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FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4140
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 016961 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2031 
TAGS: PGOV KCUL SOCI CH
SUBJECT:  BROADCAST NEWS: CCTV YOUTH MOVEMENT EARNS 
CHEERS, JEERS -- THEN DISAPPEARS 
 
 
Classified By: Classified by Political Section Internal Unit Chief 
Susan A. Thornton.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
 Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Two young anchors unexpectedly debuted on 
China Central Television's 7 p.m. national news 
broadcast early this summer.  The appearance of Mr. 
Kang Hui and Ms. Li Zeming, both in their early 30s, 
has stimulated debate about CCTV's direction and 
spurred rumors about the possibility of changes to the 
broadcast's format and content.  The youth movement 
has attracted considerable media attention.  Internet 
news portals and other publications speculated that 
the appearance of new faces signifies an attempt to 
attract more viewers at a time when competition from 
satellite broadcasters such as Hong Kong-based Phoenix 
Television is taking a bite out of CCTV's traditional 
monopoly of the airwaves.  Media insiders expressed 
skepticism about the change, saying that no matter who 
the anchors are, the staid nature of the newscast will 
remain the same.  In addition, the network appears to 
have quickly abandoned its new look.  The young 
anchors have not appeared on screen since their June 5 
debut.  End Summary. 
 
Anchors Away 
------------ 
 
¶2.  (C) CCTV-1 News, the Chinese Government's flagship 
news broadcast, employs a regular rotation of four 
pairs of anchors for the national telecast that airs 
every night at 7 p.m.  Until June 5, there had not 
been a change in the roster in about 10 years, media 
analysts said.  As a result, when Kang and Li appeared 
that night, Chinese viewers and media took note. 
China Newsweek ran a two-page spread about the duo the 
following week and Internet news portals provided 
comprehensive coverage, including thumbnail bios of 
the new anchors accompanied by photographs.  China 
Newsweek speculated that the arrival of the new 
anchors presages a larger CCTV effort to shed its 
staid reputation.  Popular tabloids and Internet news 
portals even gave the matter its own handle: "The Face 
Change Issue," a reference to a form of Chinese 
traditional theater in which characters change 
identities with a swift switch of a mask. 
 
"Northern Peasants Television Network" 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Observers have expressed skepticism about 
CCTV's ability to adapt to growing competition.  In 
fact, the introduction of Kang and Li reflect a 
desperate attempt to change the network's image and 
increase market share, several contacts said.  (Note: 
A June 2006 ratings sweep found that in China's 35 
biggest cities, the CCTV-1 nightly news broadcast has 
a 5.6 percent market share, which amounts to just over 
7 million viewers, the newspaper Southern Weekend 
reported.  End note.)  CCTV's nickname is "Beifang 
Nongmin Dianshi Tai," or Northern Peasants Television 
Network, because the only people who watch it are 
rural residents in the northern part of China, said 
Rui Chenggang, a CCTV on-screen personality who hosts 
talk shows and programs about business issues.  Around 
the country, people watch Phoenix, Rui contended.  In 
Shanghai, satellite television options are 
proliferating. 
 
¶4.  (C) China Economic Times editor Zhang Xiantang 
separately agreed that many people are now tuning in 
to satellite television options and avoiding CCTV.  He 
told poloffs that a debate had recently surfaced over 
a suggestion to rename CCTV, which in Chinese carries 
the connotation of a Communist Party propaganda organ, 
to "China State Television."  The suggestion, made by 
intellectuals critical of CCTV's staid programming and 
resistance to change, was quickly dashed, however, 
according to Zhang, with an article in the People's 
Daily pronouncing that there will be no name change. 
 
¶5.  (C) Beyond news, CCTV is not even generating the 
most popular shows anymore, Rui complained.  Hunan 
Satellite Television produced the smash hit "Super 
Girls."  Li Xiaoping (protect), a producer at CCTV's 
international channel, separately made a similar 
point, adding that local television networks and 
satellite broadcasters hold an annual meeting to 
strategize about how to compete with CCTV.  While the 
focus of these meetings tends to be on entertainment, 
 
BEIJING 00016961  002 OF 002 
 
 
she related that CCTV is feeling pressure to revamp 
its news broadcasts as well. 
 
Style Over Substance 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) There is "absolutely no chance" that the 
introduction of new faces to CCTV News is a harbiger 
of changes to come on the substance o the broadcasts, 
said Xu Fangzhou, a professor at the Beijing 
Broadcasting Institute.  Real television journalism is 
not about to appear.  The role of CCTV News is to 
represent the Central Government and disseminate 
information on its behalf.  While controls on news 
outlets remain tight, recent commercialization of 
Chinese media has caused a conundrum for CCTV, Xu 
maintained, in that anchors reciting news in monotone 
hardly attracts new viewers.  Ratings remain 
relatively high among regular Chinese, but 
intellectuals and media professionals only tune in on 
occasion to engage in Kremlinology -- that is, to 
judge the standing of top leaders by their on-camera 
positioning during official news broadcasts, Xu said. 
 
No Guts 
------- 
 
¶7.  (C) CCTV brass has been debating changes to the 
flagship newscast for some time, said Li of CCTV-9. 
She said a rift exists in senior management over the 
issue.  On one side, CCTV executives want anchors with 
gravitas reading the news.  The older newscasters 
themselves feel threatened by the appearance of 
younger anchors, Li added.  But she also reported that 
letters were flooding into CCTV headquarters 
complaining about the blandness of the senior 
newscasters.  Several CCTV producers felt that given 
the fight for ratings, "we had to do something," Li 
conveyed. 
 
¶8.  (C) Nonetheless, Li and other contacts said the 
group that is reluctant to change won the argument. 
Contacts speculated that the senior anchors may have 
sought help from well-connected friends to force the 
network's hand.  Xu of the Beijing Broadcasting 
Institute said he believes propaganda authorities were 
fearful that the appearance of the young anchors would 
send a "wrong message, especially to local 
broadcasters, that reforms are about to start" and 
told CCTV to pull back.  Whatever the case, Kang and 
Li made one appearance and have not been back onscreen 
since.  Media savvy viewers, many of whom are already 
critical of CCTV News, were unsurprised by (and 
unforgiving of) Kang and Li's quick exit.  Reacting to 
the network's backtrack, Wang Feng, a journalist at 
the influential biweekly Caijing Magazine, voiced a 
view we heard from many media contacts.  "CCTV has 
absolutely no guts" to make a decision and stick by 
it, Wang said. 
RANDT