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Wenzhou merchant buys UK TV channel

By Yu Hongyan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-07-13 15:33

A merchant from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province has confirmed the buyout of Propeller TV, a UK digital satellite television channel, according to 66wz.com, a Wenzhou-based website.

The deal, reached last month, was made under the name of Xiking Group, said Ye Maoxi, CEO of the group and head of Wenzhou chamber of commerce's Beijing branch. He didn't disclose how much the group paid for the takeover.

The Leeds-based Propeller TV is a free-to-air and non-profit television channel run by the Image Channel Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Grimsby Institute in the UK.

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Launched in February 2006 on British Sky Broadcasting's satellite platform, it is the first digital satellite television channel in Europe to screen 100 percent new and original programming.

Ye said he got in touch with the channel when visiting as a member of a Chinese trade delegation during Premier Wenjiabao's visit the UK earlier this year, after learning it was being shunned from the government's fund and in need of a strategic investor due to the financial crisis.

After the purchase, Ye said he would adjust the developing route of the TV station and use the platform to promote Chinese culture.

"There will be specific programs to introduce China and Wenzhou, with some to be broadcast in Chinese", said Ye. "It will be a venue for the Europeans to know more about China, and for overseas Chinese to get immediate information of their homeland."

Prior to the deal, another Wenzhou merchant named Wang Weisheng bought a state-owned TV station in United Arab Emirates, which went into broadcast in August 2006.

Meanwhile, a Chinese-language radio station initiated by Chinese in France has been approved by the French authority and is set to hit the airwaves during the Chinese Spring Festival next year.