China extends broadcasting foothold

Chinese broadcasting companies have further increased their international presence through agreements with broadcasters in Africa and the US, writes RTHK.

China Central Television has officially unveiled its Africa bureau in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, cementing a long working relationship with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

In America, the television arm of the Xinhua News Agency has signed a cooperation agreement with NBC on news gathering, production, broadcasting and training.

A UK radio station is under threat and could go out of business next month, reports the BBC.

Shareholders of Radio Maldwyn, which has been broadcasting from a studio in Newtown, Powys, since 1993, have been sent a notice of insolvency.

An extraordinary general meeting will be held on 13 December to discuss the station's future.

BBC director general Mark Thompson has defended the corporation's hastily agreed licence fee deal, despite admitting that service and job cuts are inevitable, notes Digital Spy.

In a speech to the Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference, Thompson said there was no getting away from the need for "a significant reduction in services as well as job losses" at the BBC World Service division.

The global broadcasting unit is currently funded by the foreign office, but the BBC will take over financial responsibility from 2015 under its new licence fee settlement. Under the deal, the TV licence fee will be frozen at the current level of £145.50 for six years to 2017 and the BBC will also take on funding for Welsh-language channel S4C and BBC Monitoring.