Posted on 09/04/2001 4:06:27 PM PDT by sarcasm
China is set to allow News Corporation (news/quote) and AOL Time Warner (news/quote) access to its domestic television audiences in return for their agreeing to distribute a Chinese government-sponsored channel in the US.
International broadcasters have fought for more than two decades to gain access to the Chinese market. The expected approval would be a particular triumph for Rupert Murdoch, the chief executive of News Corporation.
Xu Guangchun, the Chinese minister responsible for radio, film and television, said in an interview with the Financial Times that it was his intention to allow both companies access to cable viewers in southern China. He said: "We should say that [broadcasting by News Corp and Time Warner] in a restricted area in Guangdong province would be fine."
He said the only outstanding issue was whether News Corp and AOL Time Warner would ensure a China Central Television channel would be widely available in the US. "We have asked them to allow CCTV to broadcast in America. We want it to be easily accessed."
Mr Xu suggested officials from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television would visit the US to check on the availability of the channel, which carries English language programmes.
Industry executives said the potential deal was the culmination of years of work by News Corp and AOL Time Warner. It is understood negotiations are far advanced for a general entertainment channel from News Corp's Star TV network to be carried in Guangdong, China's most prosperous province, which neighbours Hong Kong.
Permission to broadcast will be particularly sweet for Mr Murdoch, who has spent the past eight years repairing a reputation damaged with the Chinese by his 1993 statement that satellite TV represents "an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere".
He dropped the BBC from the Star network in 1994 after a series of unflattering documentaries on China's politics and social problems invoked the government's wrath. Earlier this year, James Murdoch, his younger son and head of operations for News Corp in Asia, pleased the Chinese authorities with strong criticism of the outlawed mystic movement, Falun Gong.
Foreign companies have been banned from directly broadcasting into China, apart from in some tourist hotels and foreign residential compounds.
A few foreign companies, including Phoenix, a listed Hong Kong company, and Viacom, the US media giant, beam television into China but this programming has not been approved and the signals are at risk of being shut down by the authorities at any time.
SARFT's China's intention to allow News Corp and AOL Time Warner access to the domestic television market represents an unprecedented liberalisation in one of China its most closed industries. For Mr Murdoch, the development would come after a long battle to have his Star TV operation formally accepted by the Chinese government.
The Chinese channel which Beijing wants broadcast in the US tends to carry English-language news approved by the government, as well as Chinese cooking programmes and Mandarin language lessons. The Chinese government is keen for a more positive image of the country to be seen in the US and believes the channel would serve that purpose.
Mr Xu also indicated that, in the longer term, foreign broadcasters would be allowed to participate in a unified satellite broadcasting system controlled by his ministry. He said discussions had been held with several foreign companies, including Bloomberg, and that his ministry was considering what fees the companies should be charged.
Also known as propaganda.
Or CNN, for that matter...
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