WORLD'S MOST WATCHED TV HOSTESS YUE-SAI KAN 

EVEN IF I SHOWED YOU HER FACE YOU WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE IT -- BUT SHE IS THE MOST WATCHED TV HOSTESS IN THE WORLD.

THE LADY IS YUE-SAI KAN. WHENEVER SHE APPEARS, 400 MILLION PEOPLE -- THE WORLD'S LARGEST TV AUDIENCE -- SWITCH TO INSTANT SILENCE. SHE IS THE BRILLIANT CHINESE-AMERICAN PRODUCER, WRITER AND HOST OF THE SUPER HIT SERIES "ONE WORLD" FILMED AROUND THE WORLD AND AIRED IN CHINA BY CCTV, THE CHINA NATIONAL TELEVISION NETWORK. TWO THOUSAND SATELLITE EARTH STATIONS AND 90 MILLION TV SETS IN CHINA CARRY THE SHOW.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE HER TO ACHIEVE THIS PHENOMENAL AUDIENCE? JUST UNTIL HER SECOND SHOW: 300 MILLION SAW HER OPENER. HER AUDIENCE WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE TO GROW. CHINA IS NOW PRODUCING 16 MILLION TV SETS A YEAR AND EXPECTS TO HAVE 10,000 EARTH STATIONS OPERATING BY THE 1990'S. IT IS NOT UNUSUAL TO HAVE 50 PEOPLE WATCHING ONE TV SET.

YOU MAY ALSO BE AMAZED TO KNOW THAT HERE IN A COMMUNIST COUNTRY ALL TELEVISION CARRIES COMMERCIALS. THE RATE IS REASONABLE BY NORTH AMERICAN AUDIENCE STANDARDS: TWO DIFFERENT 30-SECOND SPOTS, RUN TWICE DURING THE SHOW AND SEEN BY SUCH AN AUDIENCE, COST $450,000. FOR THAT BIG AN AUDIENCE IN NORTH AMERICA, YOU WOULD PAY $4 MILLION A SHOW! FOR JUST ONE COMMERCIAL! MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN WORLD-CLASS ADVERTISER TO TEST THE WATERS IN CHINA. THE RESULT? THEY SOLD OUT ALL THEY COULD PRODUCE IN TWO MONTHS. PROCTOR AND GAMBLE, XEROX, GILLETTE AND COCA COLA FOLLOWED. JAPANESE COMPANIES SUCH AS CITIZEN WATCH HAVE BEEN ADVERTISING IN CHINA FOR THREE YEARS -- AND THEY HAVEN'T TRIED TO SELL A WATCH THERE YET! BUT OTHER WATCH COMPANIES CAN'T EVEN GET AIR TIME. YOU NOW LINE UP FOR MONTHS TO GET INTO THE LINE!!

THINK WHAT THIS MIGHT EVENTUALLY MEAN TO WORLD TELEVISION PRO- DUCTION COSTS. ANY ENTERTAINMENT OR EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTION SPREAD OVER 400 MILLION VIEWERS WILL COVER ALL COSTS NO MATTER HOW HIGH THEY ARE. AFTER PLAYING IN CHINA, THE SHOW COULD PLAY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AT A MUCH LOWER PRICE THAN AN EQUIVALENT SHOW PRODUCED ELSE- WHERE. EVERY CENT MADE OFFSHORE WOULD BE PROFIT, HENCE THE OFFSHORE SALES PRICE COULD BE "HIGHLY ADJUSTABLE".

THIS WON'T HAPPEN NEXT MONTH, BUT THE HANDWRITING ON THE VIDEO SCREEN INDICATES THE VULNERABILITY OF TELEVISION AND MOVIE PRODUCTION IN WESTERN COUNTRIES. THE U.S. MAY BE HARDEST HIT, AS AMERICANS HAVE BEEN THE RECIPIENTS OF MOST OF THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS POURED INTO BOX OFFICES AND TV ADVERTISING ACCOUNTS AROUND THE WORLD DURING THE PAST CENTURY. ONE DAY CHINA MAY SAY, "BUY OUR MOVIES OR WE WON'T BUY YOUR WHEAT, CARS OR MONEY"!

