IMG-CCTV Ink 20-Year Deal

Global sports entertainment giant IMG and state-controlled China Central Television (CCTV) today announced a 20-year partnership that will feed off China's growing appetite for sports and deliver sport programming to the largest single television market in the world, with an estimated reach of 370 million households. IMG's involvement will fast track the commercialization of sport in China, first by cultivating marketable athletes and creating new sport properties, and then by selling advertising and sponsorships that leverage CCTV's colossal market share. The timing of this deal could not have been more propitious, with nearly universal optimism among Chinese people -- 96%, according to the Pew Global Attitudes Project -- about the upcoming Olympic Games.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121747364814599837.html?mod=sports

http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/261.pdf

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