Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1206 Want to make progress too much

Hearing Mr. Shao's words, Ms. Fang asked with some confusion, "Run Run, what does that mean?"

In Ms. Fang's view, China.com poses no threat to television stations. In fact, it not only poses no threat but also gives money to television stations, including TVB, and increases their popularity.

Mr. Shao looked at Ms. Fang and said, "You can watch news on TV, and you can also watch news on China.com. The types of news you can watch are even more than those on TV. Once users get used to watching news reports on China.com, why would they still need to watch news on TV?"

"The competition among television stations is already fierce, and with the rise of the internet, things will probably be even more difficult for them in the future!"

Mr. Shao has been shrewd all his life. He may not understand the internet industry, but as a seasoned veteran, he can see that the relationship between the internet and television stations is not as peaceful as it seems now, and that the internet may even become a formidable rival to television stations.

"in addition……"

"Advertisers have a limited budget; there's only so much in total. If the internet takes off, TV stations will probably have to cut back on their spending!"

Mr. Shao said leisurely, revealing the most fundamental relationship between television stations and the internet: both rely on advertisers for their livelihood.

However, advertisers' money doesn't come easily. It's impossible for them to support various media outlets such as TV stations, newspapers, and magazines simultaneously. Now, with the addition of the internet industry, advertisers will definitely have to make choices.

Ms. Fang frowned. Listening to Mr. Shao's words, she felt that TVB's support for China.com was like raising a tiger to cause trouble.

"Should TVB terminate its cooperation with China.com...?"

China.com claims to be a portal website for Chinese people worldwide, but TVB is already one of the most influential television stations for Chinese people around the world.

Furthermore, TVB currently has satellite TV channels that reach Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, South Korea, and Siam, and these regions can also receive TVB.

However, TVB's international channel is not doing well. On the one hand, satellite costs are high, and localization is required, such as providing English, Korean, and other subtitles and translations, which is too costly for TVB.

Furthermore, it's not easy for a TV station to go global. TVB's dominance in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia is due to the fact that the quality of TV stations in these regions is not high. TVB's dramas do not require large-scale production and can still sell for high prices and achieve high viewership ratings.

Compared to overseas television stations, especially the major American television stations with their deep pockets, TVB is simply not good enough.

However, none of this prevents TVB from remaining the most influential and largest-user Chinese-language television station.

If TVB makes a statement that it will not cooperate with China.com, or even suppress it, other TV stations in Asia may follow suit, causing China.com to lose the support of TV stations.

Mr. Shao glanced at Ms. Fang, then couldn't help but shake his head.

"Leaving aside China.com, they have already followed all the rules, given TVB and other TV stations enough respect, and spent real money to cooperate."

There's no reason to push away someone who's spending money, and besides...

Mr. Shao's tone changed slightly, "China.com is a company whose launch ceremony was personally attended by the head of the Hong Kong government. How does the Hong Kong government think that TVB is suppressing China.com?"

Ms. Fang's expression immediately changed. Hong Kong had only been returned to the mainland for a year. If TVB went against China.com, wouldn't that be putting the Hong Kong government in a bad light?

How could this not make people in Hong Kong think? Could it be that the Shao family and TVB want to test the waters with the Hong Kong government?

Looking at Ms. Fang, Mr. Shao sighed softly. This was why he was worried about the future of TVB and wanted to sell it, because he simply couldn't find a successor who could take over TVB.

Mr. Shao's children, due to Ms. Fang and other reasons, are not close to him, all reside overseas, and have little interest in the Shao family's businesses.

More importantly, Mr. Shao had investigated the Shao family members, and the results showed that they were either unwilling to take over or had turned against him. In Mr. Shao's eyes, the Shao family members were simply not capable enough to support the TVB empire.

Ms. Fang is capable enough, but Mr. Shao knows that while she is capable enough to manage TVB, her age is also a factor. If he passes away one day, Ms. Fang will not only be facing the internal workings of TVB, but also the group of rivals outside who are eyeing TVB with covetous eyes!
It's hard to say whether the Shao family and Ms. Fang will be able to keep things under control at that time. So Mr. Shao wants to cash out his shares while TVB is doing well!

However, with a market value of around HK$20 billion, TVB is a large company, and it's not so easy to sell it.

Or rather, there are many people who want to acquire TVB. As soon as Mr. Shaw spread the word that he wants to sell TVB, media giants from Taiwan, Japan, America, Europe and other places will come running.

If he really had no scruples, he could do what Li Zekai did with his first pot of gold: sell TVB to overseas media giants like Murdoch's News Corporation, and he could probably make a fortune.

But Mr. Shao couldn't do that. Deep down, he didn't want TVB's controlling stake to fall into the hands of outsiders.

Furthermore, given TVB's influence in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, it's one thing for Mr. Shaw to want to sell TVB, but it's another thing to consider who can acquire TVB.

Because the acquisition of TVB will ultimately require the approval of the Hong Kong government, and even the nod of approval from Beijing!
In reality, there weren't many options left for Mr. Shao. In Hong Kong, only a few wealthy families could afford to take over TVB.

But starting last year, a new player came to Hong Kong, giving Mr. Shao another option: Cyberport, which is even more financially powerful than the major players in Hong Kong!

More importantly, the major shareholder behind Cyberport is incredibly powerful. Everyone knows who the major shareholder of Cyberport is, but the person Cyberport puts forward to represent the city is the Ning family, who are native to the city.

