What the Future Holds for Media in Hong Kong

Jimmy Lai, Chairman, Next Media (Apple Daily and Next Magazine)
* Moderator: Mark Clifford, Executive Director, Asia Business Council

1999 was the biggest year in print advertising in history. In Hong Kong newspapers were flush with ads for real estate, financial services, and automobiles, as China and Hong Kong boomed. Even the short-lived Internet boom benefited print, with new cash-rich companies pumping money into print in an attempt to attract readers.

2007 holds a much different outlook for newspapers and magazines. With the advent of JOOST, Slingbox, and the continuing arrival of new cable channels each day, television and cable are starting to feel the same pressures as print media.

In 8 years where will we get our news and who will pay for it?

Jimmy Lai is the chairman of Next Media and is best known for founding Next Magazine and Apple Daily in Hong Kong in the early 1990's. Apple Daily is Hong Kong's second-largest daily, while Next Magazine Group holds the top three magazine titles, according to AC Nielsen. Most recently Mr. Lai established Next Magazine and Apple Daily Taiwan, where those two publications are number one in their respective category.

Mr. Lai left Guangzhou in the late 1950's to start his career in Hong Kong at a young age. His first foray into retail was Giordano, which he established and then grew into Asia's largest clothing retailer outside Japan.