FremantleMedia is already active in the China market, having licensed such formats as Got Talent, Idol, The X Factor, Take Me Out and Family Feud to local broadcasters. Under a new partnership with giants Shanghai Media Group and China Media Capital, the company will dig in further, creating and developing content earmarked for the Middle Kingdom and destined for SMG’s Dragon TV and BesTV platforms. FremantleMedia International will handle worldwide distribution of the content that emerges from the joint venture.
Based in Shanghai, the team will include what the partners say are “international experts,” along with local producers, to draw on Fremantle’s creative strengths. Stories will focus on Chinese values and tastes blended with Western structure and creativity.
The Chinese television market is growing rapidly and “the value of premium content is being created and manifested with unprecedented enthusiasmn,” says CMC founding chairman Ruigang Li. CMC is a partner in Oriental DreamWorks and owns Star China which has produced such shows as The Voice Of China and China’s Got Talent.
SMG’s president, Wang Jianjun, says the collaboration will give the company the “opportunity to learn how to create good ideas and how to grow these ideas into formats and productions.”
SMG is a diversified media company whose assets include cable and satellite networks along with subscription-based digital pay TV-channels. Dragon TV is its signature satellite outlet, reaching 1B viewers in China and across the world including Hong Kong, the U.S. and Canada. SMG also owns the publicly listed BesTV New Media.
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