News Corp. has announced that it is selling off most of its stake in the Chinese broadcasting market. They are finding out the hard way that big numbers doesn't always mean big profits.
As one anonymous source said, "The smart ones in Hollywood knew there is no such thing as instant results ... In America you look quarter to quarter. In China you think in 50-year (increments)."
The western media specifically realize that any thought that there is going to be some type of quick return with their investments in China is not going to happen. The short-term players are bailing out as a result of this reality.
News Corp. announced last week that it was selling 20 percent of Phoenix Satellite Television Co. Ltd., to the top mobile carrier in China and would only keep a 17.6 percent stake in the company.
Rupert Murdoch's company was attempting to sneak in the backdoor by working with an obscure local broadcaster in China's interior province of Qinghai by negotiating a national TV distribution deal with them. It was shut down when the central authorities found out about it.
You gotta like Murdoch's guts here, but even if he had secured the deal I doubt it would have been upheld. To be successful in any way in China you've got to go long-term thinking all the way, or it's not worth the effort of beginning the process. News Corp. and other media companies have found this out the hard way.
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