Reborn Tycoon Rise

Shao Yifu asked curiously: "What method?"

Xu Zhi did not answer directly, but pointed to the sky with a smile.

Shao Yifu looked at the roof and was a little confused. He paused for a moment before realizing it and asked: "Xu Sheng, are you talking about satellites?"

Xu Zhi nodded and said: "Yes, it is a satellite. As long as there is a synchronous satellite, our TV channels can cover the entire Southeast Asia. The population in this area exceeds one billion. Anyone who has a satellite pot can receive Come to our TV station.”

Shao Yifu obviously hadn't come to his senses yet, and said: "Xu Sheng, is this investment too radical? Upgrading a satellite may not be enough even if you sell the entire wireless network. At present, no TV station in Asia dares to Such an investment!”

"Then we will be the first TV station in Asia to have satellites." Xu Zhi said with a smile.

Satellite TV was born as early as the 1960s. Its basic principle is that ground base stations transmit microwave signals to satellites in space. After receiving the signals, the satellites use solar energy in space to amplify the signals and transmit them back to the earth. The end user A directional antenna is used to pass the received signal through a specific decoder and then enter the TV terminal.

The coverage of a satellite is related to its height. Generally, the coverage of a synchronous satellite can be as high as 40% of the earth's area. In other words, one satellite can cover the entire Southeast Asia, India, mainland, Japan, South Korea and other regions.

But this is just a theory. Satellite signals also have an effective range, and the gap between the edge areas and the central area is very large. But even so, the audience of satellite TV far exceeds that of traditional cable TV and terrestrial base station signals.

But everything has advantages and disadvantages. The cost of launching satellites is too high. Not to mention ordinary companies, even many countries cannot afford satellite launches.

Unlike cars and airplanes, which are reproducible, satellites have different uses, environments, and requirements. None of the satellites launched into the sky are the same. In other words, their drawings and production lines are equivalent to disposable products. R\u0026D costs and facility investments are included in the cost of the satellite.

There are only a few companies in the world that can manufacture satellites. The companies are basically composed of top engineers, doctors, academicians, etc. At the same time, orders for satellites are extremely rare. These companies "do not open for three years, but they do not open for business." A typical representative of "Three Years to Eat" naturally cannot compare the profits demanded by normal companies.

Satellites are expensive, and the cost of launching is not low. In the aviation industry, when a rocket is launched, the amount of materials it carries each time is much higher, and the cost is much higher than so much weight of gold.

The last big expense is insurance. Generally speaking, the insurance cost for each launch is different depending on the launch rocket model. If it is a rocket with mature launch technology, the premium is almost 25% of the cost of the satellite itself.

Adding the three together, the cost of a satellite launch is approximately US$500-800 million. Such a high cost has led to the global business community, except for the top TV media giants in Europe and the United States, few others to participate.

"Xu Sheng, satellites can indeed cover a large number of people, but the investment cost is too high. Even if we really have our own satellite TV station in the future, when will we be able to recover the cost?" Shao Yifu asked with a frown.

"Shaosheng doesn't need to worry too much about this." Xu Zhi said with a smile: "First of all, a satellite does not only serve one TV station. Any TV station, media, or other company can rent other signals of the satellite. Channels, in the international market, satellites in European and American countries do not only serve their own companies. To a large extent, the cost of launching satellites is recovered through additional leasing.

Regarding this second point, Mr. Shao, you may not know much about the economic impact of advertising when a TV station has hundreds of millions of users. "

A satellite can transmit more than a hundred TV signals at the same time, similar to the American TV network. A consortium owns dozens of different TV channels and a larger number of broadcast channels. One satellite may be just enough, but TVB only has If several TV channels have their own satellites, it is naturally impossible to leave other channel resources empty and wasted. They can be rented to other TV stations, so that the satellite launch costs can be recovered as soon as possible.

As for the future revenue of the TV station, there is no need to worry. Currently, the main audience of TVB is the 5 million people in Hong Kong. Once the satellite is in the sky, the TV station can cover the entire Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia in the 1980s was the era of rapid economic development. The main audience for wireless TV stations in the future will be the Chinese in Asia. Many areas may be economically poor, but the Chinese are not. Compared with those who were born and raised in the country, they can only live day by day. Among the indigenous people, the Chinese are the most diligent. From the local richest man to the owner of an ordinary store, the existence of the Chinese affects many countries in Southeast Asia. And these people, because they are overseas, can only watch local TV stations. Once there is If you have satellite TV, you will be very surprised to be able to watch Chinese programs.

These groups are wealthy, large in number, and highly dependent, which is the foundation necessary for the development of a TV station.

In later years, in 1991, Li Jiacheng's youngest son Li Zekai founded Phoenix TV, which was also a satellite TV. Within two years of its establishment, it signed advertising agreements with many international giants and sold out in just one year. $400 million in advertising.

However, because the cost of launching a satellite into the sky was too high, Li Zekai did not launch a satellite, but rented a satellite channel.

After two years of operation, he sold the entire station to media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, making a net profit of $800 million.

These data are enough to show that throughout Southeast Asia, countless Chinese have an extremely huge market.

Of course, this was the 1990s, and it was still ten years ago. There will be a lot of differences, but the market is still the same big.

Of course Xu Zhi also loves money, but what he values ​​​​more is his influence in the media. If his TV stations can reach most countries in Asia, whether it is from an economic or influence point of view, investing in a satellite now will be worth it.

"Even if we can recover the cost in the future, it is impossible for Wireless to spend so much money at the moment. We can only advance the capital from our two shareholders." Shao Yifu said calmly.

"Indeed, I have no problem here, but I don't know if Shaosheng can come up with so much funds." Xu Zhi said with a smile.

Shao Yifu was silent for a moment and asked: "Xu Sheng, how much does it cost to invest in launching a satellite?"