New Tang Dynasty Television

2010-06-30T18:58:49Z

PCMartinSeattle: Removed italics from "the" in "the Star." Removed stray double quotation mark. Noted that "RSF" = "Reporters Without Borders." Substituted "RSF" for "Reporters Without Borders" one additional time.

{{Redirect|NTDTV|a television station in the [[Northern Territory|Northern Territory, Australia]]|NTD}}
{{Infobox TV_channel
| name = New Tang Dynasty
| logofile = NTD_TV.jpg
| logoalt =
| logosize =
| slogan =
| launch = 2001
| owner =
| former names =
| sister names =
| web = [http://www.ntdtv.com ntdtv.com]
| sat serv 1 = [[ST 1]] ([[Asia]])
| sat chan 1 = 3689 H 3000 3/4
| sat serv 2 = [[NSS 6]] ([[Australia]])
| sat chan 2 = 12736 V 3333 2/3
| sat serv 3 = [[Hot Bird|Hot Bird 8]] ([[Europe]])
| sat chan 3 = 10971 H 27500 3/4
| sat serv 4 = [[Galaxy 19]] ([[North America]])
| sat chan 4 = 11836 V 20765 3/4
| cable serv 1 = [[Rogers Cable]] ([[Canada]])
| cable chan 1 = Channel 630
| cable serv 2 = Available on several cable systems including: [[Comcast]], [[Time Warner Cable]] & [[Charter Communications|Charter]]
| cable chan 2 = Check local listings for channels
| adsl serv 1 = [[Novus Entertainment]] ([[Canada]])
| adsl chan 1 = Channel 340
| dummy parameter =
|}}

'''New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV)''' ({{zh|t=新唐人電視臺}}) is a [[Falun Gong]]-affiliated<ref name=latimes20080107>{{cite news |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/07/entertainment/et-chinese7 |title=Ties to Falun Gong add controversy to the Chinese New Year Spectacular |first=Diane |last=Haithman |work=Los Angeles Times |date=7 January 2008}} </ref> [[Chinese language]] [[television]] broadcaster based in [[New York City]], founded in 2001; it has a strong human rights focus as it tries to deliver hard to access information about human rights abuses in China. The company's stated mission is "to foster mutual understanding between Chinese and Western societies" and promote multiculturalism, peace and compassion.

According to the [[Wall Street Journal]], NTDTV is, along with ''[[The Epoch Times]]'' and [[Sound of Hope]] Radio Station, part of a "media empire" founded by and affiliated with [[Falun Gong]] practitioners.<ref>Chen, Kathy [http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119508926438693540.html Chinese Dissidents Take On Beijing Via Media Empire] ''Wall Street Journal'' 11-15-2007</ref><ref>[http://www.usembassy.it/pdf/other/RL33437.pdf Lum, Thomas CRS Report page CRS-8, list of Falun Gong-affiliated media]</ref> NTDTV is known to sympathize with Falun Gong and other persecuted groups in China, and takes a critical line on the [[Communist Party of China]]. In January 2005 it aired<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060510023534/http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/eng/aAboutXTR_e.htm |title=New Tang Dynasty |publisher=Web.archive.org |date=2006-05-10 |accessdate=2009-12-18}}</ref> a video version of [[The Epoch Times#The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party|the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party]], a political editorial condemning the Party.

NTDTV also puts on an annual ''Chinese New Year Spectacular'', which is a [[Falun Gong]]-affiliated event that it says "celebrates [[Chinese culture]]".<ref name=latimes20080107/> The station's political leanings have prompted "bans" from the [[Chinese government]], leading to a controversy involving French network Eutelsat.

