Beijing Media Corporation, the first newspaper-related group in the People's Republic to list its shares overseas, announced on Wednesday plans to expand into multimedia operations, including television.
Says Du Min, Beijing Media executive director: "We plan to leverage our strong customer base to develop new media businesses such as TV and billboards." This strategy is expected to contribute about one-third of total advertising revenue by the end of the decade.
The company, which last week enjoyed a highly successful initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange, handles advertising for the Beijing Youth Daily Group, whose media properties include one of the capital's best-selling daily newspapers and three other publications.
The first expansionary step - the formation of a HK$200 million (US$25.7m; €18.85m; £13.42m) TV production company - is planned for 2005. "We expect it will take about three years for the TV business to break even," says Min.
Data sourced from People's Daily Online; additional content by WARC staff
