May 29, 2008
Today’s Bao’an Daily, a Shenzhen-based newspaper, reports on its front page that China’s TV stations have stopped broadcasting NBA games.
The newspaper said that after CCTV stopped its live broadcast of NBA games earlier this month, other lower-level TV stations also began to cease broadcasting NBA games.
Since the three days mourning for the earthquake victims, when all entertainment programing was suspended except those raising funds for earthquake relief, CCTV has only shown one NBA game on May 22, although people could still watch NBA on various provincial channels.
However, according to the newspaper, on May 28, people in Guangzhou waiting to watch a game on a local channel were disappointed to find the program wasn’t going to be broadcast. A video website that broadcasts NBA games also put up a notice saying they have changed their broadcasting plans temporarily and apologized for any “inconvenience it may cause.”
Neither the newspaper nor SARFT‘s media administrator has offered an explanation for the suspension. The only official explanation came from Jiang Heping, director of CCTV’s Olympic Channel, who said that the NBA was “too entertaining” for this special time when the country is mourning for the victims of the earthquake.
It seems that many have found Mr Jiang’s explanation unconvincing; people tend to believe that there has been a ban issued on broadcasting NBA games. There are a number of alternate theories on the internet, all highly speculative: Some people are arguing the ban is politically-motivated －some NBA players have been protesting the role the Chinese government plays in Darfur－while the others think politics is unlikely the issue. After all, the last time NBA was banned in China was in 1999, after an American missile hit China’s embassy in Yugoslavia, and relations with the US are not nearly as tense as they were then.
The Beijing News also ran an article today about the NBA ban. In the article, an insider from CCTV is quoted as saying that NBA broadcasts will resume on June 6, though no official orders have been announced to the public. The article also refers to NBA’s announcement on May 28 of a 14 million-yuan donation to China’s earthquake relief.
Does the juxtaposition of these two pieces of information in one article imply that it was this princely donation that won back China’s authorities’ good will and prompted them to reverse the (speculated) ban on broadcasting NBA games?
- Mop (Chinese): Local TV stations stop broadcasting NBA, fans suffer a loss