BEVERLY HILLS, CA —Aug 21, 2003
Alpha Spacecom Signs Landmark Agreement With China Film Group to Distribute Digital Content via Satellite
Alpha Spacecom Company
Limited (OTC BB: ASPC) announced today that it has signed a landmark agreement
with China Film Group Corporation ("CFG") to create a satellite digital cinema
and home distribution platform for the presentation of major Western and
domestic motion pictures. The motion pictures, as well as other content, will be
delivered through digital projection cinemas and a satellite pay-per-view system
("SPPV") over the course of the project.
Under the agreement, Alpha Spacecom will form with CFG a joint venture entity,
owned 51% by CFG and 49% by Alpha Spacecom, that will reconstruct and upgrade
movie theater complexes to digital projection format and implement a home
pay-per-view system, both of which will receive digitized content via satellite
transmission. Currently CFG is the leading entity in China authorized by that
country's government to import, export and license filmed and other
entertainment content and will inject RMB 200,000,000 in the form of cash,
existing systems and equipment, and specially authorized operations licenses
against an Alpha Spacecom investment of US$30,000,000.
The joint venture will invest in the reconstruction and conversion of two
hundred select locations to the digital cinema format, and will establish a
satellite hub to provide satellite transmission services for the distribution of
digital entertainment. Content distribution and digital cinema box office
receipts will be the primary revenue drivers of the joint venture.
The new system will effectively address piracy issues that have plagued China by
providing digitally delivered encrypted signals to cinemas and SPPV subscribers,
creating a robust and mutually beneficial operations environment for this
burgeoning service.
Mr. Tony Hu, Managing Director of Alpha Spacecom, hailed the agreement as
historical, commenting, "Alpha Spacecom is delighted to enter into this landmark
agreement with CFG to jointly develop the vast market in China. Having CFG as an
exclusive partner with its enormous resources, government authorization,
operations expertise, and systems already in place is a tremendous business
opportunity."
The integrated operations of the Alpha Spacecom CFG joint venture underscores
the close cooperation the two companies have enjoyed and signifies the beginning
of revenue-generating prospects for Alpha Spacecom operations in China once the
requisite capital is raised and the platform is developed.
