Hunan's Best — Media Powerhouse, a Dazzling Array (Part 1)
Film, TV and Internet, Publishing Powerhouse: China's first provincial-level broadcasting media group—Hunan Broadcasting System (GBS). Announced on December 27, 2000, GBS is China's first provincial-level broadcasting media group. It is a large cross-media, cross-industry media group with 10 television stations under its umbrella.
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section One
Film and Television Network, Publishing Xiang Army
China's First Provincial-Level Broadcasting and Television Media Group — Hunan Broadcasting System
Hunan Broadcasting System, abbreviated as GBS, was announced and established on December 27, 2000, as China's first provincial-level broadcasting and television media group. GBS is a large media group operating across media and industries, governing 10 television channels (including two satellite channels), 1 film sub-group, 5 radio frequencies, 3 publicly distributed newspapers and periodicals, 1 comprehensive news website, and more than a dozen wholly owned or controlling companies. In 2000, the China Golden Eagle TV Art Festival permanently settled in Changsha. In 2005, Super Girl even became a sensational event affecting the entertainment life of the Chinese people and spread rapidly across the length and breadth of China. With the emergence of a large number of excellent television programs, the Television Xiang Army has gained increasing recognition, and its influence has grown day by day. At present, a Golden Eagle Film and Television Culture City with an industrial chain comprising Changsha Window of the World, Changsha Sea World, Hunan International Film and Television Convention and Exhibition Center, Hunan International Convention and Exhibition (Center) Hotel, and Hunan Golden Eagle City Real Estate Co., Ltd. is rising in southern China; and a quality channel brand marked by Hunan Satellite TV, a capital operation brand marked by Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary, an industrial operation brand marked by Golden Eagle Film and Television Culture City, and a festival activity brand marked by the China Golden Eagle TV Art Festival have already taken shape. The young Hunan Broadcasting System is striding with steady steps onto the world stage of modern international media.
China's No. 1 Media Stock — Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary Co., Ltd.
Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary Co., Ltd. (formerly Hunan Radio and Television Development Center) is a large enterprise mainly engaged in film and television program production, advertising distribution and agency, and network transmission services. On March 25, 1999, Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary Co., Ltd. (0917) was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. This was China's first typical media stock covering advertising, programs, and transmission businesses, and is generally recognized by investors as "China's No. 1 Media Stock." The company governs three major branches — advertising, programs, and network — and, relying on the resource advantages of Hunan TV's seven major media, has hundreds of millions of television viewers in China and more than 2 million cable TV users in Hunan Province, forming the core competitiveness of the company's business. The company has more than 40 controlling and share-participating companies, forming a business network with Changsha, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen as regional centers radiating across the country. Hunan TV & Broadcast Intermediary is developing toward a cross-media, cross-regional, comprehensive international media industry group.
China's First Approved Animation Satellite Channel — Golden Eagle Cartoon Satellite TV
On October 30, 2004, "Golden Eagle Cartoon Satellite TV" was officially launched, making it China's first approved animation satellite channel. Since its launch, Golden Eagle Cartoon Satellite TV has ranked first among all domestic cartoon channels at the time in ratings, market share, and viewers-per-thousand performance among audiences of all age groups and among its main viewing demographic. The "China Animation Market Report" released by CCTV-Sofres Media Research pointed out that Golden Eagle Cartoon Satellite TV ranked first among the three major domestic satellite cartoon channels in ratings, reach, and audience loyalty.
China's First TV Channel Named After "Women" — Changsha TV Women's Channel
The Women's Channel is the result of the 1999 channel specialization reform of the Changsha Municipal Administration of Radio and Television. It was repositioned and operated from the original Changsha Cable TV Channel 1 and launched on March 28, and is the only TV channel in the country named after "women." The channel's purpose is "touching women's lives, spreading new trends of the times." It has successively launched a number of programs with distinctive women's characteristics, such as "Three Women Make a Drama," "Complete Attention to Women," "Love Spicy Soup," "Women's Stories," and "Matchmaking in Progress."
