Star China Media, a joint venture of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and state-backed China Media Capital, on Tuesday unveiled a partnership with investment firm Puji Capital to finance and develop international TV content for the Star pay TV platform.
The partners will make the investments via Puji Star Media Co., a venture that will be based in Shanghai.
The company will invest "in internationally inspired TV content and advertising with particular interest in the Americas/Hollywood, Europe, Japan, Korea, and, among others, tailored for the local Chinese viewers onto the Star TV platform," the partners said.
Tian Ming, CEO of Star China, said: “Puji’s vast experience in value creation for shareholders coupled with their strong international media network and platforms allows us to be well positioned to the tremendous opportunity that lies ahead for us in the China media market.”
Michael Chien and Jotaro Nonaka, managing partners of Puji Capital, said: “We are honored to partner with Tian Ming and his team who has turned Star TV to a profitable company within a short time with his creativity and solid understanding to capture the passion of Chinese viewers and its commercial value. Start China is a very distinctive TV platform that enjoys many content and distribution advantages over its competitors."
China’s TV market has seen strong growth, with broadcasting revenue increasing from $15 billion in 2005 to $37 billion in 2010, followed by a 22 percent increase in 2011.