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Viewing cable 07BEIJING6498, DISH DIFFUSION: PIRATE SATELLITE TV THRIVES IN

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07BEIJING6498 2007-10-05 08:47 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Beijing
VZCZCXRO7662
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #6498/01 2780847
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 050847Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2482
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 006498 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/06/2022 
TAGS: PGOV PROP PHUM SOCI KCUL KIPR CH TW HK JA RP
SUBJECT: DISH DIFFUSION: PIRATE SATELLITE TV THRIVES IN 
BEIJING 
 
REF: FBIS/OSC CPP20070822710014 
 
Classified By: Political Internal Unit Chief Dan Kritenbrink.  Reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. (C) China's State Administration of Radio, Film, 
and Television (SARFT) has been cracking down on 
illegal satellite television since July 2007, 
according to news reports.  While police in several 
cities are confiscating illicit receivers, enforcement 
of China's long-standing ban on private satellite 
dishes is uneven.  In Beijing, three satellite 
installers tell us police are mainly turning a blind 
eye, except when dishes point to satellites carrying 
Falun Gong-related programming.  Pirate satellite 
hookups that can receive programming from Hong Kong, 
Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan are readily 
available in China's capital for USD 300-500.  No 
accurate estimates exist for market penetration rates 
of illegal satellite dishes, but one installer says 
the number is "growing fast."  Contacts tell us that, 
for now at least, the social impact of satellite 
television is limited due to the lack of Mandarin 
content.  Nevertheless, one source warned against 
underestimating satellite television's significance, 
calling illegal dishes an "uncontrolled window to the 
outside world" that, unlike the Internet, remains 
outside the control of Chinese officials.  End 
summary. 
 
Pre-Congress Crackdown on Satellite TV 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) China's State Administration of Radio, Film, 
and Television (SARFT) in July 2007 ordered a 
nationwide crackdown on illegal foreign satellite 
television, according to Hong Kong and foreign media 
reports.  The PRC-affiliated, Hong Kong-based Phoenix 
TV is apparently the major victim.  An article in the 
August 26 edition of the Hong Kong magazine Yazhou 
Zhoukan (see ref) describes how SARFT has forced many 
local cable television systems to stop unauthorized 
reception and retransmission of Phoenix, which, the 
magazine says, has an estimated 200 million viewers in 
Mainland China.  On August 10, SARFT issued a 
statement reiterating China's policy that only hotels 
rated at three stars and above can receive foreign 
satellite broadcasts.  In the statement SARFT denied 
the crackdown was aimed at any one channel, a clear 
reference to Phoenix. 
 
3. (U) The SARFT crackdown also apparently extends to 
individual satellite hookups.  In July and August, 
several city governments across China announced 
campaigns to confiscate dishes and fine owners.  An 
August 27 Xinhua News Agency report on the anti-dish 
campaign in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region specifically 
linked the crackdown to "ensuring the successful 
opening of the 17th Party Congress."  In Yangzhou, 
Jiangsu Province, according to a July 29 domestic news 
report, authorities offered a public reward of up to 
RMB 5,000 (USD 670) in exchange for tips on the 
location of illegal satellite equipment storehouses. 
Other crackdowns have taken place in Liaoning 
Province, Anhui Province, Guangdong Province and 
Chongqing Municipality, among other areas. 
 
But Dishes Still Easy to Get in Beijing 
--------------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) Enforcement of SARFT's rules against private 
satellite receivers is hardly uniform.  Three Beijing- 
based dish installers told us authorities in the 
capital are currently paying little, if any, attention 
to illegal satellite television.  Beijing-based 
satellite installer Han Xiaolong (strictly protect) 
told Poloff July 27 that the last major crackdown in 
Beijing occurred in 2001 and 2002.  Since then, 
installers have had little to fear.  Han said the only 
close call he has encountered was in 2005 when 
security guards at a housing community detained his 
workers and threatened to call police.   Han bribed 
the guards RMB 5,000 (USD 670) to let his workers go. 
Police, however, will take action if a dish is pointed 
at a satellite known to carry Falun Gong programming, 
Han said. 
 
5. (C) Han described three categories of satellite 
 
BEIJING 00006498  002 OF 003 
 
 
service available to private dish owners: 
 
-- The first includes domestic programming (e.g., the 
popular Hunan Satellite TV) that is carried on Chinese 
satellites.  Reception of domestic television via a 
private, unauthorized downlink is technically illegal, 
but the content is not threatening to authorities. 
Han placed Phoenix in this category. 
 
-- Second is a Chinese government-run service for 
star-rated hotels and foreign-only resident compounds. 
This service is easily pirated, Han said, and includes 
many English-language channels (e.g., HBO, CNN and 
Discovery Channel).  Much of the programming includes 
Chinese subtitles and the Chinese government is able 
to censor sensitive content via a 20-second delay. 
Many hotels and compounds, Han claimed, are stealing 
this service themselves to avoid paying the high fees. 
 
