Press Archive

Companies Launch Chinese-Language Version of Joost

LONDON, NEW YORK, BEIJING AND HONG KONG – JULY 23, 2008 – Joost, the world’s first broadcast-quality Internet television service, and TOM Group Limited (HKEx:2383, “TOM Group”, “TOM”), one of the leading Chinese media conglomerates in Greater China, today launched a joint venture to bring a full Joost offering to the region of Greater China.

Joost and TOM Group’s internet arm, TOM Online, also launched a new Chinese version of Joost today, which is available at http://joost.tom.com.

“Joost has always been a global service, and our partnership with TOM is a perfect example of the regionalized offerings we are able to bring to the market,” said Mike Volpi, chief executive officer, Joost. “There’s a great market opportunity in China –content producers who are making high-quality content, advertisers eager to reach consumers online, and an active online community. Collaborating with TOM, which operates one of the most popular online portals in China, positions us strongly in the region.”

Ken Yeung, chief executive officer and executive director of TOM Group said, "TOM Group has a strong foothold in the Greater China media scene ranging from Internet and wireless to traditional TV broadcasting. We are the pioneer in widgetizing and modulizing our portal, www.tom.com, in the region to create a personalized and interactive user experience. The alliance with Joost will further enhance and increase our range of Internet service offerings. We are set to bring in a whole new high-quality video viewing experience with interactivity to our huge base of local Internet users and at the same time, provide targeted and innovative advertising solutions that add value to our clients. Riding on the established and diversified media platform covering Internet, TV, publishing and outdoor advertising, TOM is leading the way in the avenue where traditional and new media converge.”

As a result of the joint venture, Joost and TOM will bring Chinese-language programming to people throughout Greater China. Both Joost and TOM will primarily source programming from within China, and distribute this programming within and outside of China. To date, TOM has sourced about 16,000 hours of Chinese programming for Joost and has already lined up with several established content providers such as science and education studio of CCTV, China Record Corporation, BTV Media, Huayi Brothers Media Group, Taihe Rye Music, CAV Warner Home Entertainment. TOM will secure advertising for the localized version of Joost, and Joost will provide the underlying technology.

About Joost
Founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, Joost brings video and social interaction together online. All of video on Joost is professionally produced and streams on-demand to people around the world for free in a high-quality format. Today, Joost has more than 30,000 program elements, including more than 400 television series and 1,200 movie and short film titles. For more information, visit http://www.joost.com.

About TOM
TOM Group Limited (HKEx stock code: 2383) is listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. As one of the leading Chinese-language media conglomerates in Greater China, TOM Group has diverse business interests in Internet (TOM Online), Outdoor Media (TOM Outdoor Media Group), Publishing, Television and Entertainment across markets in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In each of the areas it operates, TOM Group has secured market leadership.

The Group was founded in October 1999 as a joint venture between Hutchison Whampoa, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, and other strategic investors. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the Group has regional headquarters in Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei with about 4,000 employees in more than 20 cities.

TOM Online Inc. is the largest wireless Internet services provider in mainland China with the most comprehensive application platform serving nearly 200 million users per day. By integrating the world’s most advanced Internet technologies and aggregating all the premium products and services, the company has successfully developed a differentiated platform to introduce seamless online-to-mobile user experience. For more information, visit http://www.tom.com.