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XFMedia Traffic Radio Channel Car Owner Club in Guangdong Expands to 80,000

2008-03-26 17:59 735

BEIJING, March 26 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- XFMedia (Nasdaq: XFML), a leading media group in China, announced that membership of its Traffic Radio Channel Car Owners Loyalty Club in China's rich southern province of Guangdong has grown to 80,000 since its establishment in January 2007. The club was established to promote the Guangdong Radio FM107.7 ("FM1077"), which is the primary channel for drive-time traffic in the province.

The FM1077 channel, primarily a drive-time radio format aimed at high-income private vehicle owners aged 25 to 48, has an audience coverage of approximately 91 million people in the Guangdong province.

The Car Owners Loyalty Club attracts car lovers who are the core listening audience of FM1077. Club activities include driving tours, new car driving trials, car care seminars, visits to top restaurants and other lifestyle events designed to appeal to the newly-affluent car owners of China. The demographic enables XFMedia to increase the advertising value of the channel by providing statistics of its primary audience, and a more direct link for advertisers to consumers.

China's rapidly growing economy has expanded household incomes, creating significant spending power. Private car ownership is a relatively new phenomenon in China, and the rising middle class are just beginning the love affair with their own personal automobiles. Guangdong province ranked number one in China in terms of GDP in 2007, which amounted to one-eighth of the entire country, bigger than that of the region's key cities like Singapore, Hong Kong or Taiwan individually. According to the Guangdong Automobile Dealers Association, the province added about 225,800 new private vehicles in 2007, up 22.33% year-on-year. The Statistics Bureau of Guangdong province reported that the ownership of private cars in the province rose to 2.05 million vehicles in 2007, an increase of 30.8% over the last year. The dramatic rise in car ownership has also resulted in significant traffic jams and consequently a rise in radio audiences.

"We believe that people in the region are spending more and more time in cars commuting between home and work due to the worsening traffic conditions in the province, and thus radio has become the primary entertainment during the congestion," said XFMedia CEO Ms Fredy Bush.

"Over 90% of China's advertising dollars go to TV, radio and print, which is why we have expanded our radio coverage to Guangdong in the south from Beijing and Shanghai in the north, and created the Car Owners Loyalty Club to target our demographic for higher ratings," added Ms Bush. "XFMedia provides advertisers with unique access to China's upwardly mobile audience, and the expansion of the Guangdong Car Owners Loyalty Club enhances our accessibility to this demographic, particularly in China's wealthiest province."

"The Club membership growth shows that our efforts to promote the FM107.7 brand are effective. Advertising revenues for the channel increased over 80% from RMB 5.6 million in 2006 to RMB 10.1 million in 2007," Ms Bush added.

In its print media division, XFMedia also runs a Reader Loyalty Club, the "Millionaire Investors Club", membership of which is restricted to business people with net assets over RMB 1 million. The club approach is very effective in China in terms of building consumer loyalty for advertiser's products and services while increasing revenues for consumer club operators like XFMedia.

About Xinhua Finance Media

Xinhua Finance Media ("XFMedia"; Nasdaq: XFML) is a leading media group in China with nationwide access to the upwardly mobile demographic. Through its five synergistic business groups, Advertising, Broadcast, Print, Production and Research, XFMedia offers a total solution empowering clients at every stage of the media process and connecting them with their target audience. Its unique platform covers a wide range of media assets, including television, radio, newspaper, magazine, outdoor, online and other media assets.

Headquartered in Beijing, the company has offices and affiliates in major cities of China including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com .

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," ''confident'' and similar statements. Among other things, quotations from management in this announcement contain forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about XFMedia's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks outlined in XFMedia's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration statement on Form F-1. All information provided in this press release is as of the date hereof, and XFMedia undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

Source: Xinhua Finance Media
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