==History==
In 2001, a group of professionals and businessmen, all practitioners of Falun Gong (FLG), conceived the idea of a television station that would support their voice in regard to Chinese culture and Chinese government policies. NTDTV began broadcasting via satellite in North America in February 2002, and expanded its audience into mainland China in April 2004. At present, the station's satellite coverage reaches Asia, Europe, and Australia in several languages. It claims to be the "first and only independent Chinese-language TV."<ref>[http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/vision.html History and Vision], http://english.ntdtv.com/. Retrieved 2009-08-17.</ref> It broke news of [[SARS]] in 2003 three weeks before the Chinese government publicly admitted that there was an epidemic that went on to cause some 350 deaths; it offered extensive coverage on the death of [[Zhao Ziyang]].<ref>{{cite news |work=Wall Street Journal |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB111101769524481719.html?mod=opinion_main_europe_asia |date=17 March 2005 |title= Not a Pretty Dish }}</ref>

The ''Wall Street Journal'' reported in 2004 that the journal is registered as Universal Communications Network, which names top FLG spokesman Gail Rachlin as one of its three directors. It said "Where [''The Epoch Times''] and [NTDTV] are controversial is in their unwillingness to identify themselves as having any association with the group, despite ample evidence to the contrary."<ref>{{cite news |author=Susan V. Lawrence |title= Falun Gong Adds Media Weapons In Struggle With China's Rulers |work=Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition)|date=April 14, 2004 |page=B.2I }}</ref>

===''The Chinese New Year Spectacular''===
{{Main|Shen Yun Performing Arts}}
[[Image:Manif cpe5.jpg|thumb|right|NTDTV reporters]]
The Chinese New Year Spectacular is a live show performed in various major cities around the globe annually, and aired globally by NTDTV. It is billed as a "celebrat[ion of] traditional Chinese culture and tradition." The company employs two troupes, and estimates that approximately 200 performances were scheduled for 2008 expected to cater to 600,000 people. According to the company, the number of people who saw the show in 2007 was about 200,000.<ref name="nyt">{{Citation | last =Konigsberg | first =Eric | title =A Glimpse of Chinese Culture That Some Find Hard to Watch | newspaper =[[The New York Times]] | year =2008 | date =02-06 | url =http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/nyregion/06splendor.html}}</ref> ''[[The Korea Times]]'' reported on January 7, 2007 that a theater scheduled to host the Korean NTDTV Chinese new year performance cancelled their booking at the last minute, which show organizers alleged was because China threatened actions against upcoming Korean shows in Mainland China.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} However, NTDTV later said that the show was cancelled due to its breaching a restriction against foreign performers.<ref>{{cite press release | title = Beijing Bullies Korean Government into Blocking NTDTV Show; Now Targeting Corporate Sponsors | publisher = New Tang Dynasty Television | date = 2007-01-17 | url = http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/en/press/ntd-statement-e.htm | accessdate = 2007-06-13}}{{Dead link|date=September 2009}}</ref>

The show provoked controversy in 2008 when the performances were "imbued with a pro-Falun Gong political message",<ref name=radiocan>{{cite web| url=http://www.radio-canada.ca/apropos/lib/v3.1/pdf/revfalungongenglish.pdf |title=Review by the Ombudsman, French Services of Complaint filed by the Falun Dafa Association of Canada |page=6 |date=27 January 2009}}</ref> at [[Radio City Music Hall]] and elsewhere.<ref name="nyt"/> Billboard advertisements, the show’s website, publicity flyers and in newspapers, etc. made no mention of Falun Gong.<ref name="nyt"/><ref name=radiocan/> The Chinese embassy in the United States accused NTDTV of being used to "spread anti-China propaganda" and "distorting Chinese culture".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/gyzg/t397390.htm |title=Enjoy the Holidays and Stay away from the so-called "Chinese New Year Gala" of the New Tang Dynasty Television |work=Chinese Embassy in the United States of America |date=7 January 2008}}</ref> Critics decried the performance for not being 'as advertised' and technically unremarkable; sponsors claimed they had been misled<ref name="nyt"/><ref name=star20080120>Susan Walker [http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/295651 (Falun) Gong New Year event mere propaganda], ''The Toronto Star'', January 20, 2008</ref> –John Campi of the ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]'' agreed to sponsor the show when reassured that the event was not political.<ref name="nyt"/>; the ''Star'' said that the choreography was "consistently banal... The dancers were under-rehearsed and unremarkable."<ref name=star20080120/>

