Type Broadcast Availability in Shanghai,in China Founded 2001 | Country China Official website SMG Online Launch date 2001 | |
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Parent organization Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group Subsidiaries Dragon Television, Great Sports Media Co Ltd TV shows Go Fighting!, Sisters Over Flowers, 2 Days & 1 Night, A Miss Mallard Mystery, Beauty's Rival in Palace | ||
Radio and Television Station of Shanghai (RTS), a Shanghai-based government institutions, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Shanghai Media Group (SMG) is one of China’s largest media and cultural conglomerates, with the most complete portfolio of media and related businesses. The Oriental Pearl Media Company under SMG was the first cultural and media company in China to realize a market capitalization totaling more than 100 Bln RMB ($15 Bln) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2015. By June 2015, SMG has more than RMB 61 Bln ($10 Bln) in assets and about 17,200 employees.
Contents
SMG’s businesses span operations of radio and TV networks, signal transmission, newspapers and magazines, drama and film production and distribution, OTT and streaming, IPTV, online and console gaming, digital advertising, home shopping and e-commerce, financial data and information services, children’s arts training, TV post-production services, live entertainment, tourism and cultural investments, etc.
SMG has 15 cable and satellite TV networks, 13 radio frequencies, 15 subscription-based digital pay TV channels, 8 newspapers and magazines and transmits signals via airwaves, cables, satellite and IPTV. On the content side, SMG is a leading powerhouse in China in the production of TV and films, animation and documentaries. New media is a top priority for SMG. It is poised to set up a new media eco-system with the operation of mobile TV, OTT, web portals, apps and cloud services. SMG is also a strong player in live entertainment, owning 9 top art troupes, one circus school, 8 theatres, a number of live entertainment companies. In addition, SMG possesses some of the most famous landmark properties in Shanghai including the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Mercedes Benz Arena and the International Convention Center. On the e-commerce front, SMG’s home-shopping is one of the largest in China with sales revenue of 8.5 bln RMB in 2014. SMG is also setting foot in cultural investments. It holds 20% of the shares of the Shanghai Disney Resort and has invested in a number of cultural investment funds including the China Media Capital, Shanghai Culture Industrial Investment Fund and the LDVP Venture Capital Fund.
History
Formed in 2001, SMG is the result of a merger between the People’s Radio Station of Shanghai, East Radio Shanghai, Shanghai Television Station, and Oriental Television Station. It has 11 analogue TV channels, 90 digital paid cable TV channels, an internet TV service, plus 10 analogue and 19 digital radio services. The group also operates and owns 5 sports centres and 14 cultural art centres. According to a survey of AC Nielsen, eleven of the group’s TV channels have achieved a market share of 76% during prime time in 2003.
In 2003 the group conducted a feasibility study with a view to set up a new English channel. It renamed its Shanghai Broadcasting Network to Dragon TV and moved that channel's best-known English program "News at Ten" to Shanghai Television Business Channel and Dragon TV. In January 2008, the Group launch a 24-hour English TV news channel, (ICS - International Channel Shanghai), the second in China after the state-own China Central Television's English channel (CCTV-9). The content of ICS News is distributed on mobile and internet platforms by US Company China Animation Partners, LLC.
English radio programming includes "Live It Up, Shanghai" broadcasts on the East Radio channel (792am and 89.9fm).
On 2 October the Group hosted special concert to mark the 20th anniversary of South Korea and China's diplomatic ties, with performers including along Kim Jang-hoon, Super Junior-M and EXO-K.
The Walt Disney Studios and Shanghai Media Group Pictures signed a movie development agreement, before the March 6, 2014 announcement, in which Chinese themes would be incorporated into Disney branded movies.
Shanghai Media Group is the holding company of China Business Network (CBN), which in addition to the TV channel also runs a magazine named CBN Weekly, a newspaper called CBN Paper, radio channel CBN Radio and a number of websites carrying the name. In 2015 Alibaba Group paid 1.2 billion yuan ($193.5 million) to Shanghai Media Group for 30% of CBN's stocks.
Radio stations
All Channels are using callsigns with a prefix of "Shanghai People’s Radio Station"(Chinese: 上海人民广播电台), but most programmes of them has been produced by of SMG Radio Centre (Chinese: 东方广播中心) (a.k.a. Shanghai East Radio Company, Chinese: 上海东方广播有限公司) since 2014.