China's First Professional Legal TV Channel — Changsha TV Politics and Law Channel
On May 17, 1999, Changsha Politics and Law Channel was born and opened a number of politics-and-law programs, quickly forming its own brand. A 2005 survey by "China Television Forum" showed that among the 11 legal channels nationwide, only CCTV's Society and Law Channel and Changsha Politics and Law Channel broadcast legal programs exceeding 50%. Changsha Politics and Law Channel is China's first professional legal TV channel and China's first TV channel to withdraw from TV dramas and achieve all broadcasting of self-produced news and feature programs. The Politics and Law Channel not only firmly sits in Hunan television's first ratings tier, but is also the No. 1 brand in the minds of Changsha, Hunan viewers for the most authoritative viewpoints and the most impartial expression, and is the most dynamic distinctive terrestrial media in the Television Xiang Army.
Hunan's No. 1 News Portal Website — Rednet
Rednet began trial operation on New Year's Day 2001 and is now affiliated with Hunan Publishing Investment Holding Group. It is Hunan's No. 1 news portal website, Hunan's No. 1 e-commerce platform, and Hunan's No. 1 wireless value-added service provider. Rednet has ranked among China's top five key local news websites. In December 2005, Rednet was selected as the only news website among the "Top 50 Chinese Websites with the Most Commercial Potential in the Future." In the next five years, Rednet will become a comprehensive online service platform with the Hunan news portal as its banner.
Hunan's Earliest Newspaper Website — Fengone
"Women Online" (www.ladyonline.net) was renamed "Fengone" (www.fengone.com) in July 2008. Fengone was founded in 1999 by Hunan Today's Woman Newspaper Office. It is one of the world's comprehensive Chinese fashion and women's websites and also Hunan Province's earliest newspaper website. Over more than 10 years since its establishment, Fengone (Women Online) has always adhered to reflecting the rapidly changing global development from a women's perspective, and was once rated by netizens as one of "China's Top Ten Women's Websites."
Hunan's Top Media Audio-Visual Website — Golden Eagle Net
Golden Eagle Net (domain names vblog.hunantv.com and www.hunantv.com) is the new media main base of the Television Xiang Army. It is the unified official website, exclusive portal website, and mainstream commercial website strongly built by Hunan Broadcasting System and Hunan Satellite TV and specifically undertaken by Hunan Happy Sunshine Interactive Entertainment Media Co., Ltd. It is a national Class I news website and Hunan's top media audio-visual website. Golden Eagle Net's brand banner is "Hunan Satellite TV New Media." Industry observers predict that Golden Eagle Net will become "an influential and distinctive new-type online portal" and "a domestically leading, most growth-capable cross-media online interactive platform."
Hunan's Most Visited News Portal Website — Hunan Online
Hunan Online (www.hnol.net) is a news portal website sponsored by Hunan Daily Press Group. Relying on the Party newspaper's unique political advantages and strong news gathering and editing force, since its founding in May 2001, the website has received strong support and concern from provincial and municipal leaders and relevant government departments, becoming the province's authoritative news portal website and currently Hunan Province's most visited and most influential news portal website. According to data statistics from the professional global website ranking agency www.alexa.com, Hunan Online ranks first in visits among news websites in the province and first among news websites of provincial-level Party newspapers nationwide.
Hunan's Largest Convenience-Service Portal Website — Hunan Information Port Website
Hunan Information Port Website was founded in 1996, fully invested by Hunan Telecom Co., Ltd., and wholly operated by the Hunan Telecom Internet Value-Added Department. After more than ten years of operation, it has developed into a business with online media, online applications, and online services as its main lines. With rich content and sustained and stable services, it has established its absolute brand advantage within Hunan Province, becoming Hunan's largest convenience-service portal website and one of Hunan's most influential internet sites. It has 14 prefecture- and city-level information ports in Hunan, with visitors coming from across the country and around the world, and is one of the first 14 non-news comprehensive websites to obtain news publication rights at the same time as Xinhua and Sohu.
