Next Media Limited is one of the leading print media companies of Hong Kong. The company is actively engaged in the publishing of the Chinese language magazines and newspapers. The four sections of magazines and newspapers under the Next Media are the Apple Daily, the Easy Finder, the Next Magazine and a package of three magazines, namely, Sudden Weekly; Eat and Travel Weekly; and Me! All these magazines and newspapers are published from Hong Kong. There are also Taiwan publications by the Next Media Limited, Hong Kong, namely, Apple Daily, Taiwan Next Magazine and Sharp Daily. The Next Media in Hong Kong is also engaged in the commercial printing and Internet services.
The Next Media, Hong Kong has Lai Chee Ying, Jimmy as its chairman and six other members of the board of directors. Among the Board of Directors, three are independent non-executive directors. The Next Media was listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the year 1981. The company had established itself as a magazine publisher and as the commercial printer of books as well as the provider of the reprographic services.
By the end of October 1999, the Easy Finder had become one of the best selling weekly among the youths. The Next Media Interactive Limited from the Next Media Magazines Holdings Limited, that was better known as the "Next Media International Holdings Limited" was also among the most selling magazines in the city. The company also acquired nine other domain names along with the on-line websites of the Next Magazine, Easy Finder and Sudden Weekly.
This acquisition was followed by the placement of the new shares of the company. A change was also made in the company's controlling share-holder, with the replacement of I-China Holdings Limited by Mr. Jimmy Lai. In the year 2000, during the month of February, the company was transformed into the Next Media Limited. The company then acquired the Apple Daily Online Limited or the ADOL, in 2000 July, from the Apple Daily Limited. The Taiwan branch of the Next Media Limited, namely, Next Media Publishing Limited, launched the Taiwan Next Magazine in the year 2001, on the 31st of May. The magazine is amongst the highest selling ones in the entire island.
The Database Gateway Limited (“Database”), acquired by the Next Media Limited in 2001 October, was basically an investment holding company. The Database Gateway Limited was at that juncture under the control of Mr. Jimmy Lai. Some of the major enterprises of the Database Gateway Limited include the publication of the Apple Daily, the Next Magazine, Eat and Travel Weekly and the Sudden Weekly. The Database Gateway Limited also functions as a printer of the newspapers. In terms of market share and sales, the Next Media Limited has become a giant Chinese print media company in Hong Kong. This strengthening of the base has resulted in the emergence of the Next Media Limited in the foreign markets as well.
The Taiwan Apple Daily was launched in 2003, on the 2nd of May, after the successful launch of the Taiwan Next Magazine. The Taiwan Apple Daily recorded an impressive sale, with each copy being priced at NT $5 and almost 80% of the copies were sold out on the very first day. Within three years, the Taiwan Apple Daily exceeded the sale of all other Taiwan Dailies. The newspaper is in fact, at present, the largest selling newspaper in the entire island. The degree of popularity of the newspaper can be well estimated from the fact that in spite of increase in the cover price of the Taiwan Apple Daily by 50%, the sale hasn't decreased a bit.
The Next Media is actively engaged in the newspaper publication and printing business. The different newspapers published by the Next Media are listed below:
- Apple Daily – First published in the year 1995, on the 20th of June, the Apple Daily is the second largest selling Chinese newspaper. Some of the salient features of the Apple Daily newspaper are liberalism, openness, quest for truth and vibrancy.
- Taiwan Apple Daily – Launched in the year 2003, on the 2nd of May, the Taiwan Apple Daily was the first one of its kind to venture into “infotainment” section of the Chinese newspapers. The At present the newspaper is printed at its two in-house printing presses located at Kao Hsiung and Shinwu of Tao Yuan near Taipei. All the major cities get a copy of the Taiwan Apple Daily within two hours of its publication.
- Sharp Daily – Launched in the year 2006, on the 23rd of October, the Sharp Daily is the first free newspaper of the Next Media. The Sharp Daly is printed on a daily basis. The Sharp Daily is equally popular among the readers and the advertisers since it offers a large space for the advertising agencies.
- Newspaper Printing – The Apple Daily Printing Limited is a fully owned supplemental agency of the Next Media Company and it offers its services in order to support the business of Apple Daily in Hong Kong. The Apple Daily Printing Limited has some of the most sophisticated state-of-the-art printing facilities under its sleeve.
