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Date Posted: 14:55:57 10/23/01 Tue
Author: trish lyn
Subject: Re: LFN mention ....
In reply to: trish lyn 's message, "LFN mention ...." on 14:53:26 10/23/01 Tue

Oct. 23, 2001, 12:05AM
Houston to get Chinese TV
Deal will send Miami Vice, cartoons to Beijing
By MIKE McDANIEL
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle TV Editor
AOL Time Warner said Monday that it has reached an agreement to become the first foreign television broadcaster in the People's Republic of China.
In exchange, the U.S. media conglomerate has agreed to another first -- to carry China's state-sponsored, 24-hour, English-language channel on some of AOL Time Warner's large-city cable systems. These include Houston, New York and Los Angeles.
In effect, China will be getting La Femme Nikita, Miami Vice and Johnny Bravo cartoons, while America will receive a mix of news, sports, music and cooking shows, and nature and travel documentaries.
The deal, effective in January, allows AOL Time Warner's 24-hour CETV, a Mandarin Chinese information and entertainment channel, to be carried by China Central Television on Guangdong Cable TV Networks Co., serving southeast China.
In return, China Central Television, which is China's national TV network, will provide its English-language cultural and educational channel to AOL Time Warner, where it will be carried on its own designated channel in the United States.
The latter will happen "sometime next year," said AOL Time Warner spokesman Mike Luftman. The channel will be available as part of the digital cable lineup, he added.
Financial aspects of the deal were not disclosed, but the prospects are potentially enormous.
For the Chinese, cable entry inside the United States could help educate and even reform current opinion about the nation's practices and principles.
"You won't find anti-America propaganda from that, but you will find anti-Taiwan propaganda," said Garth Jowett, director of the University of Houston's school of communications. "That's the No. 1 reason why they agreed to that, to create a difference between themselves and the Taiwanese.
"The No. 2 reason is to put forth as positive an image of China as possible. It's not going to be the propaganda that says `We're better than you.' It will sort of be the truth: `We're making changes. Merchants are changing. Capitalism is happening.' "
The propaganda exchange may go both ways.
"This is going to be a big step in mainland China, especially in the rural areas," said Edward Feng, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston. "If (the deal) is an open market that allows the Chinese people to know more about world affairs, it is much better for them (and could lead them) to become a democratic country."
As for Chinese spreading anti-Taiwan ideas to America, "I will watch this very, very carefully," he said. As for now, he said, the exchange of TV signals "is personally OK with me."
"If you hear Chinese propaganda, so be it," said Chuck Ross, editor of the television trade magazine Electronic Media. "It actually may be informative, in terms of what the Chinese are spooning out. Obviously, if you're on a Time Warner (cable) system here in L.A. or in New York or there in Houston, obviously you have access to a number of American channels to get the other point of view. One of the good things about our society is that we're open to these other points of view."
For AOL Time Warner, the deal provides a toehold into CCTV, China's earliest and largest TV broadcaster, with 11 channels reaching 1 billion viewers.
That reach is significant to advertisers, which is why it is no secret that U.S. broadcasters have long coveted the market.
So have international broadcasters. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has a near-global reach, but not inside China. He is working on a deal similar to the one struck Monday.
CCTV programming has been compared to public broadcasting in the United States, although less robust and refined. It provides cultural and informational programming and some news.
In addition to comedies, dramas and cartoons, CETV programs game shows, movies and sports.

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Replies:

[> [> The Chinese will learn about international culture from LFN, Miami Vice, and...Johnny Bravo? That's some mixture! -- Gretchen, 13:01:41 10/25/01 Thu


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[> [> [> Re: Just like we know about Chinese culture from Kung Fu movies -- Trish, 08:51:28 10/26/01 Fri


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[> [> Wow...it's the last quarter of 2001 and LFN is entering a new market--a market that includes one fourth of the world's population. Bravo, LFN! Thanks, trish lyn, for sharing this. -- Susan W, 15:38:59 10/27/01 Sat


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