China’s state-owned broadcaster has had its licence to broadcast in the UK revoked by media watchdog Ofcom.
Ofcom said the company that owns the UK licence for China Global Television Network (CGTN) doesn’t have day-to-day control over the channel, which is against its rules.
Star China Media Limited (SCML), which owns the licence, “did not have editorial responsibility” over the English-language satellite news channel, Ofcom said.
“As such, SCML does not meet the legal requirement of having control over the licensed service, and so is not a lawful broadcast licensee.”
In the UK, broadcasting laws say licensees must have control over their service and its editorial policies.
Ofcom said an entity called China Global Television Network Corporation is “the ultimate decision maker” over programmes.
But the regulator said it was unable to transfer the licence to that company because it is “ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is not permitted under UK broadcasting law”.