- Another important section under the Next Media Limited is that of the books and the magazine publication segment. The six magazines published in the Chinese language by the Next Media Limited are distributed in Hong Kong as well as Taiwan. These magazines are:
- Next Magazine – First published in the year 1990, on the 15th of March, the Next Magazine covers everything from the mass market, news, general interest to the lifestyle. The magazine contains information about the political, social, current affairs, business matters and entertainment in the city of Hong Kong. Two booklets are provided with the Next Magazine, in which one is dedicated to commentary and news while the other one offers information on
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lifestyle and entertainment. According to the 2005 Nielsen Media Index: Hong Kong Report, 70% of the readers of the Next Magazine is aged between the age group of fifteen years to forty four years. The report also says that 66% of the readers of the Next Magazine have monthly household incomes that amount to HK$20,000 or more, while 36% have tertiary education.
- Sudden Weekly – First published in the year 1995, on the 6th of August, the Sudden Weekly is basically an encyclopedia for the purpose of everyday living. The Sudden Weekly is mainly aimed at the female population and is a leisure magazine that comprises of short interviews and features on the celebrities. The magazine also offers a special section dealing with the women issues. Other sections provide information on shopping and entertainment in Hong Kong.
- Taiwan Next Magazine – This magazine was first published in the year 2001, on the 31st of May. The Taiwan Next Weekly mostly features news related to general interest, mass market, lifestyle and other news on the political and social issues, the matters related to business, entertainment as well as the current affairs. All the information that is offered in the Taiwan Next Magazine revolves around the city of Taiwan.
- Me! - The magazine mainly focuses on the issues related to health, food, fitness and traveling. First published in the year 2006, on the 22nd of December, Me! largely targets the modern female readers and is sold in a bunch along with the Eat and Travel Weekly and the Sudden Weekly magazines. This bunch of three magazines is in fact one of the best selling weekly magazines in the entire city of Hong Kong. According to the 2005 Nielsen Report, 74% readers of this bunch of three magazines were female while 76% of the readers were between the age group of fifteen and forty four.
- Eat and Travel Weekly – A leisure magazine, first published in the year 1997, on the 18th of July, mainly focuses on the issues related to food, traveling, fitness and health.
- Next Publications Limited – A fully owned subsidiary of the Next Media Limited, the Next Publications Limited is the publisher of some of the best-sellers in Hong Kong. It publishes various kinds of books that are either related to fiction or are non-fiction ones. Many original works of the authors has also been published by this company, along with the previously published newspapers and magazines. More than 590 titles belonging to different categories, covering everything from novels and health-care to 'feng shui', have been published by this group. One of the bestsellers that have been published by the Next Publications Limited includes Fit for Life by Harvey Diamond and Marilyn Diamond. There are also records of 20,000 copies of titles being sold on the very first month.
The Next Media Limited is also into the printing of books and magazines. All the magazines of the Next Media are printed by the group Paramount Printing Company Limited. The Paramount Printing Company Limited prints everything from catalogues, calendars, promotional literatures to books. It also presents unique designs as well as art works for its foreign and local clients. The company has installed a lot of modern state-of-the-art facilities for the purposes of editorial photography, fully colored advertising and graphics designing.
The Next Media Limited also publishes on-line versions of the newspapers and the magazines. The on-line issues are published by the portals named, atnext.com and 1-apple.com.tw, with the former being the portal for Hong Kong, while the latter is the one for Taiwan. The publications and the routes of these on-line portals are listed below:
- The on-line version of Apple Daily is appledaily.atnext.com
- The on-line version of Next Magazine is next.atnext.com
- The on-line version of Easy Finder is easyfinder.atnext.com
- The on-line version of Sudden Weekly is sudden.atnext.com
- The on-line version of Eat & Travel Weekly is etw.atnext.com
- The on-line version of Me! is me.atnext.com
- The on-line version of Taiwan Next Magazine is next.1-apple.com.tw
- The on-line version of Taiwan Apple Daily is appledaily.1-apple.com.tw
- The on-line version of Sharp Daily is sharp.1-apple.com.tw
There are also some other sites that are published by the two portals of the Next Media. These sites include the following:
- atnext Racing by the racing.atnext.com
- atnext Soccer by the soccer.atnext.com
- atnext Forum by the forum.atnext.com
- About us by the whats-on.atnext.com
- Next Publications by the books.atnext.com
- atnext Map by the mapasia.atnext.com
- atnext Mobile by the mobile.atnext.com
- atnext Motor by the www.atnextMotor.com
- atnext Lady by the lady.atnext.com
- atnext travel by the travel.atnext.com
- atnext education by the education.atnext.com
- atnext health by the health.atnext.com
- atnext Life Express by the life.atnext.com
The registered office of the Next Media in Hong Kong is located at:
Next Media Limited
8 Chun Ying Street
Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate West
Tseung Kwan O
New Territories
Hong Kong
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