China Launches Get-Tough Policy on Foreign Satellite TV Programming

SHANGHAI — In a bid to tighten control in a politically sensitive year, Chinese authorities have cracked down on foreign satellite programming, a move that undercuts broadcasters such as Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. that are trying to win viewers here.

Authorities reportedly ordered dozens of cable television stations to stop broadcasting foreign satellite programming, and police made widely publicized seizures of “unauthorized” satellite dishes.

Industry executives had only incomplete reports on how effective and widespread the crackdown has become. But the trouble underscores the vulnerability of big foreign media interests to the political climate here.

The action came a month before the 10th anniversary of the democracy demonstrations around Tiananmen Square in Beijing that were broadcast around the world on CNN and other networks.

“There are periodic crackdowns when the government moves to strictly enforce its laws,” said David Wolf, the managing director of media consultants Claydon Gescher Associates in Beijing. “This is the government taking extra care during a politically sensitive time.”

In China, satellite reception is officially limited to luxury hotels, foreign housing and companies that can demonstrate a business need. But with at least 15 approved foreign broadcasters beaming novel programming into China, unauthorized satellite dishes and decoder boxes abound.

Even those without dishes can tune in to popular foreign shows such as “Baywatch.” Cable operators across the country commonly downlink satellite feeds and rebroadcast them to vast cable audiences.

Authorities signaled the crackdown last week by publishing a 1993 State Council circular in the Beijing Daily banning unauthorized satellite reception. To drive home the point, Chinese television news has been showing police seizing illegal dishes and boxes in cities across China.

Beijing has long been wary of international programming, especially since News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch declared when he bought Star TV that satellite television would bring an end to totalitarian regimes. Murdoch has since managed to get back into the government’s good graces by jettisoning the BBC news and creating the Chinese-language Phoenix Channel.

News Corp.’s English-language Star Movies and Star World are widely distributed in China, bringing the yuppie tribulations of “Ally McBeal” to China’s viewers. Star Sports and Disney’s ESPN were also said to be affected by the crackdown.

The Phoenix Channel, owned 45% by Star and 55% by two Hong Kong companies with connections to the mainland, is much more popular and therefore has more to lose from a government crackdown.

“We can’t say much right now,” said a spokeswoman for Phoenix Satellite Television Co., which claims 45 million mainland viewers. “We are still looking into the case and want to get a better understanding of what is happening there.”

Phoenix’s license originally limited its distribution to a cable network in southern China. But it quickly spread across the country, winning viewers in far-flung, and lofty, places. Premier Zhu Rongji confessed at a news conference last year that he was a fan of a Phoenix newscast after the anchorwoman prefaced her question with gushing praise for Zhu.

The ban is especially problematic for advertisers such as Miller Brewing Co., which backs a show on Phoenix that may or may not be reaching viewers.

“If they don’t know if anyone can see it, then that may be a problem,” said Allan Chou, director of program syndication at Saatchi & Saatchi in Beijing.

In addition to the Tiananmen anniversary, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a milestone the government wants to ensure passes smoothly.

Analysts predict that the controls may gradually ease at the end of the year.