MTV eyes Chinese Internet, mobile markets (AFP)

BEIJING (AFP) - Global music broadcaster MTV wants to expand its presence in China by venturing into Internet and mobile value-added services, a press report said.

"I am not discouraged, but encouraged by what is happening in China," William Roedy, vice-chairman of MTV Networks and president of MTV Networks International, was quoted by the China Daily as saying.

There are more than 340 million families with access to TV broadcasting, over 400 million mobile-phone users and 111 million Internet users in China, the report said.

Roedy said his company would launch broadband services to China soon but gave no specific date.

The report said MTV and China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier in terms of subscribers, agreed to offer MTV content to China Mobile users in the form of ring tones, music and picture downloads last year.

China still tightly restricts foreign broadcasting in the country, although the government has allowed foreign broadcasters to establish joint ventures relating to content production.

MTV, owned by media giant Viacom, is aired only in the Pearl River Delta in southern China and at a number of upscale residential compounds and hotels in other parts of the country.

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