Hong Kong's new giants

"That's good! I didn't want to dampen your confidence just now, but I wanted to say that Heung Kong Telecom needs to really get out of the circle of 600 million people in Heung Kong, and has to look for opportunities overseas."

As soon as Lin Zuhui finished speaking, everyone began to think seriously.

In this life, Hong Kong Telecom has not been affected by the acquisition and caused huge financial pressure; on the contrary, Hong Kong Telecom currently has a cash flow of more than 200 billion Hong Kong dollars in its account.

In the previous life, after Li Zekai acquired Xiangjiang Telecom, he merged Yingke with it, and the debt acquired in this way naturally became the debt of Hong Kong Telecom.As a result, Hong Kong Telecom was heavily in debt and unable to break out of Hong Kong. Instead, it sold its mobile communications business to Australian telecommunications companies.

Avelon's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said excitedly: "The boss is planning to buy an overseas telecommunications company, directly jumping out of Xiangjiang's circle? Is it Australia?"

Sure enough, everyone's eyes lit up.

Lin Zuhui didn't hold back anymore, and said, "Not bad! How about Optus, Australia's second largest telecommunications company?"

Avalon immediately said: "At that time, I participated in leading the plan to open up the Australian telecommunications market, and I am very familiar with the Australian market. Optus is very good, if its parent company intends to sell it!"

Yuan Tianfan also said: "For a second child like Optus, the chances of its parent company selling are very high, as long as the price is right."

Everyone agrees with this acquisition plan!

Europeans and Americans do business because if they can sell at a high price when the market is good, they will not be stingy, which is why mergers and acquisitions often occur in Europe and the United States.

Lin Zuhui finally said: "Well, you guys should conduct a secret investigation for a while, don't get in touch with it in detail, and make an acquisition plan at the same time."

"Ok!"

The reason why we don't want a quick fix is ​​because we have to wait for the Internet bubble to burst, which makes it easier to negotiate.Of course, the telecommunications industry is a traditional industry. In the Internet bubble, the impact was not as great as that of Internet companies.

But there is one exception, and that is the Dadong Telegraph Bureau. They received 100 billion US dollars in cash last year, and it is said that all of them were invested in the Internet, and the converted shares of New Times Group were not sold.

From the looks of it, there are no panties left!

Lin Zuhui seems to remember that in his previous life, Li Zekai wanted to acquire the Dadong Telegraph in turn, so he joined hands with Texas Pacific Group to initiate the acquisition; at that time, the stock price of Dadong Telegraph fell from 1500 pence to about 50 pence, and its market value was only about 150 billion Hong Kong dollars.

What a joke!

But in this life, Dadong Telegraph should have a better life. After all, the shares of New Era Group are much more valuable than the previous Century Pacific Telecom.

In fact, Lin Zuhui would also arrange for Hong Kong Telecom to acquire Dadong Telegraph Bureau.

Success or failure is one thing, but face must be recovered.

Chapter 685 [Culture takes off again]

In late April, the media group completed its reorganization and opened a new chapter.

The reorganized 'Media Group' has an annual turnover of more than 300 billion Hong Kong dollars and an annual profit of more than 70 billion Hong Kong dollars. It is a full-fledged giant enterprise.

TV broadcasting, entertainment movies, news animation, and software games, the four core business segments actually cover dozens of small areas and develop comprehensively.

The headquarters of the media group is located in the Media Building (formerly the News Building) in North Point, which is also the headquarters of Wanhui Media and Wanhui Comics.

The four major business sectors of the media group have four headquarters:

The headquarters of News Animation is located in the 'Media Building' in North Point;

The headquarters of television broadcasting is located in the 'ATV Center' in Tseung Kwan O;

The headquarters of Entertainment Films is located in 'YG Entertainment & DreamWorks Building' on Broadcast Road, Kowloon;

The headquarters of the software game is located in part of the office building area of ​​Cyberport.