Hunan's Only Agency Publishing Unit for Textbooks from Outside Hunan — Hunan Publishing Center
Hunan Publishing Center is the core enterprise of Hunan Publishing Investment Holding Group and is the only publishing unit in Hunan Province acting as agent for textbooks of People's Education Press and other textbooks from outside Hunan. Each year, the center leases and reprints as many as 650-plus varieties of primary and secondary school textbooks, with a total of nearly 200 million copies and annual sales revenue of more than 600 million yuan. The printing quality of the textbooks it publishes has consistently ranked among the top of its peers nationwide, and it has repeatedly won various awards issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication and People's Education Press.
Hunan's First Book Publishing House After the Founding of New China — Hunan People's Publishing House
Hunan People's Publishing House is one of the earliest local publishing houses established in the newly liberated areas of central south and southwest China. In May 1954, Hunan People's Publishing House was established on the basis of Hunan Popular Reading Materials Publishing House, becoming Hunan's first book publishing house. Hunan People's Publishing House inherits the scholarly lineage of Hunan and promotes Chinese culture. With fine books, it presents the elegance of the times, faces the world, and faces the future, forming its own publishing advantages and publishing style; it mainly edits, publishes, and distributes comprehensive publications such as philosophy and social science readings. It now has 14 departments, including the office, chief editor's office, planning and finance department, political theory readings, legal readings, economic readings, foreign language readings, dictionaries and literature and history readings, literature and art readings, textbook development, Hunan Library, college textbooks, marketing, and production and operations, as well as a college safety education textbook project department, publishing more than 500 kinds of books annually. In the past ten years, more than 400 kinds of books have been rated as excellent books at various levels and categories. "Walking Out of Seclusion" and "On Moral Construction" won the "Five-One Project" Award of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, "Library of Chinese Classics" won the Honorary Award of the National Book Award, "Pictorial History of Chinese Military Affairs" won the National Book Award, "General History of the Chinese Economy" won the National Book Award nomination, and seven books including "General Theory of China's Disaster Relief Insurance" and "The Emergence and Development of Macroeconomics" won the China Book Award. In 1997, it was rated as an advanced collective in the national press and publication system by the Ministry of Personnel and the Press and Publication Administration, and in the same year was rated as an excellent publishing house by the Press and Publication Administration.
Hunan's First Electronic Audio-Visual Publishing House — Hunan Electronic Audio-Visual Publishing House
Hunan Electronic Audio-Visual Publishing House was established in 1995 and is the country's first electronic audio-visual publishing house. Since 1996, electronic audio-visual publications have developed at an average annual rate of more than 60%, and a large number of excellent electronic audio-visual publications have been published. The electronic edition of the "Contemporary China Series," planned by the Hunan Provincial Press and Publication Bureau and the Institute of Contemporary China Studies and jointly published by Hunan Electronic Audio-Visual Publishing House and Contemporary China Publishing House, was listed as one of the two major tribute projects presented by the Press and Publication Administration for the 50th anniversary of National Day. The publication of these large-scale discs marked a new step in the development of Hunan's electronic publications.
Hunan's Earliest New Learning Book Translation and Compilation Institution — Hunan Translation and Compilation Society
Hunan Translation and Compilation Society was founded in the autumn of the 28th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1902) by Yang Yulin, Huang Xing, and others who had studied in Japan. Its general editorial department was located in Tokyo, Japan, its head office was located in the offices of the Shanghai "Su Bao," and what was in Hunan was a branch, making it Hunan's earliest new learning book translation and compilation institution. With the purpose of "translating famous works from the East and West and compiling textbooks for various schools," its aim was to "cultivate talent" and change China's future. After its establishment, it carried out editing and publishing work. Books and preserved bibliographies that can still be seen today include "Outline of Political Science" (1903), "History of East Asian Diplomacy" (1906), and "Newly Translated Arithmetic Textbook" (1906). Although these books were not printed in Hunan, they were translated and compiled in Hunan by Hunan people.