News Corp. already has very little business in China.

At the beginning of this century, News Corporation entered the Chinese market through its Star TV.

However, after a few years of stagnant success, it slowly shrank its business, and later even sold Star TV directly to Canxing Culture.

In addition to TV stations, it has also launched radio and television program production companies, as well as the Chinese version of Myspace - Juyou.com.

None of these projects were spared, and all were scrapped.

When a foreign-funded media group encounters various difficulties in its operations in China, Westerners tend to interpret them from a political perspective.

These understandings are wrong. Among other things, the country is relatively liberal when it comes to the Internet.

Ari and Penguin, both of which SoftBank and MIH have stakes in, are doing well in China, so why can’t Juyou.com?

At that time, Juyou.com could not compete with Kaixin.com and Xiaonei.com. It was more because it was not strong enough and could not blame others.

Some professionals have analyzed that the collapse of News Corporation in China first came from the operational level, with poor management and acclimatization being the main reasons.

Take the simplest example:

At that time, Star TV obtained the qualification to launch in eastern Guangdong, and then the production location was in Shanghai. Most of the production staff came from Hong Kong and Taiwan, but the audience was the audience in eastern Guangdong.

Under such regional and cultural differences, it is difficult for the audiences in eastern Guangdong to "buy in" the programs produced by Star TV.

In other words, it is not down-to-earth enough and does not carry out localized operations.

It will be difficult for any multinational company to truly gain a foothold locally if it does not carry out localized operations.

James Murdoch, the eldest son of Rupert Murdoch Sr., was very sad when he talked with Zhang Yida about News Corporation's various past events in China.

Zhang Yida smiled faintly after hearing this. He had a good hand and played it badly. He was talking about News Corporation's business department in China.

It entered the Chinese mainland market in 2000. In the more than ten years of China's rapid development, it has not even made a big splash.

Last but not least, China’s leading entertainment and film companies should also invest in two companies. In the end, they didn’t.

Zhang Yida knew that Li Ruigang had many contacts with News Corporation, so he entrusted him to introduce a senior executive of News Corporation.

As a result, Li Ruigang invited James Murdoch, the heir to the media empire.

Zhang Yida had to sigh, the boss is the boss, he really has a wide range of friends.

Little Murdoch is actually not young anymore. He was born in 1972 and is already forty-five years old. He can be considered a middle-aged man.

Wearing glasses, he is very elegant and looks very similar to his father.

After talking about News Corporation's past, he turned the topic to Zhang Yida.

"I heard that Mr. Zhang is still a senior in the History Department of Beijing University?"

Zhang Yida smiled. If James didn't mention this, he almost forgot that he was still a student. He hadn't been to school for almost half a year...

"Yes, I will graduate in half a year."

James smiled and said: "We are quite similar. I also majored in film and history at Harvard University."

"Really? Then Mr. Murdoch must be good at studying."

These so-called prestigious schools in Europe and the United States have almost made it clear that they donate admission. Zhang Yida does not believe that little Murdoch got into it on his own.

James said thank you and continued: "Actually, I also started a business when I was in college, but it was far less brilliant than Mr. Zhang.

In 1995, during my junior year of college, I dropped out of Harvard University and started a hip-hop music record company in partnership with two classmates.

Within one year, the company's annual profit reached US$2.5 million.

How is it? It sounds good, right?"

Zhang Yida spread his hands, "Of course, I was just born in 1995, and the US$2.5 million at that time was at least equivalent to the purchasing power of US$25 million now."

James laughed and continued: "But one of my colleagues at the time said: There were indeed many people who wanted to sign with us at that time, but they only took a fancy to the surname 'Murdoch'.

Then a year later, my father bought the record company.

This was the end of my entrepreneurial career. I also "returned my evil ways" and started my career at News Corporation.

Therefore, I have full respect for Mr. Zhang, a self-made man."

After listening to this, Zhang Yida commented: "Joining News Corporation, taking the business passed down to you by old Mr. Murdoch and taking it to a higher position, can be considered a kind of entrepreneurship!

Well, maybe it could be called intrapreneurship.”

"Haha, Mr. Zhang, you are so funny."

James glanced at Zhang Yida and then said: "I heard from Mr. Li, Mr. Zhang, do you have important cooperation with me?"

"Yes, my Musical.ly short video application and Mobao Pay plan to enter Australia, and I hope to develop some cooperation with News Corporation.

In addition, Musical.ly is also expanding significantly in other regions around the world. And News Corp. has TV networks all over the world, and I think we can also carry out some mutually beneficial cooperation."

James nodded and asked again: "Is it just advertising?"

"If News Corp wants to invest in Musical.ly, we welcome it."

