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Advertising on Digital Media in China

Out of home flat screen TV advertising has taken off in China. LCD and plasma screens seem to have taken over China's largest cities, targeting Chinese consumers in the public and commercial places they spend their time.

Residents in China's top tier cities can now watch advertisements on TV screens as they take a bus, subway, or taxi to work, wait for an elevator at the office, buy groceries at the supermarket, get their hair done at the salon, stroll through shopping malls or as they wait for the elevator in their apartment complex.

Shanghai based DMG operates a flat screen advertising network in Shanghai's subways. Through a joint venture with Shanghai's local subway operator, DMG has a corner on some of the most high traffic areas in the city - Shanghai's three main subway lines have over 1.6 million daily passengers, according to DMG. The company also operates a network in Chongqing subways, and with backing from Gobi Ventures, NTT DoCoMo and Dentsu, the company is looking to expand its services to other parts of the country.

According to DMG's marketing manager Bernie Liu, Digital Media Group (DMG) is registered in the British Virgin Islands. "We established a mainland China subsidiary in Beijing, which developed our Passenger Information & Direction System (PIDS). DMG Shanghai Metro Information (which operates the flat-screen TV advertising networks in Shanghai's subways) is a joint venture between DMG and Shanghai Metro Operation Information [the company that operates Shanghai's subways]."

Shanghai Metro Operation Information, a state-owned company, is the majority shareholder in the JV, but DMG is responsible for the daily operation of the company. DMG sets up similar arrangements in other cities. DMG received a US$6 million investment from NTT DoCoMo and Dentsu at the end of 2004.

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