Chinese businessman buys TV station in UK

Jul. 14, 2009 (China Knowledge) - A businessman from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province has bought Propeller TV, a UK digital satellite television (TV) channel, sources reported.

The deal was completed last month, said Ye Maoxi, president of Xiking Group and also head of Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce's Beijing branch, without disclosing the takeover price.

The group contacted with Propeller TV when visiting as a member of a Chinese trade delegation during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit the UK earlier this year, said Ye, adding that the company planned to acquire Propeller TV when he heard that the British government would no longer inject money into the TV station due to the global financial crisis.

The company will adjust the development strategy of the TV station after the acquisition and use the platform to promote Chinese culture through specific programs to introduce China as well as Wenzhou, said Ye.

Ye hopes that the TV station will help the Europeans to know more about China, and also help overseas Chinese to get immediate information of their homeland.

Leeds-based Propeller TV, a free-to-air and non-profit television channel run by the Image Channel Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Grimsby Institute in the UK, won the Hot Bird TV 2008 Cinema Channel Award last November.