-- The third category includes foreign pirated 
satellite services aimed at Hong Kong, Taiwan and 
other East Asian markets.  Mandarin-language Taiwan 
channels are the most popular among Mainland Chinese 
dish owners.  The Philippines' Dream TV is also widely 
pirated in China even though most of its programming 
is in English.  Pornographic channels (from Taiwan, 
Japan and Hong Kong) are also in very high demand, Han 
said. 
 
Just a Phone Call Away 
---------------------- 
 
6. (C) While Han wins business by word-of-mouth, other 
Beijing dish installers promote their services via 
cell phone text messaging and makeshift roadside 
advertisements.  After receiving a text message August 
12 touting satellite service, Poloff spoke to an 
installer, surnamed Zhao, who quoted a price of RMB 
2,800 (USD 370) to install a dish and decoder that 
could receive "all the Taiwanese channels."  Zhao also 
charges a RMB 450 (USD 60) yearly subscription fee to 
reconfigure the decoder when the satellite services 
periodically re-scramble their signals.  Another 
installer, surnamed Zhang, spray paints his cell phone 
number on old, dented satellite dishes he then places 
along busy roadways.  Reached by phone, Mr. Zhang 
offered Poloff a RMB 3,500 (USD 460) setup that could 
receive Hong Kong, Taiwan and Philippine television 
plus a wide array of adult channels.  Both Zhao and 
Zhang were dismissive of any possible police interest. 
Zhang told Poloff September 26 that he had noticed no 
tightening as a result of the upcoming 17th Party 
Congress. 
 
How Many Dishes Are There? 
-------------------------- 
 
7. (C) Few, if any, reliable estimates exist of the 
prevalence of illegal satellite hookups in China.  Han 
said he believes less than 15 percent of Beijing 
households have an illegal dish, but the market is 
growing fast.  According to a September 3 local news 
report, in Fushun, Liaoning Province, a city of 1.3 
million people, local authorities estimated that 3,000 
to 4,000 households have an illegal receiver.  Recent 
data points like this, however, are few and far 
between.  Phoenix's estimated 200 million viewers 
gives a hint at the growing power of satellite 
television, but most of this audience receives Phoenix 
through local cable television service, not private 
dishes.  Victor Yuan, president of the polling firm 
Horizon Research Consultancy Group, told Poloff that 
he once attempted to conduct a poll on illegal 
satellite reception but abandoned the project.  Such 
surveys cannot be accurate, Yuan said, because Chinese 
are obviously reluctant to admit illegal activity to 
pollsters. 
 
Impact Limited...For Now 
------------------------ 
 
8. (C) Xu Fangzhou (protect), a professor at the 
Communication University of China, told Poloff 
September 11 that authorities tolerate illegal 
satellite dishes because their societal impact is 
still limited.  The most popular satellite channel, 
Phoenix, enjoys close connections to China's 
leadership and engages in self-censorship to maintain 
a kind of "semi-legal" status in Mainland China.  Xu 
predicted recent SARFT actions against Phoenix will 
not significantly curtail the channel's long-term 
 
BEIJING 00006498  003 OF 003 
 
 
success in China.  (Note: A television in the lobby of 
Xu's office building was tuned to Phoenix.  Xu said 
the University had been receiving Phoenix without 
authorization for several years.  Phoenix is also 
available in the dorms of Qinghua University, 
according to an Embassy contact there, and is received 
in all high-level government compounds.)  Aside from 
Phoenix, Xu dded, dish owners generally watch non- 
political Taiwanese entertainment shows. 
 
9. (C) Han, the installer, however, warned against 
underestimating satellite television's significance. 
Illegal dishes represent an "uncontrolled window to 
the outside world" that, unlike the Internet, remains 
outside the control of Chinese officials.  Han told 
Poloff many customers initially buy dishes for the 
Taiwanese soap operas and porn but eventually become 
interested in Taiwan's uncensored news programs.  Li 
Xiaoping (protect), a producer for China Central 
Television's (CCTV) English-language Channel 9, told 
Poloff that while CCTV already feels competition from 
Phoenix, other illegal satellite services do not yet 
present a real threat to CCTV.  However, Li added, 
leaders at China's state broadcaster are concerned 
that satellite TV will eventually challenge CCTV for 
ratings. 
 
Comment:  Content is King 
------------------------- 
 
10. (C) Though nothing to cheer about from the 
standpoint of intellectual property rights, pirated 
satellite television represents a growing chink in the 
Chinese government's information-control armor. 
According to our contacts, English-speaking elites are 
among the most enthusiastic consumers of personal 
satellite receivers.  Much of what is currently 
available via-satellite, however, is in languages 
incomprehensible to the average Mainland Chinese. 
Taiwan news programs may be linguistically accessible, 
but given the cultural and societal differences across 
the Strait, they do not necessarily resonate with 
wider Mainland audiences.  As with the Internet, 
Mainland Chinese seem primarily drawn to content 
designed with them in mind, hence the success of 
Phoenix. 
Piccuta