The Weekly News Update is a weekly roundup of business news from around the Asia-Pacific region, covering Fusion Consulting's core industry practices: chemicals, consumer & retail, financial services, industrial & logistics, information & communication technology, life science and media & leisure. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy knowledge@fusionc.com.     2008 Asia-Pacific pay-TV operators survey, 4th edition   Programmers, find out what the major cable, satellite and IPTV platforms in Asia  and Australia think about your channels and support, their programming plans and  their hopes and fears for the future of the industry. This survey targets  programming managers at 50 major carriers in 16 countries across the region,  focusing on the largest players in each country. In cooperation with ContentAsia.  Request more information. Media & leisure

India - Soros buys 3% stake in Reliance Entertainment Source: Guardian Unlimited, 11 February 2008 US-based billionaire investor George Soros has acquired a 3% stake worth US$100 million in India's Reliance Entertainment, which runs Bollywood film studios, social-networking and games sites. Analysts say Soros' interest in Reliance was piqued by its plans to expand into television. India has the world's third-biggest cable-TV market and is forecast to become Asia's most lucrative pay-TV market by 2015. Foreign firms such as Rupert Murdoch, NBC Universal and Disney have established their presence in India's growing television industry. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry predicts India is likely to have 128 million households with televisions by 2010, up from 105 million in 2005. Korea - Web TV to offer online game services Source: Korea Herald, 13 February 2008 Korea's broadband service provider Hanarotelecom has unveiled plans to offer interactive gaming through its internet protocol TV (IPTV) service - the first time online game services are available on IPTV in Korea. It has signed a deal with Neowiz Games to develop game content for IPTV. Hanarotelecom also plans to provide IPTV subscribers with online music services through a partnership with a sister company of Neowiz Games, Eins Digital. Telecom firms are betting on IPTV to generate new revenue sources with interactive services such as gaming and shopping. Hana TV had 807,000 subscribers as of the end of 2007, while KT had 320,000 subscribers to its IPTV service, Mega TV. Korea - Foreign online games to hit Korea Source: Korea Times, 10 February 2008 About a dozen foreign games, including Blizzard Entertainment's "Starcraft 2" and Electronic Arts' "Lord of the Rings Online", will hit Korea in 2008, threatening the long-run popularity of locally made games such as "Lineage" from NCSoft, "Maple Story" from Nexon and NHN Games' "Dungeon & Fighter." The sudden surge of online game imports is the result of major game publishers' diversification strategy, as they began to reduce the financial risks in developing games themselves. The online game market has almost stopped growing from last year with some 20 million gamers, and firms have struggled to make profits from their investment in developing original products, which sometimes cost tens of billions of won. View an example of our experience in this industry. Back to list of articles.  Visit our website to sign up for free intelligence on Asian markets.

This Weekly News Update is a free newsletter, providing a round-up of the week's Asia-Pacific news from our core industry practices. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy knowledge@fusionc.com.

Fusion Consulting is a business intelligence consultancy providing clear strategic advice on Asia-Pacific markets. With offices in Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong and 400 industry consultants in 16 countries, we conduct custom research and consulting to help companies understand their markets, compete more effectively and grow into new areas of opportunity. Email more@fusionc.com or visit www.fusionc.com for more information.