The conference room of the media building.

Lin Zuhui attended the first executive meeting after the reorganization of the 'Media Group'. It can be seen that the senior executives are very excited, because they know that the reorganization of the business means that the group will usher in a new chapter, and the group will be more developed. prospect.

The president of the news media group, Lin Zuhui chose Long Jingchang, who had been his assistant for many years, who was the original president of Wanhui Media; Broad, management ability is increasing day by day, Lin Zuhui fancy.

After Long Jingchang became the president of the group, he handed over the president of the 'media animation' business to Liang Guanhui, who was originally from the magazine field. Long Jingchang managed the media group full-time and acted as Lin Zuhui's assistant.

Under Long Jingchang, Lin Zuhui promoted the original ATV "God of Wealth" Li Baoan to the vice president of the group, specializing in the group's finances.

The other vice president was recruited from the outside, named Guo Changhong.

Next, there are the presidents of the four major sectors, namely: Liang Guanhui (media comics), Liu Songcheng (software games), Zhou Liangshuyi (television communication), and Yu Xiaoming (entertainment films).

In fact, the presidents of the four major sectors enjoy a great deal of independence and autonomy. The group's greatest power is finance, followed by intermediary and nanny roles. For example, certain businesses of several subsidiaries can cooperate and can be managed by the group. Strings and such.

The meeting begins.

Lin Zuhui first said: "This merger, the media group will have more international influence and competitiveness. This is what I want to see. Xiangjiang only has a population of 600 million, so what I have always emphasized is to jump out of the circle of Hong Kong. Over the years, we have done Arrived. For example, ATV Group has more than 8 million audience customers, which is the highest in Asia in terms of value."

In fact, ATV has more than 8 million viewers, many of which are the credit of the satellite TV group.However, Asia TV has also entered the cable TV network in the three southeastern provinces, and it is also the fourth largest TV station on Taiwan Island. This is a very impressive achievement.Although Asia Satellite TV had achieved such results in the previous life, they were still unsure and were kicked out one after another.

In fact, it's not that Lin Zuhui's relationship is strong, but the content exported overseas by ATV Group, the core of which is the entertainment industry, so it can have both the mainland and Taiwan.And this is what Lin Zuhui wants to see, because his purpose of running a TV station is to export 'Hong Kong culture'.

The subordinates all showed proud expressions. The media group is really too big, and all businesses are developing very well.

"However, we also need to see a sense of crisis! The cultural industry has competitive pressure from South Korea and Japan, and the 'bubble crisis' erupted on the Internet... Because of this, I only thought of merging the two groups this year, so that I can manage as a whole to meet the challenges of the new century."

Everyone's expressions were terrified, knowing that the boss has always been famous for his long-term vision and viciousness, so they naturally believed it.

"President Liang, ATV Group needs to deeply cultivate the 'Hong Kong Stream Culture', rely on our foundation established in the early stage, carry out innovation, and come up with more blockbuster models, remember not to stand still."

Selina Chow quickly said: "Don't worry, the boss, ATV Group has a complete system and a wealth of talents, and will definitely be able to produce better works. For example, "Meteor Garden" has become a popular drama series in Asia, and the production department of ATV Group has seen the popularity of campus idol dramas." Potential, this year we will strive to produce one or two high-quality works of this type... The appearance of "X-man" and "Love Letter" (premiered in March) has opened the door to "Hong Kong variety show", and we have also organized special PD department, cultivate excellent writers (screenwriters), seriously develop such new works..."

After hearing Selina Chow's report, everyone couldn't help but lament the rapid changes of ATV Group.

Before the boss settled in ATV, TVB had always been the overlord of Xiangjiang, but from the 1967 years of TVB from 1990 to 20, there was hardly any innovation, at least no 'genre'.

In the early 90s, the ATV Group started to innovate. First, the "Hong Kong-style drama" and "reality talent show" formed two major genres, and then the current "Hong Kong-style variety show" once again formed a new genre of variety shows. .

