Disney enters the classroon on tail of a lion and a witch
More than 200,000 US classrooms will this year participate in a learning scheme that could transform the marketing model of an industry often derided by academics - Hollywood.
As the winter term draws to a close, millions of schoolchildren are expected to join reading groups or tutorials about Narnia, CS Lewis’s land of eternal winter, in a media project timed to coincide neatly with the release of the $100m-$150m film adaption of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
In a deal sanctioned by the author’s estate, the film-makers have joined forces with HarperCollins, the book publishing arm of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp empire, to re-issue the books and distribute teaching aids to schools around the US.
Last week, executives from Walden Media, the Hollywood studio producing and co-financing The Chronicles of Narnia with Walt Disney, met UK government officials to discuss a similar scheme in British schools.
The proposal is likely to alarm some educationalists. But Walden - the studio that also produced Holes and the recent remake of Around The World in 80 Days - argues media and education are converging rapidly.
Cary Granat, Walden chief executive, says: “Media content is being used more and more worldwide for education, where films and recorded entertainment can reach kids in the same way as text books.”
The publishing industry is watching the scheme with interest, aware that growth trends in the film business are outstripping more sluggish demand for books.
The value of film entertainment is expected to rise at a compound annual rate of 7.1 per cent over the next five years, reaching $119bn in 2009, according to industry forecasts published last week by PwC, the audit and consulting firm. Book publishing is expected to grow at less than half that rate, after rising just 1.5 per cent last year to $107bn.
Tie-ups between the two industries have already spawned books linked to blockbuster films. Now film-makers see a marketing opportunity in schools, calculating that more families and school groups will go to the box office or buy DVDs after “re-connecting” with books.
Critics fear the scheme masks a new form of viral marketing. “The benefit to the studios seems too naked in timing the books around film premieres,” according to one New York elementary school teacher, who declined to be named. But others welcomed the plan. Graham Jameson, head teacher at Edmund Waller primary school in London, says: “Kids reading books on the back of movies is just a social fact of life; it’s all part of what is now called visual literacy.”
Mr Granat, whose previous credits include Spy Kids for Miramax and Babe for MCA/Universal, endorses that view. He says younger teachers are actively promoting “visual literacy” in the classroom.
“We have millions of teachers retiring and a new generation of teachers coming in, aged between 20 and 45, who use the media in all sorts of ways to teach kids,” he adds. According to another studio executive: “People in the US are more receptive to looking at film than a text, and we can exploit that.”
Hollywood’s interest in education follows a trend pursued by other parts of the media. Several large media groups including Pearson, owner of the Financial Times, and the Washington Post Company generate more revenues from education than their more famous newspaper brands.
Scholastic, the US publisher, has even launched a raft of classroom magazines and set up its own entertainment division to produce family-oriented TV television programmes, feature films and video games.
Walden Media - majority owned by Philip Anschutz, the US billionaire whose other assets include US cinemas and London’s Millennium Dome - has gone a step further. It has formed an education division to tap the $18bn US market for learning aids and supplemental educational material, as well as offering teacher training.
The first Narnia film, one of several planned by Walden and Disney, could be the first real test of growth opportunities in that business.
If successful, the studio hopes to repeat the exercise with Amazing Grace, a new film about William Wilberforce, the 18th Century British politician who championed the abolition of slavery. As with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the company is planning an education drive around the film’s planned release in 2007, coinciding with bicentenary events marking the end of Britain’s slave trade.
US studio executives who met the Film Commission and teacher groups last week claim the response was enthusiastic. “We are trying to create a new market,” says Mr Granat. “The intention is to build a substantial beach head in the UK.”