This makes the people of Hong Kong regard Cyberport as one of their own, and the mainland also feels very reassured about Cyberport. This makes Cyberport even more successful in Hong Kong than wealthy families like the Li family of Cheung Kong.

"Find some time and arrange a meeting with Li Dongling for me. I want to talk to him in person!"

"Find another suitable opportunity to release the news that I'm preparing to retire and that Shaw Brothers is going to sell TVB!"

Mr. Shao told Ms. Fang that he felt Cyberport was the most suitable place to acquire TVB at the moment. But business is business, and if he wanted to sell TVB for a high price, Mr. Shao would definitely need to get more buyers to come forward in order to raise TVB's value.

Ms. Fang paused for a moment, then nodded at Boss Shao, and said with a touch of nonchalance, "It's time for you to rest!"

"The same to you!"

Mr. Shao looked at Ms. Fang. He knew that Ms. Fang had dedicated half her life to TVB, or to him. Anyone could criticize Ms. Fang, but he couldn't.

……

"Mr. Li!"

"President Ning!"

When Li Dongling, Ning Wenke, Lin Xianhui, Zhang Xiaocheng, and others arrived at a yacht marina, a middle-aged man was already waiting there.

The yachts docked at this pier were mostly private luxury yachts owned by the sons of Hong Kong's wealthy families. When they saw Li Dashanren and Ning Wenke, the people on the yacht who were about to take their girlfriends out to sea couldn't help but look over at Li Dashanren, who had recently become the most talked-about figure in Hong Kong.

It's really hard to avoid Li Dongling. These rich young masters are bound to be compared to Li Dongling whenever they go home.

Li Dashanren built his empire from scratch, establishing Dongling High-Tech and Digital Port. Meanwhile, these scions of wealthy families, who have enjoyed abundant resources since childhood, have yet to achieve anything significant. It's truly disheartening to compare them.

At first, these people would argue back with their fathers, but as Cyberport grew larger in Hong Kong, especially after the sudden emergence of China.com, the city's wealthy families fell silent.

"Is that Paul?"

"Looks like this guy's about to land another big yacht order!"

On the private yacht, Su Jinliang watched Li Dongling and Ning Wenke board a yacht and then spoke to another young man surnamed Ma on the yacht.

The Su family is not considered a top-tier wealthy family in Hong Kong, but their net worth is still in the hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars, making them one of the city's richest families.

Paul, whom Su Jinliang mentioned, is the middle-aged man who just picked up Li Dongling and the others. He is the Hong Kong general manager of Simpson Company, the largest yacht dealership in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia. More than half of the yacht sales in Hong Kong, Japan, and other Southeast Asian regions are sold by Simpson Company.

In addition, Simpson also has yacht rental, after-sales service, and maintenance businesses. Most of the wealthy young men in the port city have had dealings with Paul and know him.

"More than that!"

"What could possibly warrant Paul's personal involvement is a superyacht order, which might just set a new record for yachts!"

The young master surnamed Ma said with a sour tone, "At home, I'm often compared to Li Dongling."

"I heard that China.com is valued at over two billion US dollars. Buying a yacht is nothing to Li Dongling!"

Hearing what the young master surnamed Ma said, the women, including some young models and actresses, who were on the yacht and were about to go out to sea with him, looked in the direction of the philanthropist Li and their eyes lit up.

These women in the world of fame and fortune know perfectly well who has money and who is just putting on airs. Su Jinliang and the young master surnamed Ma may look glamorous and generous, but in reality, they don't have much cash flow. At least before they took over the family business, their annual living expenses were always limited.

What these women can get is luxury cars and yachts, various parties and gatherings of the wealthy, being taken to so-called high society, going to upscale restaurants, and at most buying them clothes and bags. They may appear to have entered high society, but they are more like decorations for it. The girls don't actually get much money.

Because they were eager to enter high society, and in order to maintain the demeanor of high society and avoid being kicked out, they dared not casually flaunt their wealth to young masters like Su Jinliang. There were too many women trying to squeeze into this circle, and pretty faces alone were not an advantage at all.

On the contrary, they can make all sorts of demands on middle-class men who pursue them, such as a sense of ritual in life, bags, clothes, jewelry, and even houses and cars, and in the end they may not let them touch a single finger.

It looks surreal, but that's just how it is...

But Li Dashanren is different from these young masters. Li Dashanren is the first generation, and there are no mothers or mothers-in-law to control her. If something happens with Li Dashanren, even if she doesn't marry into the Li family of Hanxi, the monthly living expenses and the child support for any children she gives birth to will be enough for them to live quite freely.

These models and child actors are also aware of recent events such as Asia Night and the Top Ten Most Beautiful Faces in Asia, which were hosted by China.com.

If they could win an award, they would be guaranteed to debut as the center of attention. In an instant, the women on Su Jinliang's yacht looked at Li Dashan with even more fervent eyes.

"Young Master Su, who in Hong Kong doesn't know you? Please introduce me to this richest man, Mr. Li!"

"Yes, Young Master Su, Young Master Ma, why don't you organize a gathering and invite Mr. Li to join us? It would be a good opportunity for everyone to get to know each other!"

Su Jinliang looked at the group of women on the yacht, whose faces practically screamed "I want to advance my career," and couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. He knew that these women had used every means at their disposal to squeeze into his circle and onto this private yacht.

I saw Mr. Li today, but I don't think much of his place anymore.

"You want to get to know Li Dongling?"

"I'd rather get to know you!"

(End of this chapter)