Lin Zuhui nodded, he was very relieved of Zhou Liangshuyi, and of course he was more assured of himself.The management and production department of ATV Group are just pigs, and Lin Zuhui can make them take off.

There are still many Hong Kong TV dramas and variety shows in his mind, which is his confidence; of course, the production department implemented by ATV Group-PD responsibility system-writers (screenwriters) is also very competitive. Powerful.

To put it simply, PD is in charge of a program. If he achieves great success, he can gain fame and fortune, which can stimulate everyone's enthusiasm for creation.

So far, ATV Group still does not accept the cooperation of outside production companies, and still implements one-stop production; the reason is actually very simple, there is no reason to go that way because of Lin Zuhui.

Lin Zuhui also said: "Dreamworks needs to provide funds to establish the 'Dreamworks Fund' to support local film producers in Hong Kong. 'Taking money and not interfering' is the purpose of this foundation. The direction of investment is that Excellent works like "Infernal Affairs" full of philosophy and human nature, don't chase those movies that are too commercial, it can be regarded as the group's fund to support Xiangjiang Films, the initial setting is 1 million, and I will consider increasing it later."

Pan Cheng was overjoyed, and quickly said, "Okay, boss!"

All the high-level executives nodded their heads. In the early years, Xiangjiang Films had declined. It was DreamWorks that brought Xiangjiang Films back up. In recent years, many excellent Xiangjiang films have emerged, including the "Matrix" series, "Infernal Affairs", " "Resident Evil" and so on, recreating the glory of Xiangjiang movies.

At this time, DreamWorks has combined 60% of the cinemas and theaters in Xiangjiang into "DreamWorks Cinemas".It can be said that it is a large enterprise integrating production, distribution, and theaters.

Lin Zuhui has his own plan for Heung Kong Films, that is, he hopes to win more awards in the world and increase his own influence; he targets the Korean films of his previous life for Heung Kong Films, and of course it is limited to those Korean films that can be remade. For example, Feng Junhao's "Snowpiercer" and "Parasite".Of course, such a movie cannot be released too early, at least it must be when the video website is up.

After a meeting, the media group officially opened the curtain.

Sitting in the office, Lin Zuhui summoned Pan Cheng from DreamWorks alone, and first listened to Pan Cheng's work report.

DreamWorks is now a big business, not only investing hundreds of millions of dollars in "Kung Fu Panda", but also participating in film investment in the Mainland. At the same time, it also produces 4 to 5 excellent films every year.

After listening to the report, Lin Zuhui expressed his affirmation, and then he said: "You shoot another subject, the content is probably that the morgue of the former British Army stationed in Hong Kong violated the regulations and poured a large amount of deteriorated formaldehyde into Victoria Harbor, causing the surrounding sea water to be polluted. , the creatures in the water mutate... The movie is called "The Monster of Victoria Harbor". Hollywood is invited to join in for special effects, Hong Kong movie elements are added, and an ordinary family is used as the protagonist to reflect human nature... So there are not only monsters, but also human nature. Trials...that's what I hope Hong Kong films will always have deeper elements."

Starting from "The Matrix" and "Infernal Affairs", the overall atmosphere of Xiangjiang movies has changed, and directors and screenwriters have begun to pay attention to deep-seated elements.Of course, the most representative is of course the head of DreamWorks.

Pan Cheng nodded seriously while recording.

"The boss can rest assured that DreamWorks has formed a system through the development of the past few years. We will strive to make persistent efforts and take a share in the history of international film."

"Okay, it's good to have confidence. Box office is important, but it's more important to open the window to the world. I also have a dream, that is to let people all over the world listen to our music frequently and occasionally watch our dramas, and they will continue to watch our dramas in a year. Watch a Hong Kong movie or two."

Pan Cheng was filled with admiration immediately. In fact, the boss had almost done it.

