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AOL, tom.com in talks over CETV
HONG KONG, China (Reuters) -- Hong Kong media firm tom.com said on Wednesday it is in early talks about buying a stake in AOL Time Warner Inc's China Entertainment Television channel, which broadcasts in south China. Tom.com said it is exploring several investment opportunities in the broadcasting sector, one of which is CETV. "Negotiation (on CETV) is at a preliminary stage," tom.com said in a statement. "However, no agreement has yet been reached ... between the parties." A spokeswoman from AOL Time Warner's Turner International had no comment on the situation with tom.com. "We've always been looking at strategic partnerships, but at the moment we don't have anything to announce," she said. AOL has previously said it would like to find an investor that could help CETV, its Mandarin-language channel, expand its market share, distribution and advertising in China. Tom.com would fit that bill. It is backed by Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong's richest man with solid connections in China. Tom.com has said it would like to add broadcasting to its wide-ranging media portfolio, which includes outdoor advertising, magazines and book publishing in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. ETV and rival Mandarin-language channel Xingkong Weishi, controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, have broadcast via satellite to south China's affluent Guangdong province since 2001, but both would like to expand their broadcast areas. Earlier this year, Xingkong Weishi said it had received permission to expand its broadcasting area to include mid- to upscale hotels and various venues for foreigners in China. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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