Chinese education channel to enter US market

Wednesday 19 Oct 2011
A Chinese education channel had found a shortcut to push its productions directly to US audiences after reaching a cooperation deal with its US counterpart yesterday, China Radio International reports.

According to the deal, China Educational Channel (CEC), a Hong Kong-registered station dedicated to the promotion of Chinese language and culture, may share all the subscribers and platforms of the to-be-launched Sky N Earth Television (Sky&Earth TV) in key markets.

Sky&Earth TV is expected to end its test run and transit into a formal operation in the US market on 23 January, which is New Year’s Day in the Chinese lunar calendar, it said in a press release yesterday.

It also highlighted its capability to deliver programmes to over 80 million viewers in the US through satellite broadcasting and DirecTV’s cable network.

Both CEC and Sky&Earth TV disclosed their respective plan to launch broadband video streaming services on the Internet.

China’s soft power would be recognised only when its cultural products successfully entered the key markets and attracted mainstream audiences, said Li Shiqiang, President of CEC, at the signing ceremony.

Susan Pattis, Chairperson of the Sky&Earth TV, viewed the cooperation as a chance to offer people in the western world more exposure to pure and original Chinese culture, so as to erase misunderstandings between east and west.