????每當你看到一家在中國做生意的西方媒體公司時，可以肯定的是這家公司的主管們必定有過惡夢般的經歷。中國政策對國外企業，特別是境外娛樂業機構，設定了苛刻的限制條件：從一般內容的審查制度（如電視上的同性戀文化和暴力內容），到嚴格限制國外影視的引進數量，以及難以企及的中國影視節目制作許可證。

????這些是國外公司進入中國傳媒市場所要花費的成本。但它們能從中獲得巨大的利益，這也是為什么許多公司仍愿意忍受這些讓人頭疼的要求。拿電視來說，廣告商們正迫不急待地吸引中國不斷壯大的中產階級：全球管理咨詢公司麥肯錫（McKinsey）稱，過去三年里，中國的電視廣告費翻了一番，達到了400億美元。而且，這個數字將在三年后超過700億美元。

????一旦傳媒公司決定拍一部電視劇，能夠給它們帶來利益的不僅是蓬勃的廣告市場。在中國，可以和電視內容制作方簽協議的頻道有幾十個。如今，中國已經有290多個電視廣播公司和1,300多個頻道。中國無數的電視接收插座，加上飛漲的廣告支出，意味著電視節目的制作將有更多的選擇、更多的渠道以及更大的需求，從而吸引外國媒體公司來中國開展業務。

????這就是Televisa集團的發現。這家墨西哥公司是最大的西班牙語媒體，在墨西哥的黃金時段擄獲了70%的觀眾，每年在電視內容制作上的支出超過10億美元。它最有名的節目類型是在拉丁美洲享譽已久的拉美電視劇。這種長達一個小時的肥皂劇每天在黃金時段播出，覆蓋整個拉美地區，敘事周期一般長達六個月到一年。不過，在過去的15年里，Televisa一直在悄無聲息地向外部市場擴張，如今已經把這些電視劇帶到了中國。而亞洲現在已經成為Televisa增長第二快的國際市場，增速僅次于拉丁美洲（Televisa集團視墨西哥為本土市場，而拉美則屬于國外市場）。

????起初，Televisa只能在中國出售已經在墨西哥播出過的譯制浪漫劇。但在2006年，它開始和中國本土制片方達成協議，為中國觀眾拍攝中文的原創浪漫電視劇。由于中國人的反感，它回避了“跨國制作”這樣容易讓人忽視本土人才的詞，而把這種合作關系描述成“協作”。

????通過和當地制片公司合作，Televisa在中國發行了許多頗受歡迎的電視劇，其中一些作品更是取得了令人矚目的成功。美劇《丑女貝蒂》（Ugly Betty）的中國版《丑女無敵》（Ugly Wudi）自2008年在中國開播以來吸引了1,100萬忠實觀眾。美劇《丑女貝蒂》本身來源于哥倫比亞的浪漫電視劇《丑女貝蒂》（Yo soy Betty, la fea）。【目前美國最熱門的《鴨子王朝》（Duck Dynasty）上周首播吸引了1,200萬觀眾，由A&E有線電視網播出。廣告狂人（Mad Men）平均每周收看人數為250萬。】

????《丑女無敵》和聯合利華（Unilever）的多芬（Dove）品牌達成了深度的植入廣告協議——在所有情節中都出現了它的肥皂——這也暗示了為什么Televisa如此渴望在中國立足的另一個原因：在娛樂節目中，中國觀眾比西方觀眾對植入式廣告的容忍度更高。這對Televisa來說是個好現象，因為它的電視劇觀眾大多為女性，其中許多人是家庭主婦，年齡在20到54歲之間。這個年齡段的觀眾正是廣告商競相追逐的群體之一。Televisa喜歡中國市場的另一個原因是：中國的觀眾們喜歡電視劇。Televisa中國總裁弗朗西斯科?奧提斯說：“中國市場習慣了電視劇。”???

????Whenever you see a Western media company doing business in China, you can bet its executives have had nightmares. Between censorship of everyday material like gay culture and violence on television, strict quotas on foreign content, and the near impossibility of obtaining a license to produce in the country, the restrictions China's policies place on outsiders are onerous -- especially outsiders in the entertainment business.

????That's the cost side of entering the Chinese media market. The benefits explain why companies put up with the headaches. Take television, for instance. Advertisers are rushing to attract the country's rising middle class: TV advertising nearly doubled to $40 billion over the past three years in China, according to McKinsey, and in three more years that figure will rise to more than $70 billion.

????Once media companies decide to make a show, they benefit from more than a skyrocketing ad market. China has dozens of channels with whom content producers can strike deals -- there are more than 290 Chinese television broadcasters and 1,300 channels in the country today. Coupled with ad spending, China's countless television outlets mean more options, more outlets, and a bigger appetite for programming, making it attractive for foreign media companies to do business in China.

????That's what Grupo Televisa has found. The Mexico-based company is the biggest media business in the Spanish-speaking world, capturing 70% of the primetime audience in Mexico and spending more than $1 billion a year on producing content. Its specialties are the telenovelas that have enjoyed a long history in Latin America -- hour-long soap-opera style shows that are broadcast daily all over the region in primetime, their narrative arcs lasting six months to a year. But in a little-noticed expansion outside its market, for the past 15 years, Televisa has been bringing them to China -- and now it counts Asia as its second-fastest-growing international market after Latin America (which it considers to be a foreign market from its native Mexico).

????At first, the company was limited in China to selling dubbed versions of telenovelas that had previously aired in Mexico. But in 2006, it started striking deals with local Chinese producers to develop original telenovelas in Mandarin for Chinese viewers. The company avoids using the phrase "co-production'' -- something the Chinese dislike because it takes attention away from local talent -- so instead the partnerships are described as "collaborations."

????Partnering with local production companies, Televisa has released a host of popular telenovelas in China, some to notable success. Ugly Wudi, a Chinese version of the U.S. hit Ugly Betty, which itself was a version of Colombia's telenovela Yo soy Betty, la fea, debuted in 2008 and captured 11 million regular viewers in China. (The hottest show in the U.S. today, Duck Dynasty on A&E, premiered last week to an audience of 12 million. Mad Men averages about 2.5 million viewers a week.)

????Ugly Wudi included a heavy product placement deal with Unilever's (UL) Dove brand -- the soap appeared all over the plot -- that hints at another reason why Televisa is so eager to be in China: Its viewers are much more receptive than Western audiences to product placement in its entertainment. That's good for Televisa, whose telenovela viewership is mostly women, many of them housewives, aged 20-54, one of the most sought-after demographics for advertisers. Another reason Televisa likes the China market: Its viewers like drama. "China is a market used to TV drama," says Francisco Ortiz, Televisa's president in charge of China.