Following the U.K.’s revocation of the operating license of China’s official media, the Global Television Network (CGTN), in early February, it was recently reported that CGTN began turning to France to apply for broadcast rights in Europe.
The Financial Times reported on Feb. 21 that France’s media watchdog committee confirmed that CGTN had contacted the media regulator last December in an attempt to regain its broadcast rights in Europe.
However, the French media watchdog committee did not say when it would be able to determine whether China Universal Television Network would be able to transmit to satellite from an earth station in France and fall under French jurisdiction.
France’s media watchdog said “additional analysis” was necessary following Ofcom’s ruling to revoke CGTN’s operating license. Ofcom revoked CGTN’s broadcast license after concluding that the station was controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
CGTN is part of China’s China Central Radio and Television (CCTV). CGTN’s main responsibilities include promoting the theories and policies of the Communist Party of China, strengthening international communication capacity, and telling the Chinese story. CGTN is basically funded by the general public budget of the Chinese government.
CGTN launched its European Broadcasting Center in London just over a year ago, and the loss of its operating license in the U.K. is considered a blow and a loss for China’s global television network. However, unlike the UK, France does not have a ban on state-owned broadcasters from broadcasting in the country.
Under the terms of a 1989 “cross-border TV” agreement under the auspices of the Council Of Europe, a license issued by a European country applies to most of the entire continent. This means that CGTN can, in principle, resume broadcasting in the countries that are signatories to the “cross-border TV” agreement, as long as it can obtain a license to operate in France.
All EU countries, as well as many non-EU countries, including most of the Balkans and Ukraine, have signed the agreement. The UK is still a signatory to the agreement, despite its withdrawal from the EU. The European Commission is independent of the EU and has 47 member states.
The French regulator has stressed that its review is technical, not political, and that it could restore CGTN’s broadcasting rights in the U.K. if it concludes that CGTN falls under its jurisdiction.
Ofcom declined to comment on the specific case, but said that indeed a station “could potentially be allowed to continue broadcasting in the U.K. without any license” under the European Commission treaty.
German broadcasting regulator Medienanstanten told the Financial Times it had found no evidence that CGTN had approached media regulators outside France, adding that it was currently waiting for a decision from the French authorities.
Several distributors that broadcast CGTN in Germany, including Vodafone, have temporarily stopped broadcasting the channel pending further instructions.
The Financial Times reports that CGTN declined to comment on its plans for Europe. The network can still broadcast over the Internet, and the lack of retransmission rights will not diminish the network’s ability to retain journalists and set up headquarters in Europe.
In a statement issued immediately after CGTN’s license was revoked in the U.K., CGTN said that in early 2020, “manipulated by some far-right groups and anti-China forces, Ofcom suddenly launched an investigation into CGTN’s English-language news channel’s license to land in the U.K.” CGTN’s statement “expressed regret and strong opposition to Ofcom’s final decision.
Ofcom’s move heightened tensions between Britain and China, and Beijing quickly retaliated by formally banning the BBC’s World News television channel from broadcasting in China.
French media expert Philippe Bailly said it would not be difficult for CGTN to establish European jurisdiction in France, but he warned that French media law ranks among the best in the European Union. “CGTN could run into more problems depending on what they broadcast and whether it is objective, not who controls the channel,” he said.
Ofcom found last year that CGTN had violated its impartiality principles by failing to present a different view from Beijing’s when covering pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.
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