transmitCHINA.TALKS 2011 speaker:
// Larry Namer - CEO & President, Metan Development Group
An entertainment industry veteran with over 38 years professional experience in cable television, live events and new media, Larry Namer is a founding partner of Metan Development Group (Metan), a venture created to develop entertainment and media specifically for the Chinese marketplace. An accomplished entrepreneur, Mr. Namer is the co-founder of E! Entertainment Television, a company now valued at over $3.5 billion USD, and the creator of several successful companies in the United States and overseas. Among those companies are Comspan Communications that pioneered Western forms of entertainment in the former Soviet Union and Steeplechase Media that served as the primary consultant to Microsoft’s MiTV for developing interactive TV applications.
Metan’s most notable projects include Hello! Hollywood!, a weekly entertainment news series tailored to Chinese audiences, offering up the latest in celebrity and lifestyle news, and covering the most glamorous red carpet events and award shows. Since its launch in summer 2009, the series is now available on over 40 television stations reaching more than 250 million households throughout China. Metan also launched the series’ premier content on 10 of China’s top online portals in 2010, adding 360 million Chinese netizens to its program reach.
In February, 2011 Metan teamed up with Tencent, owner of China's largest Internet service portal QQ.com, to create special entertainment news coverage direct from Hollywood surrounding The 83 Annual Academy Awards, tailored specifically to Mandarin-speaking audiences. This first ever viewing event was watched by an impressive audience of 3.2 million Mandarin-speaking viewers in China.
Recently, Metan joined forces with global nonprofit WildAid (http://wildaid.org) to distribute a special series of celebrity PSAs designed to raise awareness to reduce the demand for threatened and endangered species products and to increase public support for wildlife conservation worldwide.
