Next Media Ltd (?????), publisher of the Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper, plans to start two television stations in Taiwan as early as April next year, chairman Jimmy Lai (???) said.

The TV operations, in which Next Media will invest about US$200 million, are expected to turn profitable two years after the debut, Lai said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday.

On Feb. 25, the Wall Street Journal quoted Lai as saying that Next Media plans to invest more than NT$6 billion (US$172 million) in the Taiwan TV stations. The channels will offer news, documentaries and entertainment programs, the Journal quoted Lai as saying.

The Hong Kong media company is diversifying into TV operations as its print businesses posted declines in advertising revenue in recent months, Lai said, without providing details. The ad market may recover in the second half, he said.

Next Media, which publishes the Chinese-language Apple Daily and Next magazine in Hong Kong and Taiwan, in December reported first-half profit fell 3.3 percent to HK$208.3 million (US$27 million), as the company increased spending in its Internet division.

Advertising revenue in Taiwan’s cable and satellite television industry fell 5.8 percent to US$530 million last year as the economy slowed, according to Media Partners Asia, a Hong Kong-based consultancy.

Lai last year lost out to Want Want China Holdings Ltd (??????) chairman Tsai Eng-meng (???) in a bid to buy Taiwan’s China Times Group, owner of two newspapers and three TV channels.

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