"AS THE WORLD TURNS" MAY BE A U.S. SOAP TRADEMARK, BUT IT'S TURNING OUT THAT THOSE "NUMBERS", ON WHICH SO MANY ADVERTISING EXEC- UTIVES DEPEND, MAY END UP MEETING TOUGH COMPETITION FROM THE LAND OF THE DRAGON. DON'T LAUGH, REMEMBER, THAT'S WHAT WE DID WHEN WE FIRST SAW THOSE TOYS -- MADE FROM RECYCLED AMERICAN BEER CANS -- WHEN JAPAN STARTED INTO BUSINESS A COUPLE DECADES AGO.

WHAT'S HAPPENING? TIME IS COMPRESSING. CHANGE IS ACCELERATING. EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. EXAMPLE: IN 1600 AFTER TAKING 200 YEARS TO GET THERE, SPAIN RULED THE BUSINESS WORLD. IT TOOK GREAT BRITAIN APPROXIMATELY 100 YEARS ( 1810-20 TO 1910-20) TO ACHIEVE WORLD ECONOMIC DOMINANCE. IT TOOK THE UNITED STATES BUT 50 YEARS (1910-20 TO 1960-70). IT HAS TAKEN THE JAPANESE BUT FIVE (1983 TO 1988)! JAPAN WAS THE FIRST COUNTRY ON THIS PLANET TO INCREASE GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT TEN TIMES IN ONE GENERATION. TODAY, THEY WORRY ABOUT THE KOREANS WHO ARE MOVING EVEN FASTER. IN 1970 THE PER CAPITA INCOME OF SOUTH KOREANS WAS THE SAME AS FOR A NATIVE IN UGANDA. TODAY THE SOUTH KOREA PER CAPITA INCOME IS HIGHER THAN THAT OF ANY COUNTRY IN SOUTH AMERICA!

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? IT MEANS THE WESTERN WORLD NO LONGER SETS THE RULES. IN 1960 SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF ALL CARS WERE MADE IN AMERICA. TODAY THE U.S. HAS ONLY 25 PERCENT OF THE WORLD MARKET AND EVEN THAT PORTION IS SHRINKING. WE NO LONGER HAVE THE LUXURY OF SURPLUS TIME TO MAKE DECISIONS, AT LEAST IF WE WANT TO KEEP IN THE LEAD GROUP OF WORLD COUNTRIES. TODAY CAPITAL FLIES AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT. LABOR CAN BE IMPORTED ELECTRONICALLY. INFORMATION IS REPLACING POLITICAL POWER. EXAMPLE: NEWS ABOUT GARRY HART ELIMINATED THE BRIGHTEST PROSPECT FOR THE U.S. PRESIDENCY. NEWS OF A CRASH ON WALL STREET THAT PREVIOUSLY WOULD HAVE TAKEN WEEKS OR DAYS TO REACH THE ORIENT IS THERE FOR THE OPENING OF THEIR STOCK MARKET.

THE EFFECT IS INSTANTANEOUS AROUND THE WORLD. IT AFFECTS EVERY- THING AND EVERYBODY.

THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF ANY PRODUCT, SERVICE, COUNTRY OR COMPANY CHANGES DAILY, SOMETIMES WITH DEADLY RESULTS. SWINGS AND VOLITILITY WILL INCREASE. DISRUPTIONS NEVER CONTEMPLATED, ON A SCALE NEVER IMAGINED, ARE OCCURING AS YOU READ THIS COLUMN. THE VALUE OF THE JAPANESE YEN ROUGHLY DOUBLED IN ONE YEAR. THEY PROFIT. WHO PAYS? IN THIS CASE -- WE DO. ARE YOU INFORMED ENOUGH TO NOT JUST COMPREHEND YOUR OWN SURVIVAL BUT THRIVE IN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT? CHANGE OPENS THE GATES OF OPPORTUNITY. THE STATUS QUO TREMBLES. MOVE AHEAD.

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