MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chinese cable channel CGTN banned in Germany as a result of UK's Ofcom license sharing

According to an agreement among EU countries, CGTN's license in Germany had been approved by Ofcom as part of a license sharing initiative.

The Chinese cable channel CGTN no longer has permission to be broadcast in Germany, a press spokesperson for the state media authority of North Rhine-Westphalia confirmed on Friday.

“We are currently informing cable providers that Ofcom has revoked this channel's UK license and that the program can therefore not be broadcast in Germany anymore,” they said, referring to the decision made by UK broadcasting regulator on February 4

According to an agreement among several European countries, CGTN's license in Germany had been approved by Ofcom as part of a license sharing initiative.

With the Ofcom license revoked, CGTN has been left without permission to broadcast in Germany.

Vodafone Germany also reported on Friday that it had ended distribution of the channel over its cable network in Nordrhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.

“We are currently in discussions regarding the withdrawal of the license both with regional media authorities and the broadcaster's representatives in order to clarify the legal situation,” the company said.

The British Office of Communications (Ofcom) said that the media company holding CGTN's UK license, Star China Media Limited (SCML) had “no editorial control over its programs” as the UK law requires.

The regulator determined that the state-owned channel was “ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party” after carrying out an investigation into complaints about fairness and accuracy.

In response, Chinese regulators banned the UK's BBC World Service from broadcasting in China on Thursday, citing violations of the country's broadcasting rules.