Shanda has spent 20 million yuan on a TV ad campaign for its new EZPod online multimedia system, China Business News cites a company insider as saying. The ads, which starting running on 28 January on CCTV channels 1 & 2, Shanghai Oriental CATV, and Hunan Cable, were intended to take advantage of the shopping season following the Spring Festival. According to the Shanda source, the ads would stimulate a sales network that lacked high-level support. Prior to the Spring Festival, rumors had circulated that Shanda chairman and CEO Chen Tianqiao was planning to sell off the 19.5% stake in Sina that his company had acquired last Spring Festival, with financial problems the reason given. Shanda, however, has plans to spend several hundred million yuan on promotion for the EZPod this year, including ads in print media, and according to one observer, the company has 2 billion yuan in available cash. Link: http://dycj.ynet.com/article.jsp?oid=7601103