China Allows Broadcast of Foreign Television Network
In a small milestone for China’s restricted television market, the government granted a Hong Kong-based TV channel the right to broadcast to a limited region in the south of the country, a state-run newspaper said.
Phoenix is the first foreign television network to be allowed to broadcast legally in China. The decision formalizes Phoenix’s already substantial Chinese presence.
Hotels, some upscale apartments in cities and some government offices already get Phoenix, started in 1996. So do millions of homes that use satellite dishes in defiance of a government ban. Phoenix and analysts said about 42 million Chinese homes receive the network.
The government’s director of radio, film and TV, Xu Guangchun, said Friday that Phoenix’s Chinese channel has been permitted to broadcast through cable in the Pearl River Delta, an economically booming area of southern Guangdong province, the Yangcheng Evening News reported Saturday.
Star, a News Corp. subsidiary in Asia, is a major shareholder in Phoenix.
Xu said Phoenix and state-run China Central TV will form a venture to promote CCTV overseas.
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