television entities, which are showing stronger growth than the publishing arm News Corp, which includes struggling newspapers.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments always welcome!