好莱坞挤进儿童教育市场
今年，美国将有超过20万个学校课堂参加一项学习计划，这可能会改变常被学者嘲笑的行业――好莱坞的营销模式。
当冬季学期即将结束时，预计会有数百万名学生加入有关纳尼亚(Narnia)的阅读小组或辅导班，纳尼亚这片永久苦寒之地出自CS?路易斯(CS Lewis)之手。届时，根据纳尼亚传奇第一部《狮子、女巫、魔衣橱》(The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe)改编、耗资约1亿至1.5亿美元制作的电影也将同步上映。
此外，经作者遗产继承人同意，这部电影的制片商还与哈珀?柯林斯出版社(HarperCollins)合作，由这个隶属于鲁珀特?默多克(Rupert Murdoch)新闻集团(News Corp)帝国麾下的出版社再版该书，并向美国各地的学校销售教学辅导材料。
该片制作商华登传媒(Walden Media)高管近来与英国政府官员就在英国学校开展相似的计划进行了会谈，这家好莱坞电影公司与沃尔特?迪斯尼公司(Walt Disney)共同出资拍摄了《纳尼亚魔法王国》(The Chronicles of Narnia)。
这项提议很可能会引起一些教育家的惊恐，但这个制作了《别有洞天》(Holes)并于最近翻拍过《环游世界80天》(Around The World in 80 Days)的电影公司认为，传媒与教育正在迅速会合。
华登传媒首席执行官卡利?格莱奈特(Cary Granat)表示：“在全球范围内，传媒内容正越来越多地被用于教育；在教育领域，电影和音像娱乐制品能像教科书一样接触到孩子。”
出版业正满怀兴致地密切关注这项计划，并且意识到，电影业的增长势头正超过呆滞的书本需求。
审计咨询公司普华永道(PwC)的行业预测中表示，电影娱乐业的价值将在今后5年内以每年7.1%的复合增长率上升，到2009年达1190亿美元。但图书出版业的增幅预计不到前者的一半，去年它仅上升1.5%，达1070亿美元。
两个行业的捆绑效应已经造就了与电影大片有关联的图书。如今，电影制片商看到了学校的商机。它们算计着：随着更多的家庭和校园团体在重新与书本“建立联系”后，将会买票看电影，或是购买DVD碟片。
批评家担心这项计划掩盖了一种新的病毒式营销。纽约一位不愿透露姓名的小学教师表示：“把图书的上市日期调整在电影的首映日附近，电影公司的利益似乎过于赤裸。”然而伦敦埃德蒙?沃勒小学(Edmund Waller)校长格雷厄姆?詹姆森(Graham Jameson)认为：“孩子看完电影后紧接着看书是社会生活的现实；这都是如今所谓视觉识字的一部分。”
格莱奈特先生同意这种观点。他认为年轻一代的教师在课堂中积极促进“视觉识字”的发展。格莱奈特先生之前的得意之作包括为米拉麦克斯公司(Miramax)拍摄的《特工小子》(Spy Kids)和为MCA环球电影公司(MCA/Universal)摄制的《小猪巴比》(Babe)。
“数百万的教师在退休，20至45岁的新一代教师接替了这些岗位，他们以各种方式利用媒体来教育孩子，”他补充说。另一位电影公司的高管表示：“在美国，比起阅读课本，人们更愿意看电影，而我们可以利用这一点。”
好莱坞对教育发生兴趣，实际上是跟随传媒行业中其它部门的趋势。包括拥有《金融时报》(Financial Times)的培生集团(Pearson)以及华盛顿邮报公司(Washington Post Company)在内的多家大型传媒集团，从教育领域获得的收入比它们那些著名报纸所创造的收入还多。
美国出版商Scholastic甚至推出了大量课堂教学杂志，并成立自己的娱乐部门，制作适合家庭的电视节目、主题电影和游戏。
华登传媒更是先行一步，它专门成立了一个教育部门，除了提供教师培训之外，还尝试涉足价值180亿美元的学习辅导和补充教材的美国市场。华登传媒的大股东是菲利普?安舒茨(Philip Anschutz)，这位美国亿万富翁的其它资产还包括美国影院和伦敦的“千禧顶”(Millennium Dome)。
纳尼亚系列的第一部电影或许是这项生意成长机会第一次真正的考验。华登传媒和迪斯尼公司还计划拍摄该系列的下几部。
如果这部电影成功，华登传媒希望以同样的方式操作《奇异恩典》(Amazing Grace)，这部新电影讲的是18世纪力促废除奴隶制的英国政治家威廉?威伯福斯(William Wilberforce)的故事。同《狮子、女巫、魔衣橱》一样，该公司计划在2007年《奇异恩典》上映期间，开展一次教育宣传，配合纪念英国废除奴隶贸易200周年的各项活动。
与英国电影委员会(Film Commission)和教师团体会面的美国电影公司高管们称，他们得到相当热烈的反应。“我们正努力创造一个新市场，” 格莱奈特先生说，“这样做是要在英国抢滩登陆。”
(back)Hutchison Telecom Hears Static As Its Plans for India Bog Down
HONG KONG -- Hutchison Telecommunications International, which runs a hodgepodge of mobile-phone companies in countries ranging from India to Ghana, has tidied up its act since its initial public stock offering in October.
