China Bans BBC World News Over Claims of Biased Reporting

Exactly one year ago, Chinese film buyers were almost entirely absent from Berlin's European Film Market as broad swaths of the world's second-biggest economy remained in a state of total shutdown. Business in the U.S.

Pierre Morel’s upcoming action thrillerThe Blacksmith, which recently lost its star Nick Jonas due to a scheduling conflict, has a deal in place for the important China market. Beijing-based distributor Infotainment China Media picked up rights to the film ahead of Berlin's European Film Market and plans to stick with the project despite the casting change-up.

Rebecca Davis editorAfter Chloe Zhao became the first Asian woman to ever win the Golden Globe for best director, Chinese social media was abuzz about everything related to Zhao—except the film itself.Although most Chinese viewers have yet to see the film, many cheered the Golden Globe win. Scores of posts praised Zhao’s heartfelt acceptance speech about compassion and described her as an inspiration to women in the arts.

Rebecca Davis editorWarner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s “Godzilla vs.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s $1.2 billion Lunar New Year box office broke world records earlier this month, but Chinese film buyers and sales agents are not jumping to interpret that as a sign of lasting market recovery, particularly for arthouse productions and indie firms.Despite astonishing ticket sales, some 80% of the six-day holiday box office went to just the top two out of seven titles — “Detective Chinatown 3″ and ‘Hi, Mom” (pictured) — causing the others to underperform.This, coupled

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros’ hybrid live-action/animated feature Tom & Jerry began offshore rollout in mid-February, and this session became the first studio title to hit China in the wake of the Lunar New Year, as well as adding a host of other new markets. The Hanna-Barbera rascals scampered off with a further $19.4M from 33 markets at the international box office in the session, which made for a global $33.1M weekend including domestic‘s strong start.

Rebecca Davis editor“Tom and Jerry” squeaked in a narrow fifth in China with a $12.4 million debut, failing to capture viewers still flocking to local Chinese New Year holdover titles over the Lantern Festival holiday weekend.The Warner Bros.

Rebecca Davis editorDespite nearly six months of cinema closures due to COVID-19, China actually built nearly 6,000 more new screens in 2020, according to a new report from the country’s film authorities.The data contradicts the disastrous predictions made over the summer about the extent to which the pandemic would devastate the Chinese exhibition sector.China now boasts 75,581 screens nationwide at some 12,700 complexes, having built 5,794 more screens last year, said the National Office for

BEIJING -- China has banned the BBC World News television channel from the few outlets where it could be seen in the country in possible retaliation after British regulators revoked the license of state-owned Chinese broadcaster CGTN.The move Thursday was largely symbolic, because BBC World was shown only on cable TV systems in hotels and apartment compounds for foreigners and some other businesses.

Rebecca Davis editorHours after Beijing banned the BBC World Service, Hong Kong’s public broadcaster announced Friday that it will also drop certain BBC programs, sparking concern from foreign governments and journalist organizations.Beijing’s tit-for-tat move to block the BBC came a week after the U.K.

BBC World News has been banned from airing in China, according to the country's main broadcasting regulator.

BEIJING -- China has banned BBC World News from airing in China, one week after threatening to retaliate for the recent revocation of the British broadcasting license for China's state-owned CGTN.The National Radio and Television Administration said in a statement dated midnight Friday that BBC World News coverage of China had violated requirements that news reporting be true and impartial and undermined China's national interests and ethnic solidarity.The BBC already is generally not viewable

A television broadcasting war has broken out between the UK and China. Just days after the UK revoked the broadcasting license of Chinese state-backed network CGTN, Beijing has today retaliated by banning BBC World News.

Rebecca Davis editorChina has issued a list of ten requirements and 15 prohibited acts that performing artists should use to “self-regulate” their own wayward behavior or else face punishments that include a lifetime ban from the entertainment industry.The regulations, issued by the government-backed China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA), are set to begin a trial phase on March 1.

Long-developing plans to engineer the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a group of investors including Oracle and Walmart have been put on hold.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorA deal that would give Oracle and Walmart ownership stakes in TikTok is up in the air — and may not happen at all, as the Biden administration reviews Trump’s actions and policies against Chinese tech companies, according to a new report.Last summer, then-President Trump ordered Chinese internet giant ByteDance to sell TikTok, its hugely popular short-form video app, to U.S. owners, citing alleged risks to national security.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThis month’s Chinese New Year holidays will be a litmus test for the strength of China’s film industry recovery following a period of unprecedented turmoil.This time last year, China’s wrecked Spring Festival celebrations were emblematic of the coronavirus crisis that had dramatically engulfed the world’s most populous nation and was soon to become a global pandemic.