China Media Group was established in March 2018 following the 13th National People’s Congress. The group incorporated all media outlets previously managed by China Central Television (CCTV), China’s state-owned and official television network with over 50 channels and over one billion viewers. It also incorporated China Global Television Network (CGTN), formerly CCTV International, a global broadcasting company with seven international television channels. Additionally, it incorporated China National Radio, the official state-controlled radio station in China with 17 channels, and China Radio International, a global radio service.
Media assets
Television: China Central Television (CCTV)– CCTV-1, CCTV-1 Hong Kong & Macau, CCTV-2, CCTV-3, CCTV-4 Asia, CCTV-4 Europe, CCTV-4 America, CCTV-4 Daifu, CCTV-5, CCTV-5+, CCTV-6, CCTV-7, CCTV-8, CCTV-9, CCTV-10, CCTV-11, CCTV-12, CCTV-13, CCTV-14, CCTV-15, CCTV-16, CCTV-17, CCTV-4K; Foreign operations- CCTV Entertainment, CCTV Daifu, CCTV Overseas Chinese Opera; China Global Television Network (CGTN)
Radio: China National Radio (CNR)– Voice of China (CNR1), Business Radio (CNR2), Music Radio (CNR3), Golden Radio (CNR4), Zhongua News Radio (CNR5), Shenzhou Radio (CNR6), Radio Greater Bay (CNR7), Ethnic Minority Radio (CNR8), Story Radio (CNR9), Senior Citizen Radio (CNR10), Tibetan Radio (CNR11), Reading radio (CNR12), Uygur Radio (CNR13), Hong Kong Edition (CNR14), Highway Radio (CNR15), Countryside Radio (CNR16), Kazakh Radio (CNR17); China Radio International (CRI)
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
China Media Group is a state-controlled broadcast group that reports to both the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. The company reports directly to the National Radio and Television Administration, a ministry-level agency. The chairman of the group is a senior government official.
Source of funding and budget
Some of the media outlets in China Media Group generate a significant portion of their revenue through advertising. All of the aforementioned entities receive financing from the state budget. While the proportion of state funding in CCTV’s total budget has declined in recent years, it remains a notable component, representing over half of the group’s overall expenditure.
Although the consolidated revenue of China Media Group is not publicly available, an analysis conducted by the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) based on the annual budgets of the majority of media outlets within China Media Group suggests that state funding accounts for over half of the group’s expenditure.
In 2023, the total budget of CCTV alone was CNY 2.14bn (US$ 293m), with CNY 1.79bn (US$ 245m) coming from the general public budget, according to data collected from the Chinese government by the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC).
Editorial independence
China Media Group is the main outlet for Chinese government propaganda. The group’s broadcasters serve as the Chinese Communist Party’s official voice, adhering to a set of editorial guidelines set forth by the government, according to Chinese journalists and experts consulted for this report.
A number of governments have taken action against the media outlets operated by the group. In February 2021, for example, the UK media regulator revoked the broadcast license for CGTN in the UK, citing that the license was held illegally by another company, Star China Media Limited, which lacked the requisite editorial responsibility for the station’s content, as required by British law.
China Media Group has been actively expanding its international presence in recent years, forging strategic partnerships with media outlets in various countries worldwide. One of the regions that has been identified as a priority for the Chinese media group is Africa.
There is currently no legislation in place, nor any independent assessment or oversight mechanism, to validate the independence of the media outlets that form part of the China Media Group. These outlets serve as the primary propaganda channels for the Chinese government.
September 2024