Chinese private broadcaster emerges in Africa

Pang Xinxing has long dreamed of building a global media empire. Although difficult to penetrate the powerful state companies-dominated Chinese market, the African continent has proven to be fertile ground for his ambitions.

In just five years, Pang's company -- the StarTimes Group -- has become one of three major digital TV providers in Africa, reaching out to 1.4 million families in nine countries from Rwanda to Nigeria.

"Our subscription base is growing by tens of thousands every month," Pang, chairman of StarTimes, said. "It won't be too long before we have the largest number of subscribers in Africa."

But observers say it is the company's pricing that has rattled the market. Pang's company has offered TV services at half their previous cost, forcing local and international rivals to slash prices in order to survive the competition.

Pang says his goal is simple: to let ordinary Africans pay less for TV.

"We aim to allow every African family to afford and have access to good quality digital TV," Pang said after meeting with a dozen African communication and press ministers at a digital TV forum held in Beijing this week.

The company's clients in Africa now pay as little as 35 U.S. dollars for a digital decoder and 6 dollars a month for a TV program subscription -- down from 150 dollars and 70 dollars, respectively.

"People like StarTimes," said Guinea's Communication Minister Dirus Diale Dore, adding that France's Canal Plus also operated in the country but the prices were much more expensive.

TESTING THE WATERS

Chinese investment is widely known for driving the infrastructure and manufacturing boom across the African continent in recent years, but few Chinese companies have ventured into the media sector.

Pang said his ambition was inspired by an urge to counter the negative portrayal of China that he believes exists in Western media. Pang said he was saddened to see exaggerated and biased reports while visiting European countries and the United States in the late 1990s.

"That was when the idea of founding a media conglomerate struck," he said.

Today, African viewers have options like Aljazeera, CCTV News, CNC World in addition to BBC World News and FRANCE 24 on StarTimes channels.

Pang said has company also managed to produce seven self-developed channels including one that features Kungfu.

But among the more than 140 channels his company operates, football is the most watched program, Pang said, adding that he wants as many African families as possible to watch their beloved football games on TV.

Although many families still lack access to electricity, the market in Africa for digital TV is huge, he said.

StarTimes' turnover in Africa has been doubling annually since 2009 and is projected to reach nearly 100 million U.S. dollars this year, Pang said. "We expect the growth momentum to continue for a couple of years."

Many African nations pledged as early as 2006 to shift from analog to digital TV by 2015. But concerns have surfaced that some are likely to miss the deadline, as little progress has been made over the years.

"We want StarTimes to be a strategic partner in our efforts to migrate our national broadcasting from analog to digital," said Cameroon's Communication Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary. "For the time being, we are still broadcasting on analog."