Just great.

I'm ecstatic. =/

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英) is negotiating to buy the China Times Group, a newspaper report said yesterday....

If the takeover were to materialize, it would make Next Media the largest media group in Taiwan with two TV stations, two magazines and four newspapers.

Lai — vowing to change the reading habits of people by promoting “serious” news reports — launched the Taiwanese versions of his Hong Kong publications Next Magazine and the Apple Daily in May 2003.

Although criticized by many as full of gossip, the Apple Daily quickly became a bestselling newspaper in Taiwan. Its daily circulation has reached 526,000 and it now threatens the market share of other dailies.

Next Magazine, with a scoop in practically every issue, has become the nation’s most popular news magazine.

The Chinese-language China Times was launched in 1950 and later expanded to become the largest media group but is now facing financial difficulties.

The group owns the China Times, the Commercial Times, the China Times Publishing Co, the China Television Co and CTI TV.