Initially criticized for keeping too many unrelated businesses in different markets, the company plans to jettison a small business in Paraguay and consolidate other operations. And its stock price has jumped 26% from its IPO pricing.
But some industry analysts worry that trouble looms in Hutchison Telecom International's biggest and most lucrative market: India.
The much-anticipated listing of its Indian phone business -- which had been expected on the Mumbai stock exchange this year -- could be postponed until 2006, these analysts say. The listing has been pushed back once because of regulatory concerns. Further delays could clip Hutchison Telecom's share price, according to the analysts.
Postponing the IPO until next year also could deprive the company of cash needed for acquisitions in India's fast-growing, quickly consolidating market.
"An IPO would have helped them raise funds for expansion" and catch up with larger rivals, says Francis Cheung, head of telecommunications research for CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Hong Kong. Hutchison ranks as the fourth-largest wireless provider in India, with about 16% of all subscribers.
"The Indian market is so hot that everyone's rushing in there," says Mr. Cheung, who predicted in a research note last month that Hutchison's Indian IPO would be delayed until next year. He notes that the increased interest means prices for Indian telecom assets have risen, so "it's not so easy to expand there anymore." For example, Hutchison earlier this year scrapped plans to acquire Indian phone operator Aircel; according to Mr. Cheung, another buyer later stepped in and paid far more than Hutchison had bid.
Mr. Cheung also says Hutchison Telecom's share of first-time cellphone subscribers in India, as opposed to new and existing subscribers, has dropped recently. He has an "underperform" rating on the shares. The company eked out a profit of HK$72 million, or about US$9.3 million, on revenue of HK$14.96 billion last year, compared with a loss of HK$214 million for 2003. Hutchison Telecom is majority-owned by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, which is controlled by one of Asia's wealthiest businessmen, Li Ka-shing.
Lehman Brothers analyst Sundeep Bihani also believes Hutchison Telecom's Indian IPO "is likely to be pushed into 2006," most likely because of regulatory issues, he wrote in a research note published last week. Although Mr. Bihani has an "overweight" rating on Hutchison Telecom shares, he said in his report that another delay in the Indian IPO "takes away a near-term value unlocking" for the company.
In April, Hutchison Telecom officials said its Indian operation, called Hutchison Max Telecom, likely wouldn't meet its initial June 2005 IPO target date, as the company was still seeking clarity from Indian officials about a recent change in foreign-ownership rules for telecom-services companies. Hutchison Telecom has a 53% stake in Hutchison Max, but could be allowed to own as much as 74% under rules approved earlier this year.
A Hutchison Telecom spokeswoman said last week the Indian government still hadn't published all the details of the new rules, and "that's why we are not really in the position to [disclose] a timetable" for the Indian IPO. She added that the company is in a "quiet period" before the release of its first-half financial results in early August. Industry analysts say the government hasn't clarified issues related to foreigners winning approval to hold as much as 74% of telecom companies, such as how to define whether businesses controlled by foreign entities have "Indian" management.
But CLSA's Mr. Cheung cites another possible reason for the Indian IPO delay: a possible "rift" between Hutchison and its Indian business partner, Essar Teleholdings. Mr. Cheung is concerned that Essar recently applied for licenses to provide wireless services in seven newly available regions in India on its own, and not with Hutchison. Essar owns about 30% of Hutchison Max. Essar's move raises questions about whether Hutchison might wind up competing with Essar in those areas, Mr. Cheung says.
