MTV Networks, which is owned by the third-largest US media company, will probably have a 20 percent increase in Asian advertising sales this year, MTV Networks Chief Executive Officer Tom Freston said.
"We're looking at several years in a row of good healthy growth," Freston said in an interview in Singapore. "We're looking at healthy growth in India, in China, in Korea." MTV advertising sales in Asia last year rose 24 percent, twice the pace of the rest of the world for the company, which is owned by the cable-network unit of New York-based Viacom Inc.
About 150 million homes in Asia have MTV channels, which include Nickelodeon, Freston said.
Rebounding economies across Asia are allowing companies such as Sydney-based News Corp. and Zee Telefilms Ltd., India's biggest publicly traded broadcaster, to sell more advertising.
Advertising expenditure will rise 5.1 percent in the Asia-Pacific region this year to US$68.41 billion, the fastest growth of the world's regions, according to ZenithOptimedia, a U.S.-based media services company.
India's economy may grow at its fastest pace in 15 years, with Asia's third-biggest economy expected to accelerate at an 8.1 percent pace in the year to March 31, according to government estimates.
"India's one of the most interesting markets out there, where you've got this exploding middle class," Freston said. MTV plans to dub about half of Nickelodeon's programming into Hindi this year and may set up a south Indian music channel, he said.
Mumbai-based Zee Telefilms said last month its third-quarter profit rose 27 percent on higher subscription and advertising revenue. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. last week said it had a 51 percent rise in earnings in the last three months of 2003 as an improved ad market helped boost profit at its cable channels and newspapers.
"It's going to be a pretty good year for the region as a whole" with nations such as China and Indonesia likely to record between 15 percent and 20 percent growth in advertising, said Stephen McKeever, Hong Kong-based head of media and consumer research at Lehman Brothers Asia Ltd.
"The fastest growing area will probably be the cable networks," he said.
MTV has lost no advertisers or revenue as a result of singer Justin Timberlake exposing Janet Jackson's right breast two weeks ago on the National Football League's Super Bowl halftime show, Freston said. MTV produced the program, which was aired on Viacom's CBS network.
In the aftermath of the incident, a US House panel last week passed a bill increasing 10-fold the Federal Communications Commission fines against broadcasters that air indecency on television and radio.
"I'm sure we won't do another show for the NFL," Freston said separately, in a televised interview.
"There's absolutely no economic benefit for us producing part-time shows or other shows like this. We haven't seen any cancellation of advertising," he said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College