After dismissing Pan Cheng, Du Huide, president of Sina.com, came to Lin Zuhui's office.

Lin Zuhui said directly: "Sina.com wants to imitate Netflix in the United States, set up a movie/series DVD rental website, adopt a membership system, and then a member can watch as many movies and series as we like every month."

Du Huide was taken aback, and tentatively said: "Is the Xiangjiang market too small? And there are still some pirated versions in Xiangjiang!"

Lin Zuhui said with a smile: "If a monthly membership fee is cheaper than buying pirated discs? Then everyone is naturally willing to attack our members. As for the problem that Hong Kong is too small and the market is limited, I am actually a ulterior motive. I'm not drinking, I plan to make a video website in the future..."

After Du Huide listened, he couldn't help admiring the boss's long-term vision.

This website for renting DVDs is actually a pre-emptive one, and enjoys some popularity in Xiangjiang Internet; when the speed of the Internet is sufficient, this website will immediately become an online video website, and then it will be a matter of course.

Lin Zuhui finally said: "This project will cooperate with ATV Group and DreamWorks. They will invest in copyright, and Sina.com will be responsible for technology and operation."

Du Huide nodded and said, "No problem, I will come up with a plan as soon as possible!"

Lin Zuhui said: "The follow-up development is the development of technology. If we want to develop overseas in the future, it is not enough to rely on the Hong Kong culture of Hong Kong, but we must rely on advanced Internet technology."

"Okay, I see, I must attach great importance to this website."

"Well, this website is called Sina Video!"

"Yes, boss!"

After Du Huide left, Lin Zuhui fell into thinking again.

This Sina Video will develop to a certain extent in the future, and it will definitely be the first to implement the "self-made program" model. At that time, it will inevitably form a business confrontation with ATV Group.Of course, it is more about cooperation, after all, it is a brother company, and ATV Group will also invest in Sina Video.

But in other words, the reason why Netflix broke through in the previous life was not only to start self-made programs, but also to engage in a technical competition in the early years, inviting a global technical team to solve technical problems for him, and then spending 100 billion US dollars.The result is that it has gained popularity and made the technology far ahead.

Sina Video must also be positioned globally, so it is natural to follow the footsteps of Netflix in the previous life and advance step by step.After all, Sina video is a very important part of Gangliu culture going overseas.

And Sina Video, at least like ATV Group, has to go to dozens of countries overseas and have hundreds of millions of users in order to be truly successful.

Technology, or technology!

……

The establishment of a media group affects not only Hong Kong, but the entire world. Of course, there is Bangziguo, which also proposed a cultural nation in 1998.

In the past one and a half years, although South Korea has been desperately trying to develop the cultural industry, they have found that there is a stronger opponent blocking the development of Korean culture, and that is Hong Kong.

For example, TV dramas filmed in South Korea are not very popular in the mainland because of the influence of Hong Kong dramas in the mainland; the mainland officials only introduced one or two TV series for the sake of the relationship between the two countries, but the TV station soon found that the effect was not good , so he is more keen on introducing Hong Kong dramas.

For example, when Korean idol groups go to the mainland to perform, they are far from the scenes of their previous lives, they can only be said to be so-so; on the contrary, Hong Kong stream groups have entered the whole of Asia, and the entertainment industry in the mainland is even more dominated by Hong Kong streams.

Even the mainland of South Korea has been impacted by the Hong Kong Stream. Hong Kong Stream groups and stars have gone to Korea to hold concerts, perform, and endorse, which can be described as a slap in the face.

Therefore, the establishment of the media group this time has released a signal that Hong Kong culture has opened a new chapter.

Of course, the Hong Kong government has also done a lot of work to promote the culture of Hong Kong, including formulating a strategy to rejuvenate Hong Kong through culture and a series of cultural policies.At the same time, "Hong Kong Stream Experience Halls" will be established in various parts of Asia, and the "Asian Cultural Exchange Association" will be formed by non-governmental experts and scholars to check the cultural content of exports and prevent the outflow of inferior cultural products, thereby reducing the outside world's trust in "Gang Stream" cultural products , set up official units in countries and regions where the 'Hong Kong Stream' prevails, and station cultural officials...