"I am a little bit surprised that [Essar] is going out and doing it on their own," agrees Kobita Desai, a principal analyst with research firm Gartner in India. Still, she says Essar could end up cooperating with Hutchison in those new coverage areas. A statement issued by Hutchison Telecom last week, when Essar bought an additional 3.4% of Hutchison Max from Hutchison, noted that "there are a number of current initiatives undertaken by [Essar] on behalf of Hutchison Max that are for the benefit" of Hutchison Whampoa and Hutchison Telecom.
Goldman Sachs analyst Jason Billings says he interprets the statement to mean that relations between the two companies are "harmonious."
The Hutchison Telecom spokeswoman declined to comment.
Essar, in a prepared statement it attributed to Chief Executive Vikash Saraf, said the company "continues to be committed to our joint venture with Hutch," noting Essar's recent move to raise its stake in Hutchison Max. Essar also says it expects Hutchison Max's IPO to occur "within the current financial year."
Whatever the IPO's timing, Hutchison Max faces tough competition in India, where 12 wireless companies are battling for newly affluent subscribers. Ms. Desai of Gartner says "there is potential for [smaller] carriers to scale up quite rapidly and join the top three players." But she adds that "no market is sustainable with so many carriers," and she predicts consolidation soon.
Hutchison Telecom needs cash to expand its networks, particularly in smaller cities where wireless usage is increasing the fastest, so it can be a buyer in the market, some analysts believe. But some investors may not be willing to wait.
For Jon Thorn, manager of the India Capital Fund in Hong Kong, size does matter in businesses like wireless communications. If companies aren't No. 1 or No. 2 in the Indian market, "we won't look at them," he says. If you're a smaller player, "the big guy is going to come and kill you someday."
和记电讯国际印度业务的IPO或再次受阻
和记电讯国际有限公司(Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd., 简称：和记电讯国际)自去年10月进行首次公开募股(IPO)以来，就在一直努力解决自身的问题。
该公司在印度、加纳等国家拥有多家业务模式不尽相同的移动电话公司。由于被指责说它在不同市场上有著太多各不相关的业务，因此该公司计划放弃其在巴拉圭的一项小规模业务，并整合其他业务。和记电讯国际的股价目前已较IPO价格跃升了26%。
但一些业内分析人士担心，在印度这一和记电讯国际最大且最有利可图的市场，麻烦即将降临。
