www.metandevelopmentgroup.com | February 16, 2010
We embark on this maiden voyage of our new ‘Executive Series’ by sitting down with Marty Pompadur, a media veteran with close to 50 years of experience as well as Chairman of METAN Development Group, and asked several questions about his experience and thoughts of China.
Biography
Marty Pompadur is co-founder and Chairman of the Board of METAN Development Group – a company at the forefront of bridging the gap between western media, branded entertainment and China.
Mr. Pompadur began his career in media when he joined ABC Network in 1960. He remained at ABC for 17 years, culminating with his becoming the youngest person ever appointed a member of the ABC Board of Directors.
Mr. Pompadur left ABC in 1977 and became President of Ziff Corporation, a position he held until 1982. Ziff Corporation then was the holding company for both Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, one of the world’s largest publishers of special interest and busines publications, and Ziff-Davis Broadcasting Company, which operated six network affiliated television stations.
From 1982, until 2007, Mr. Pompadur was chairman and CEO of RP Companies’ various private and public limited partnerships. In 1985, Mr. Pompadur, as the advisor to News Corporation, helped acquire for News Corporation the Metromedia TV station group and wrote the business plan for the start-up of the Fox Television Network.
Effective June 1, 1998, Mr. Pompadur became the Executive Vice President of News Coporation, President of News Corporation Eastern and Central Europ, and a member of News Corporation’s Executive Management Committee.
In November 2000, it was announced that Mr. Pompadur was stepping down from News Corporation to enable him to pursue other business interests.
He is a principal owner of Caribbean International News Corporation, which publishes El Vocero, a Spanish language daily newspaper in Puerto Rico; the principal owner of Montana Coffee, a company in the wholesale coffee business in Russia; an investor in Talent Partners, a US payroll company; an investor in Seatwave, a London based ticket reseller; and a board member of Nexstar, a public listed US television station company. Previously, he was a board member of BSkyB, Sky Italia, Fox Kids Europe, Metromedia International and E-Long.
What was your vision when you co-founded METAN, and what prompted you to enter the China market? Was there a particular void you hoped to fill in China’s media landscape?
I have spent most of the last 12 years working in media in Europe and the Middle East. Up until the end of 2008, my only involvement in China was as a director of E-long, a publicly held online travel agency headquartered in Beijing. I travelled to Beijing several times for board meetings and I was beginning to learn about China and to see its market potential.
About one and a half years ago, Larry (Namer) described to me his vision for a company he was planning to establish in china and Larry invited me to join. His vision was to bring together some of the worlds top creative talents to develop and distribute brand-driven entertainment content throughout China, a concept that was mature in the US, but not relevant in China yet. I replied, “lets travel together in China and then I will decide”.
During our inaugural trip, Larry introduced me to Jean Zhang who became our Chinese partner at Metan. The three of us decided to move forward and in early 2009 and Metan was born. The timing felt right for two American entrepreneurs with the right local Chinese partner to enter the television business in China.
Metan’s plan is to produce, distribute and market premium content for broadcast, internet and mobile platforms. Our staff of production, brand marketing and strategic planning professionals serve global brands and advertising agencies by providing unique high quality entertainment designed to stand out in the increasingly cluttered china media marketplace.
We felt that the viewers and the advertisers would be receptive to fresh innovative content; and that the advertisers and their agencies would welcome high-quality multi-platform programming as a creative marketing showcase for brands to reach their target audience.
What has been the biggest shock or unexpected hurdle you encountered since METAN first entered the China market?
There were a few revelations – intellectually, we knew China’s large population statistics, but in business here we continue to be amazed by the size of the country and its population. From my work in Russia, I know that Russia has the largest population in Europe – about 142 million. Now you take China into perspective, China’s population is 9 times that number.
Secondly, we found out the advertisers and advertising agencies in China are quite sophisticated. This is a far cry from even several years ago when the advertising industry in China was still nascent and emerging for it’s own identiy. Today, they are interested not just in buying ad spots on television, but equally as important that they want sponsorship and product integration in addition to carriage on broadband and mobile. Fortunately for us, Metan has the expertise to respond to their requirements.
How has your China experience been compared to your experiences in other countries where you have done business?
In emerging Europe and in the Middle East, media regulations are often quite vague. It is helpful here in China that regulations are pretty well spelled out so one can tell what is acceptable and not acceptable.
How has your China experience been compared to your experiences in other countries where you have done business?
When media people look at the world today to look for double-digit growth opportunities, as a generalization, the world looks like this slow growth that is exemplified in North America and Western Europe. In emerging Europe, growth will resume, not at the same high rate as before the global financial crises, but faster growth than North America and Western Europe. In the Middle East, I project growth will also pick up albeit off a low base. So in looking for growth, investors and businesses are looking to Asia - particularly to that of China and India.