A series of measures came down to form a virtuous circle.

Even TVB, ATV's rival, has now become a large enterprise exporting cultural products and a listed company with a market value of tens of billions.

The truth is actually very simple. TVB is not stupid. In its early years, it learned from ATV and established a Hong Kong stream entertainment company. Later, it also started filming Hong Kong stream dramas.

At the same time, Xiangjiang has tens of thousands of trainees, forming a crazy industrial chain, which is even more cruel; the trainees who can make their debut are all very good artists.

Chapter 686 [World Landlord]

Time flies, and it is June in a blink of an eye.

On this day, Gao Kelin, the president of The Ninth City, came to Jinshan Software Company in the Mainland, and was received by Qiu Bojun and Rebs.

It turned out that "Legend of Hot Blood" officially landed in the online game market in the Mainland through the agency of Xishanju, a game company under Kingsoft Software.

The three games developed by The Ninth City: "Legend of Blood", "Miracle MU" and "Ragnarok" have all achieved great success overseas, making Hong Kong an important region for online games.

However, due to reasons such as network speed, the mainland has not established a server, but Ninth City and Xishanju have been reviewing the network environment in the mainland.

Last year, "Network Genesis" came to the mainland through the simulation server of "Sphere" developed by a third-party software vendor.Although they can't appreciate the charm of the official server, the name of UO still fascinates people who have longed for it for a long time. They frantically download the UO client, and use 3.6K kittens to work hard towards the 600M UO world.Although the stability and the upper limit of the number of people cannot be compared with Origin's regular server, although pauses occur from time to time, although the system crashes are commonplace, and even many servers have player data cleared.But to apply a sentence from the players at the time: "We can play UO, that's enough."

Although "Online Genesis" is one step ahead, it is not a server in the true sense, nor does it have good experience and channels for operating online games, so it cannot be regarded as a real online graphics game in the mainland.

Now, "Legend of Blood" is here, and even Internet cafes in major cities have played the passionate slogan "No brothers, no legends".

After being polite, the three sat in the office and chatted.

Qiu Bojun said happily: ""Legend of Hot Blood" has set off a 'legendary trend' in Internet cafes in major cities. In a short period of time, the number of registered users has exceeded 10, and the number of online users has reached 3000 at the same time."

Gao Kelin said unexpectedly: "It's only been half a month, how can it develop so quickly?"

Qiu Bojun smiled and said: "Yes, the main reason is that the publicity work is done well. Many Internet cafes have put up our posters. In addition, "Legend of Hot Blood", as the world's first real graphic online game, has great potential. Influence, in the eyes of game lovers."

Gao Kelin nodded, but he knew that "Legend of Hot Blood" is far less popular than "Miracle MU" and "Ragnarok" overseas, and "Legend of Hot Blood" is very popular in Greater China.

Rebs also said: ""Legend of Blood" provides a blueprint for online game operations in the mainland, providing game program clients for free, and charging through services (click to open), major media have exclaimed that the new operating model will Clearing away the piracy cloud that has long hung over the game industry in one fell swoop has brought infinite vitality and hope to the game industry."

Gao Kelin said with a smile: "This kind of model is very normal overseas! By the way, seeing that online games are so promising, your "Swordsman Love" IP is very good, do you have any plans to go online? If not, you might as well ask Let us develop it."

Rebs quickly said: "The project is already being approved, President Gao may be disappointed!"

Gao Kelin immediately laughed and said, "Haha, it's too serious, I'm not going to be disappointed, I'm happy for you."

At this time, Gao Kelin knew one thing, that is, the game developed by Ninth City, in addition to Xishanju as an agent, Penguin would also be a good channel.