这些分析师说，和记电讯国际在印度的电话业务可能要推迟到2006年才能在孟买证交所上市，这一备受期待的上市原本有望在今年进行。由于监管部门方面的原因，上市时间已经被推迟过一次了。分析师们认为，上市时间的进一步推迟可能会打击和记电讯国际的股价。
将IPO推迟到明年还有可能使该公司无法获得在印度市场实施收购所急需的资金，印度的电讯市场正在快速增长并迅速整合。
里昂证券亚太区市场(CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets)驻香港的电信业研究主管张耀昌(Francis Cheung)说，IPO可以帮助和记电讯国际筹集到在印度市场进行业务扩张的资金，并有助于它追赶上在这一市场领先于自己的竞争对手。和记电讯国际是印度第四大无线通讯服务提供商，印度市场约16%的手机用户是该公司的客户。
张耀昌说，印度市场是如此炙手可热，以至于所有电信运营商都争先恐后来到这里寻找商机。他在上个月发表的一份研究报告中预计，和记电讯国际在印度的IPO将被推迟到明年。他指出，人们对印度电信市场兴趣增加意味著印度电信资产的价格已经上涨，所以“在这一市场进行扩张已不太容易”。例如，和记电讯国际今年早些时候就取消了收购印度电信公司Aircel的计划；据张耀昌说，这是因为随后参与进来的一个买家愿意出更高的价钱购买。
张耀昌还指出，和记电讯国际在印度首次手机用户市场的占有率最近已经出现了下降，这一市场是相对于手机新用户和现有手机用户市场而言的。张耀昌将和记电讯国际的股票评级定为“弱于大盘”。该公司去年的利润为7,200万港元，合930万美元，收入为149.6亿港元。和记电讯国际2003年亏损2.14亿港元。这家公司由香港大型企业和记黄埔(Hutchison Whampoa)控股，而和记黄埔又受控于亚洲首富李嘉诚。
雷曼兄弟公司(Lehman Brothers)的分析师桑迪普?比哈尼(Sundeep Bihani)也认为和记电讯国际在印度的IPO有可能被推迟到2006年，来自监管方面的阻力是他做出这一预测的主要理由。虽然比哈尼对和记电讯国际的股票评级为“增持”，但他在自己的研究报告中称，该公司在印度的IPO再次被推迟意味著错失了一个在短期内展现公司价值的机会。
和记电讯国际的管理人士今年4月表示，该公司称为Hutchison Max Telecom的印度业务有可能无法按原计划在2005年6月进行IPO，因为该公司仍在要求印度政府就其对外国公司拥有印度电信公司的规定近来所做的调整做出澄清。和记电讯国际在Hutchison Maxas的持股比例是53%，但根据印度今年早些时候新修订的法规，它在该公司的持股比例最高可升至74%。
和记电讯国际的一位发言人上周表示，印度政府仍未公布这一新规定的全部细节，因此该公司也无法“披露”其印度业务的IPO时间表。这位发言人还表示，和记电讯国际正处在8月初发布上半年财务报告前的“沉默期”。行业分析师们说，印度政府一直未就准许外国人在印度电信公司最高持股74%一事的相关事宜做出澄清，例如如何定义被外国机构控股的印度业务是否具有“印度的”管理层。
但里昂证券亚太区市场的张耀昌认为和记电讯国际在印度的IPO被推迟可能还另有原因：和记电讯国际与其印度商业伙伴Essar Teleholdings之间可能出现了“不和”。令张耀昌感到不安的是，Essar最近单独申请在印度7个刚刚可以提供无线通讯服务的地区提供这一服务，而把和记电讯国际甩在了一边。Essar持有Hutchison Max约30%的股份。张耀昌说，Essar的这一举动不禁令人担心，和记电讯国际最终可能要在上述地区与Essar展开竞争。
研究公司Gartner驻印度的分析师科比塔?德塞(Kobita Desai)也认为，Essar决定单独行事多少令人感到有些意外。不过她表示，Essar最终可能仍会与和记电讯国际在上述刚开始提供无线通讯服务的地区进行合作。和记电讯国际上周发表的一份声明称，Essar目前代表Hutchison Max采取的众多措施都是对和记黄埔及和记电讯国际有利的。这份声明发表时Essar刚从和记电讯国际手中又购买了3.4%的Hutchison Max股份。
高盛(Goldman Sachs)的分析师詹森?比林斯(Jason Billings)说，他认为上述声明意味著，这两家公司相互间关系“和谐”。
和记电讯国际的发言人拒绝对此发表评论。
Essar在以其首席执行长Vikash Saraf的名义发表的一份书面声明中说，该公司将继续致力于发展与和记电讯国际的合资企业，它最近增持Hutchison Max的股份就是一例。Essar还表示，预计Hutchison Max的IPO会在“本财政年度内”进行。
无论Hutchison Max的IPO定在什么时间，它都将在印度市场面临严酷竞争，在那里12家无线通讯公司都想使首次有能力配备手机的印度人成为自己的客户。Gartner的德塞说，在这一市场规模较小的电信运营商有机会迅速扩大规模并跻身市场三甲。但她也表示，没有哪一个市场能够长期承受数量如此多的运营商，她预计行业整合很快就会开始。
和记电讯国际需要资金来扩展其通讯网络，特别是在那些无线通讯用户增加最为迅速的中小城市，因此一些分析师相信，该公司会在印度无线通讯市场上成为收购者。但一些投资者可能没有耐性等到那个时候。
在India Capital Fund驻香港的经理乔恩?索恩(Jon Thorn)看来，在无线通讯行业企业的规模至关重要。他说， 对于那些在印度无线通讯市场上不是数一数二的企业，人们看也不会看它们一眼，因为它们总有一天会被大公司挤垮的。