James was stunned for a moment, his face gradually became serious, and he said: "We need to think about it."

Zhang Yida understands the other party very well. News Corporation spent US$580 million to acquire MySpace in 2005, and then lost money year by year. In 2011, it sold the Internet company for US$35 million.

Including operating losses over several years, the deal cost News Corp. more than $1 billion.

It can't be said to hurt the muscles and bones, but it is enough to make them feel pain for a long time.

Now looking at little James's attitude, it really echoes the old saying: "Once bitten by a snake, you will be afraid of the rope for ten years."

In attracting News Group to become a shareholder, Zhang Yida considered the various difficulties that Musical.ly would face in its international expansion and secured a heavyweight shareholder in advance.

News Corporation was founded in Australia in the 1950s and has now developed into a media group with diversified development in cable and satellite television, movies, newspapers, magazines and printing industries. It is one of the largest media conglomerates in the world.

In addition to controlling Twentieth Century Fox, one of the six major Hollywood film companies, it also controls many TV stations and newspapers. It has great influence on public opinion in the West and even the world.

In the previous life, TikTok encountered a lot of difficulties in European and American countries, even in India and Indonesia, because the shareholders behind it were not strong enough.

In addition to News Corporation, Zhang Yida also wants to win shares from the three major record companies to solve the troublesome music copyright issue.

It is really extremely difficult for a Chinese company to truly become a global giant. It may only become the number one in the world in terms of national strength, or it may not lose to the entire Western world.

Only when Chinese companies expand their business internationally can they enjoy truly fair treatment.

Zhang Yida didn't ask further questions and quietly waited for James' answer.

“Musical.ly is a great app and my kids use it too.

However, we still need to conduct some investigation before investing in Musical.ly.”

After thinking about it for a while, James decided that he still had to treat this matter with caution.

"There is no problem at all. Just wait for the good news!"

The two continued to chat for a while about the cooperation between Musical.ly and Mobao Pay, and finalized a rough cooperation framework.

News Corp uses its media networks to help Musical.ly promote, and Musical.ly pays News Corp an advertising fee.

News Group invested US$9.8 million and Ruixiang Group invested US$10.2 million, totaling US$20 million, to establish an Australian mobile payment company.

The shareholding ratio is 51% owned by Ruixiang Group and 49% owned by News Group. They do not participate in actual management and are only financial investors.

Australia has a population of 24 million and 21 million Internet users. The network coverage rate reaches nearly 90%, and the smartphone coverage rate is 76%-80%.

At the same time, Australia is the third largest overseas travel destination for Chinese tourists. In 2016, Chinese tourists’ overseas consumption in Australia reached 9 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to 45 billion yuan.

Even if it is a mosquito leg, Zhang Yida does not mind it. International expansion cannot be rushed and can only be done step by step.

…

In the early morning, Beckham appeared on the green field wearing a football jersey.

He was practicing running with a ball, and a Labrador dog followed him.

Then the camera turned and the game scene appeared.

Beckham was sweating on the court, while the Labrador was squatting in the stands watching the game.

The scene changes again.

Beckham failed to win the championship and shot in a vent on a rainy night.

The Labrador retrieved the umbrella and came to Beckham's side.

Beckham worked hard and finally won the championship. The Labrador rushed to the podium and kept wagging its tail at him.

Beckham touched the dog's head, and then magically took out a bag of dog food...

This advertising video shot by Beckham for Dogford quickly appeared on major video platforms and sparked heated discussions.

On the DouYu platform, a "Pet Partner" challenge was launched.

Many users imitated Beckham's advertising videos, filmed their daily lives with their dogs, and uploaded the videos to the Dou Vision platform.

Although the advertising creativity is very ordinary, it focuses on the friendship between people and dogs, which is quite touching.

Especially the scene where the dog gave Beckham an umbrella in the rain on a rainy night was simply blown away by users.

So some users imitated this scene and performed "dog giving an umbrella" on a rainy night.

Zhang Yida was almost laughing to death while scrolling through related videos.

Some users did not wait for the rain to come, so they used water pipes to create artificial rainfall...

Another user asked the dog to perform a show of picking up express delivery, holding a cardboard box in his mouth and running home from the express delivery store.

Through this advertisement, Dogford received great product exposure.

Zhang Qinghua specially called Zhang Yida and said that these 75 million dollars were worth more than the dog food could be produced.

Zhang Yida made a special phone call to Beckham to express his gratitude.

"Mr. Zhang, there is no need to thank me, this is what you should do."

Beckham was also very happy with Zhang Yida's compliment. The dog food was a hit, and he once again proved his commercial value.

Although I am old, my reputation will last a lifetime.
Chapter completed!