The Voice producer Talpa launches Chinese JV

The Voice producer Talpa Media has struck a joint venture deal in China with Puji Star Media as it looks to ramp up its business in the country.

The Dutch producer and distributor has created Talpa China Star to focus on the greater China marke.

This follows the success of The Voice of China, which was produced by Star China earlier this year and reached over 500 million viewers. The show has been commissioned for a second season.

Talpa will hope to get local versions of its entertainment formats including The Winner Is… and Mad For Music off the ground.

Talpa CEO Pim Schmitz said: “We have done business in the Chinese TV market for several years now, but on a much smaller scale. Talpa formats like I Love My Country and Sing It are successfully introduced in China, which is proof for the fact that our focus on creativity and sharing production knowledge is being recognized in this vast country. The even greater success of The Voice underlines that. Our joint venture with such an important party as Puji Star Media enables us to optimally adapt and exploit our original format ideas in the very fast growing Chinese media market. So, this is an important step for Talpa in China.”

“We are very excited about continuing our cooperation and formalizing it into a long term partnership. Talpa is one of the world’s most successful variety format creators for television, founded by John de Mol and led by him and his team. Talpa’s creativity and format structures are very suitable for the China market and audiences. We are looking forward, not only to season two of The Voice of China, but to work with the Talpa team to create a very positive channel for the endless talents available in China to be staged locally and internationally,” added Puji Star Media.