Cambodian Broadcasting Service (CBS) is a broadcast operator controlled by The Royal Group, one of the largest investment companies in Cambodia with investments in many industry sectors. It runs CNC, CTN and My TV, which are three of the most popular television channels in Cambodia.
Media assets
Television: CTN Cambodia, MyTV Cambodia, CNC Cambodia, CTN International Cambodia
State Media Matrix Typology: Captured Private (CaPr)
Ownership and governance
The Royal Group is fully owned by Kith Meng, a dual Cambodian and Australian national who controls more than 40 companies in Cambodia. Meng is known to be a close supporter of the former Prime Minister Hun Sen in Cambodia. In some media reports, he was referred to as “prime ministerial adviser.”
In August 2023, Hun Sen retired, allowing his son Hun Manet, 45, to take the helm of the government. He won a seat in parliamentary elections in July 2023, which were described as a sham by independent observers. Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla strongman said that the would remain in politics in various other roles.
In a major development in late 2022, Bayon High Media System along with Royal Group, owner of CBS, and Hang Meas TV Group, a Cambodian media conglomerate, agreed to create Cambodian Television Alliance, to run the largest digital television platform operation in the country. The alliance also involves the participation of the government, which is represented through the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
According to the statute of the alliance, seven board members, one from the government and six from the Cambodian Television Alliance, will supervise the operations of the joint platform. Hun Mana, one of former Prime Minister Hun Sen, was selected as the alliance’s board chair.
Source of funding and budget
CBS is funded primarily through advertising, but there have been suspicions in the past that the government has contributed funding to the media outlets in The Royal Group thanks to the close friendship between the group’s owner Kith Meng and the family of the former Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Editorial independence
The owner of the group, Meng is known as a loyal supporter of the former Prime Minister Hun sen. Meng decorates the offices of his company with enormous portraits of Hun Sen’s family members. Moreover, the broadcast license for CNC, one of the group’s media outlets, states that the outlet has to “help the government broadcast the nation’s progress and development.”
No evidence of statutes that would protect the independence of the journalists working in the CBS media outlets and no independent assessment or oversight mechanisms to validate its editorial independence have been identified.
October 2023