Abstract

This paper presents a study of a town television station in north China carried out in May 2003. In the case study area, a conflict occurred between the city Broadcasting and Television Bureau and the town government over who had the right to supervise the town television station. Both sides mobilized their political resources in the fight, but in the end the town government prevailed and controlled the administrative rights. Consequently, the institutional arrangement of the central government came to nothing. This paper explores the multiple conflicts of interest embedded in Chinese television sector as it moves towards a more decentralized system. While previous scholarship has maintained that the institutional transformation of Chinese broadcasting is guided by the central government, this paper’s main argument is that, in fact, local governments at different levels have controlled such transformations and manipulated tensions in the market according to their own interests. Fundamental changes in the relationship between the central and local governments have led to the latter gaining more power in determining the outcomes of broadcasting

Keywords: Institutional Transformation, Chinese Television, Local Government

How to Cite:

Wusan, S., (2017) “A Small Chinese Town Television Station’s Struggle for Survival How a New Institutional Arrangement Came into Being”, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 3(1), 42-43. doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.14