At a recent investor meeting held by Shanghai BesTV, executives said that the Shanghai Media Group IPTV subsidiary was continuing its partnership talks with CCTV’s national online TV station CNTV. Executives added that China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) had expressed the hope that BesTV and CNTV would partner to form China’s sole IPTV operator, with BesTV primarily receiving revenues from operations and technical services that it would provide to the planned JV. Details of the deal, including the size of BesTV and CNTV’s stakes in the JV, profit split arrangements, and partnership model, have yet to be determined.

This April, BesTV will launch a new Internet television-enabled set-top box (STB) product as part of its plan to grow to more than 10m internet television viewers over the next three years. BesTV said that it could work with telecom operators and STB manufacturers under a model that would rely mainly on charging subscribers, and could introduce a range of high-value value-added STB-based services including online gaming, television shopping, and education.

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