China

May 27

2010 1st quarter of China film exhibition revenue is at RMB3 billion. Investment from various sources are pouring to film making business, as year-end accumulated revenue is forecasted to break RMB10 billion.  In contrast to previous funding for film, where internal sourcing is usually up to 90%, the recent trend involved bank, government, and from other industries, increasing the risk of investment due to bubble effect.

May 25

China State Administration of Radio Film & Television mentioned in Asia Media Summit held in Beijing, May 25, that China has built one of the world’s most populous radio and television coverage.  Currently, China runs 251 radio stations, 272 TV stations, 2087 radio-television stations, covering over 96% of population.  China will further speed up the development of digital technologies in order to upgrade traditional and new media, along with the improvement of transmission safety level.

 

Southeast Asia

May 26

Yahoo! acquired Indonesia mobile web link company, Koprol.  As the demand for mobile web services is increasing, Koprol unique capability in inter-connecting its members from mobile to PC for information services becomes very attractive.  Yahoo! intended to introduce this locally developed technology for worldwide usage.

 

Hong Kong & Taiwan

May 27

Taiwan mobile service provider, Far EasTone (FET.net), launched “Taiwan-Business99” communication package prior to the signing completion of ECFA: Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between China and Taiwan.  This package, only available to Beijing, Shanghai, and another 3 province area, allows Taiwanese business man to save up to 70% using their mobile to call locally in China and back to Taiwan. FET.net expects double digit growth in 2010 revenue.

May 25

5-day event “Hong Kong Films Retrospective 2010” is organized by Hong Kong Film Development Council in Guangzhou.  The purpose is to promote appreciation of Hong Kong movies in China, and 20 representatives Hong Kong films are to be shown, sponsored by China officials and Hong Kong film and media industries.