==Eutelsat-NTDTV censorship controversy==
The station uses Eutelsat's W5 satellite to broadcast to Asia. [[Eutelsat]] attempted to drop NTDTV in 2005, but an international campaign forced it to sign a new long term contract.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aim.org/special-report/french-company-accused-of-pro-beijing-censorship/ |title=French Company Accused of Pro-Beijing Censorship|first= Sherrie |last=Gossett |date= 18 April 2005}}</ref>

[[Reporters Without Borders]] ("RSF") accused [[Eutelsat]] of closing down transmissions of NTDTV in June 2008 to appease the Chinese government.<ref name="rsf">Reporters Without Borders: [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27818 European satellite operator Eutelsat suppresses independent Chinese-language TV station NTDTV to satisfy Beijing], 10 July 2008, retrieved on 2009-01-19</ref> On 10 July 2008, RSF appealed to Giuliano Berretta, the CEO of Eutelsat, to quickly reverse its decision to suspend NTDTV’s use of Eutelsat. RSF claimed they were in possession of a conversation that was purportedly recorded with a Beijing employee of Eutelsat which proved that the NTDTV shutdown was a "premeditated, politically-motivated decision violating the free flow of information and the convention under which Eutelsat operates".<ref name="rsf"/> Eutelsat claimed that the shutdown was due to a technical failure.

On 20 August, 2008, [[International Federation of Journalists]] released a statement calling on Eutelsat "to reinstall the Chinese-language television station NTDTV and three Mandarin radio stations" including ''[[Sound of Hope]]''. According to the statement, Eutelsat's arguments concerning technical problems looked "increasingly bogus". Furthermore, the statement points out how the approaching Beijing Olympics could have resulted in the Chinese government's increasing pressure to get NTDTV off the air.<ref name="ifj">International Federation of Journalists: [http://europe.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-calls-on-eutelsat-to-end-bar-on-chinese-ntdtv-broadcasts IFJ Calls on Eutelsat To End Bar on Chinese NTDTV Broadcasts], 20 August 2008, retrieved on 2009-01-19</ref>

The European Parliament also called on Eutelsat to reverse their decision to shut down NTDTV. Following a written declaration, Eutelsat immediately issued a press release, denying all charges of discrimination against NTDTV. The company insists that NTDTV's shutdown resulted solely from the technical failure experienced by W5 satellite, and adds that NTDTV is being broadcast across Europe via Eutelsat's HOT BIRD video neighbourhood.<ref name="eutelsatJan15">[http://www.eutelsat.com/news/compress/en/2009/html/PR0309/PR0309.html Eutelsat reaffirms to European institutions the irreversible and purely technical nature of the incident resulting in the interruption of consumer broadcasting services through its W5 satellite], 15 January 2009, retrieved on 2009-01-19</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist|2}}


==External links==
{{Portal|Falun Gong}}
*[http://www.ntdtv.com/ NTDTV Official Site]
*[http://shows.ntdtv.com Chinese New Year Spectacular]
*[http://www.sfist.com/archives/2007/01/08/the_falun_gong_show_sfist_goes_to_the_ntdtv_chinese_new_year.php The Falun Gong Show: SFist goes to the NTDTV Chinese New Year]
*[http://www.youtube.com/user/NTDTV New Tang Dynasty TV] at [[Youtube]]

{{Chinese language television in North America}}
{{Falun Gong}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Tang Dynasty Tv}}
[[Category:Television stations in New York]]
[[Category:Falun Gong]]

[[cs:New Tang Dynasty Television]]
[[ko:신당인TV]]
[[it:New Tang Dynasty Television]]
[[ja:新唐人電視台]]
[[pl:NTDTV]]
[[zh:新唐人電視台]]

Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

New Tang Dynasty Television