• Forbes, Tuesday, November 21, 2006 11:45 AM

The yearly prime-time ad auction by China Central Television drew about 1,000 representatives from Procter and Gamble, Lenovo, Bank of China an other top marketers to bid aggressively in a 13-hour event.

CCTV said prime-time ad revenue for next year will hit $860 million, up lamost 16%. With spending of $53.2 million, P & G China topped the list for the fourth year in a row; it remains optimistic about the market, despite the time it had defending its Japanese-made SK II cosmetics after they were found to contain a banned chemical substance.

The annual CCTV auction is a big event in China, drawing attention from everyone from economists to entrepreneurs. The state-owned station has 15 nationwide channels, covering about 95% of the 1.3 billion population --and a one-third market share for audience and advertising revenue.

Michelle Ko, managing director of MindShare, the biggest media buyer in China, says about 70% of ad money goes to television, with consumer nondurable products, such as shampoo and soft drinks, the key advertisers. With about 70% of the population living in rural areas and seldom reading newspapers, television is the prime medium for hawking mass-market goods. In addition, she notes, "in China, people only trust those brands they watched on TV."

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