bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Phoenix Satellite Television expects its InfoNews channel audience base to grow from six million to eight million in the second half of this year.

This is in contrast to the company's earlier target of 20 million viewers by year-end.

With the six-month promotion period since landing rights were given on January 6 now over, chief executive Liu Changle expected audience building to increase quickly.

'We are confident of having an audience of eight million by the end of this year, or possibly reaching 10 million.'

Mr Liu said he saw no competition between InfoNews and Chinese Central Television (CCTV), which recently launched a 24-hour news channel.

'The Sars outbreak and the Iraq War boosted demand for informative content. The daily needs for current affairs will continue,' he said.

'Now there are only the two channels. There is room for both of us, just like people watching Fox and CNN in the United States.'

InfoNews posted a third-quarter loss of HK$29.95 million, down from  $37.51 million a year earlier. The GEM-listed firm had a loss of  $59.1 million for the nine-month period.

Mr Liu was confident the channel would break even by the end of this year, despite advertising revenue being affected by the Sars outbreak. 'Although there is less ad revenue from tourism and travel sectors, there has been increasing advertising for medicine, hygiene and nutrient products. We believe advertising sales will soar in the second half of the year.'

InfoNews recorded an advertising revenue of  $11.15 million for the nine months ended March.

Mr Liu expected sales to grow to US$18-20 million by the end of the calendar year. He said Phoenix  would also look into the possibility of becoming a content provider for mainland cable TV operators.  'If the price of watching cable TV comes down and digitalisation progress is smooth, we can move faster as a programme supplier,' he said.



Phoenix predicts rapid rise in InfoNews audience numbers