Beijing's cable TV service monopoly announced Saturday it would engage in producing content for digital TV programs, but did not specify what kind of content it will offer.

Beijing Gehua CATV Network Company (600037), listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, said it is going to establish a joint venture together with two institutional investors from Shanghai and Shenzhen to develop digital television content and engage in cable channel management.

Gehua is believed to hold 40 percent of stocks of the proposed company, which has a total investment of 50 million yuan (7.26 million U.S. dollars), the announcement said.

Sources from Gehua said the new company might recruit professionals to produce original content and purchase programs, which indicates Gehua is enthusiastic about combining both upstream and downstream business in cable television management.

Gehua, supported by the Beijing Municipal Government, is the only cable TV service provider in the Chinese capital. In the city with a rough population of 16 million, the Gehua cable network reaches at least 2.7 million households.

By the second quarter 2008, China had nearly 40 million cable TV subscribers nationwide, mostly in big cities. The cable TV audience are usually better off and more influential than the 360 million households who are receiving traditional broadcasting signals, a recent national survey said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2008)