Phoenix TV

Phoenix Media Investment (Holdings) Limited is a Hong Kong-listed broadcaster delivering Mandarin and Cantonese programming to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese-speaking audiences worldwide. Founded on 31 March 1996 by Liu Changle, a former People’s Liberation Army political officer, it is headquartered in Shenzhen with substantial operations in Tai Po, Hong Kong, and holds a non-domestic television programme service licence in Hong Kong while most of its customers and non-current assets are in mainland China. Its largest shareholder is Bauhinia Culture, a company wholly owned by the Chinese state. Unlike most outlets in the Chinese set, Phoenix publishes audited accounts, so its funding position can be examined directly.

Media assets

Television: Phoenix Chinese Channel, Phoenix InfoNews Channel, Phoenix Movies Channel, Phoenix Hong Kong Channel and Phoenix Chinese News and Entertainment Channel, together with Phoenix TV US

Digital: ifeng.com, operated by Phoenix New Media, separately listed in New York and majority controlled through the group

Publishing: Phoenix Weekly

Phoenix ceased operations in Taiwan several years ago after regulatory scrutiny rooted in limits on mainland Chinese investment in Taiwanese media.

Ownership and governance

Ownership has shifted decisively toward state-linked entities over three decades. In 2018 the principal shareholders were Today’s Asia Limited, Liu Changle’s vehicle, with 37.1 per cent; Extra Step Investments, held through state-owned China Mobile Hong Kong, with 19.7 per cent; TPG China Media with 12.2 per cent, acquired from 21st Century Fox in 2017; and China Wise International, associated with Bank of China and Central Huijin, with 8.3 per cent. In April 2021 Liu sold most of his holding to Bauhinia Culture and Shun Tak Holdings, making Bauhinia the largest shareholder.

Bauhinia Culture Holdings is a state-owned cultural enterprise based in Hong Kong, engaged in news publishing, film, television, literature and the arts, and is described in company filings as a connected person of Phoenix under Hong Kong listing rules. It remained the dominant shareholder through the review period.

The founder’s departure was staged over 2021. Liu Changle stepped down as chief executive with effect from 26 February 2021, the board stating that separating the chairman and chief executive roles would bring the group into line with the Hong Kong corporate governance code, and Xu Wei was appointed chief executive the same day. Xu, a former editor-in-chief of Shanghai Dragon TV, had been director of the Shanghai municipal government’s Information Office and its spokesman. In April Liu sold 37.93 per cent of the company, 21 per cent to Bauhinia Culture and 16.93 per cent to Shun Tak Holdings. He is now recorded as founder and former chairman and chief executive.

Current senior management includes Chui Keung as deputy chief executive and chief compliance officer and Liu Shuang as chief operating officer of Phoenix Satellite Television and chief executive of Phoenix New Media. Board changes in August 2024 brought in non-executive directors connected to Bauhinia Culture and China Mobile, and Phoenix New Media reconstituted its board and appointed a new chief executive on 15 May 2026. Bauhinia Culture Holdings has been chaired by Mao Chaofeng, formerly executive vice governor of Hainan, since 2021.

The company’s listing on the Hong Kong exchange imposes disclosure and connected-transaction requirements that no other Chinese outlet in this dataset is subject to, but those obligations govern reporting rather than editorial direction.

Source of funding and budget

Phoenix is a commercially financed broadcaster whose principal revenue is advertising, and its accounts are audited and public.

Revenue has been contracting. The 2024 annual report recorded revenue of HK$2.235 billion, approximately USD 286.5 million, down about 9.4 per cent year on year, with operating costs falling 10.6 per cent and an operating loss of HK$245.3 million, approximately USD 31.4 million. Trailing twelve-month revenue as at 31 December 2025 was approximately USD 263 million, indicating continued decline.

A portion of that revenue now originates directly with the controlling state shareholder. In 2026 Phoenix disclosed a series of connected transactions with Bauhinia Culture Hong Kong for Chinese medicine-themed television content: an initial programme worth RMB 2.7 million followed by a documentary mandate worth RMB 26 million. Because Bauhinia is a connected person, the agreements were aggregated for compliance and now trigger reporting, announcement and annual review requirements, though they remain below the threshold requiring independent shareholder approval.

Editorial independence

Phoenix has long occupied an ambiguous position, licensed in Hong Kong and presenting itself as a commercial broadcaster while its ownership and editorial direction have moved steadily toward Beijing. Freedom House characterises it as pro-Beijing; the BBC’s Stephen McDonell has described it as sometimes more liberal than its mainland counterparts.

The most direct evidence of editorial direction remains testimony given under oath in the United States. Chung Pong, a former news director, stated in a deposition that programming was subject to the dictates of the leadership of the Central Propaganda Department, the Central Overseas Propaganda Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The broadcaster has separately been criticised for airing what appeared to be forced confessions and staged interviews.

No legislation, charter, independent board or external oversight mechanism exists to assess or guarantee its editorial autonomy. Its Hong Kong licence carries programme standards obligations but no guarantee of independence from its controlling shareholder.

AI and digital policy

State Media Monitor identified no publicly available Phoenix editorial policy governing generative artificial intelligence, mandatory human verification, model provenance or disclosure of AI-assisted material to audiences, and could not establish the extent of adoption from public sources.

Phoenix New Media, the group’s separately listed digital arm, operates through variable interest entities under Chinese regulations governing internet information services, internet audiovisual programme services and online cultural operations, which places its digital output squarely within the domestic regulatory framework.

China’s regulatory framework applies to covered internet information services. The deep synthesis provisions, effective January 2023, require technical identifiers for generated or edited information and conspicuous labels for specified forms of synthesis where these may cause public confusion or misidentification. The Measures for Labelling Artificial Intelligence-Generated and Synthesised Content, effective 1 September 2025, established the explicit and implicit labelling framework more systematically.

Classification rationale

Phoenix TV remains classified Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu).

It is state-controlled through ownership. Bauhinia Culture, a company wholly owned by the Chinese state, is the largest shareholder and is treated in company filings as a connected person. State-linked holdings extend further through China Mobile Hong Kong. Board appointments in August 2024 brought in non-executive directors connected to Bauhinia and China Mobile. The company’s Hong Kong listing imposes disclosure obligations but places no constraint on the controlling shareholder’s influence over strategy or editorial direction.

Its editorial agenda is subject to state influence. Sworn testimony from a former news director describes programming subject to direction from the Central Propaganda Department, the Central Overseas Propaganda Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Independent assessments characterise the broadcaster as pro-Beijing, and it has faced criticism for material including apparent forced confessions. No charter or oversight mechanism provides a counterweight.

It is not predominantly state-funded, and this is the condition that places Phoenix in CaPu rather than State-Controlled. It is a commercially financed broadcaster whose principal revenue is advertising, with audited group revenue of HK$2.235 billion in 2024 and approximately USD 263 million on a trailing basis to the end of 2025, alongside operating losses. Some revenue is state-derived, including disclosed connected transactions with Bauhinia worth RMB 28.7 million across three agreements in 2026, and advertising purchased by state-owned enterprises. Phoenix publishes no advertiser breakdown, and the disclosed state-derived revenue is small relative to group turnover.

August 2026