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 Business News | June 2007 
Mexican TV Network to Expand in China
 Ioan Grillo - Associated Press
| | Actors Beatrice Moreno and Ernesto D'Alessio perform on the set of the soap opera Heridas de Amor, or Wounds of Love, at Televisa's studios in Mexico City, in this Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006 file photo. Mexico's Televisa network, known around the world for its soap operas, plans to expand its influence into China, following the lead of taco chains and other Mexican businesses looking for a slice of the Asian nation's market. (AP/Gregory Bull) |
Mexico's Televisa network, known around the world for its soap operas, said Thursday it plans to expand in China, following the lead of taco chains and other Mexican businesses looking for a slice of the Asian nation's market.
The company said it has signed a deal with the Chinese government to make Chinese versions of its most successful programming, including the reality show "Dancing for a Dream," and its world-famous soap operas, which are dubbed into more than 50 languages including Romanian and Korean.
Televisa said it already has tested the market by broadcasting four soap operas dubbed into Mandarin starting in 2000 in China, where they have been hits.
"Although entering the Chinese market is a big challenge, Televisa has established an excellent relationship with the main players to open the doors," Televisa Vice President Jose Baston said.
Televisa also said that next week it will begin cable transmissions in Mexico of China's government-run channel CCTV dubbed into Spanish.
International media companies, including Rupert Murdoch's STAR Group Ltd, have been battling for a place in China's rapidly expanding economy.
Televisa hopes to create its own niche with the potent Latin formula of its melodramas, packed with glamorous stars and rags-to-riches tales, which have won over viewers from Indonesia to Russia, as well as dominating the market in Latin America.
The programs boosted Televisa's total 2006 revenue to about $3.45 billion.
"We are offering a product that China doesn't have," Baston said. "The Chinese viewers have a similar demographic to the Mexicans. The difference is there are 1.3 billion of them instead of 100 million."
Baston said Televisa's partnership with the Chinese government should help it avoid regulation problems that have bogged down some other foreign investors trying to break into the market.
Other companies also have started selling uniquely Mexican products to the Chinese.
In January, the popular taco chain El Fogoncito opened its first restaurant in China and announced plans for 25 more in the next four years in Beijing and Shanghai.
The Mexican government is encouraging companies to expand in an effort to lessen Mexico's trade deficit with China.
Last year, Mexican exports to China totaled $1.7 billion while Chinese imports into Mexico were $24.4 billion, the Economy Ministry announced Tuesday. |
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