On Nov. 18, China Central Television (CCTV), the country’s flagship state-run broadcaster, held its annual auction for ad space during prime viewing spots in 2015. The bidding for some top programs took more than an hour.
The results of yesterday’s auction have not been made public, but we do know from previous reports that in 2013, CCTV’s “golden resources”—prime TV real estate—netted 15.9 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) in ad revenue; the previous year, these slots brought in 14.3 billion yuan. According to estimates from Marbridge Consulting, CCTV’s golden resources sales make up the vast majority of the broadcaster’s total ad sales.
CCTV remains the most lucrative broadcaster in China, but its advertising revenue is now dwarfed by China’s leading search engine. In 2013, Baidu’s (BIDU) online ad revenue was 31.8 billion yuan—roughly double CCTV’s “golden resources” ad sales that year.
Moreover, online advertising is increasing quickly in China. From 2012 to 2013, Baidu’s online ad revenue jumped 43 percent. In the same period, CCTV’s “golden resources” revenue rose just 11 percent.
Larson is a Bloomberg Businessweek contributor.
