Chinese Food for Thought: MySpace
Rupert Murdoch is trying to bring My Space to a new audience: China. So far, many media ventures aimed at China have been less than stellar. Several media and content providers, including Murdoch’s News Corp., currently have operations in China, but none have witnessed the breakaway success that the huge market potentially possesses:
China has an estimated 137 million Internet users.
In order to achieve success in this new market, News Corp. is reportedly considering partnering with at least one Chinese company to help bring the venture to fruition. Speculation is that News Corp. may have to give up 50 percent ownership in the Chinese MySpace venture in order to successfully break into the market.
Adherence to policies, regulations, and government involvement is nothing new to outsiders wishing to do business in China. Ubiquitous U.S. companies like Yahoo! and eBay have recently turned to local Chinese operations to help improve less than stellar results.
Also, looming not far from any Internet deal, is China’s national program for a “civilized Internet.” This policy allows for purging of unwanted online content. And, with that common understanding, the concept of My Space pushes forward into an entirely different market and social network.
Sources:
Fowler G., & Dean, J. (2007, February 2). In China, myspace may need to be ‘ourspace.’ The Wall Street Journal, p. B1.
Kharif, O. (2006, September 21). Murdoch’s mission to china. BusinessWeek. Retrieved February 5, 2006, from http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2006/tc20060920_643272.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_more+of+today's+top+stories