Spending by mobile-phone and food producers pushes revenue to 7.5b yuan
Advertising revenue at Chinese Central Television (CCTV) grew 18.02 per cent last year, outperforming the rest of the industry, thanks to aggressive spending by mobile-phone manufacturers and food producers.
The state-owned broadcaster said advertising sales reached 7.53 billion yuan, compared with 6.38 billion yuan in 2002 and 5.6 billion in 2001.
'We are satisfied with the growth, especially since we experienced the Sars outbreak last year,' a CCTV spokesman said.
'As a leading broadcaster in China, we believe the growth also reflects the great potential of the country's advertising market.'
The increase in CCTV's advertising sales outpaced the 12 per cent gain for the overall mainland market, in which advertisers spent US$2.7 billion last year.
This result was also well ahead of provincial broadcasters such as Shanghai Television, which saw an 11 per cent increase in advertising revenue, according to Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia.