10 June 2010, Hong Kong Hong Kong-based Chinese entertainment company Celestial Pictures announced today it has signed a licensing deal with WingsMedia Co., Ltd, the distribution arm of Shanghai Media Group (SMG), for over 100 hours of programming produced by SMG.. The programs encompassed in the deal will air, in its first run, exclusively on WaTV, Celestial’s Mandarin general entertainment channel on Astro’s platform in Malaysia and Brunei.

The deal was sealed at the 16th Annual Shanghai Television Festival between Ms. Ofanny Choi, Senior Vice President, Channel Operations of Celestial Pictures and Ms. Maggie Zhou, Deputy General Manager of WingsMedia, SMG. Programs included in the agreement range from concerts and special events to talk shows and infotainment series. Highlights include The World Expo International Music Extravaganza, produced for the Shanghai Expo 2010, and featuring Korean superstar Rain and Chinese pop star Coco Lee; unconventional financial talk show Boss Town, celebrity dance show Let’s Shake It!, and infotainment series Fashionista.

“Shanghai Media Group continues to produce some of the most entertaining and top quality programs in China and we look forward to working with WingsMedia to bring these programs exclusively to WaTV’s audience. With the world’s attention focused on China these days, we see a growing audience demand for entertainment and infotainment about the latest trends in China and special events such as the Shanghai Expo. WaTV has been bringing its audience a diverse range of Mandarin-language content for the past four years and we are committed to bringing even more relevant programs to our audience in the future with licensing deals such as this,” said Ms. Ofanny Choi, Senior Vice President, Channel Operations at Celestial Pictures.

SMG’s programs such as Boss Town have consistently ranked among the top programs in China. Boss Town is a financial talk show featuring often-times humorous interviews with top business executives and entertainers such as Jet Li. Fashionista, a highly popular infotainment series, sends correspondents to New York, Tokyo, Paris, London and other fashion capitals to cover the latest fashion trends and celebrity stories from a Chinese point of view. Other key programs in the deal include the celebrity reality dance show Let's Shake It! and the star-filled charity show Star Charity Night. Let's Shake It!’s first season finals achieved a 16.8% viewership in Shanghai, the highest among all variety shows in recent years. Stars involved in the finals included Joey Yung, Gillian Chung, Wang Shen Yi and Ha Ri-su.