Ofcom: Chinese state broadcaster loses UK licence

The decision will come as a serious blow for the organisation, which was hoping to use an expanded presence in London as the foothold for a substantial international operation, reports The Guardian.

UK broadcasting laws require the body that holds the broadcast licence to have control over the content that is broadcast. But according to Ofcom’s investigation, Star China Media Limited, the privately owned company that holds the UK licence, does not actually have editorial responsibility for the content aired on CGTN, and so cannot hold the licence, the British newspaper reported.

A last-minute attempt to transfer the licence to another organisation, CGTN Corporation, was also rejected, Ofcom said, because “crucial information was missing from the application”, and because the company “is controlled by a body which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist party”, reported the newspaper.

“Our investigation showed that the licence for China Global Television Network is held by an entity which has no editorial control over its programmes,” an Ofcom spokesperson told the newspaper. “We’ve provided CGTN with numerous opportunities to come into compliance, but it has not done so. We now consider it appropriate to withdraw the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK.”