In the afternoon of October 8, New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV)
and their supporters held a press conference outside the Eutelsat Shareholders'
Meeting venue in Caen, France. They demanded that Eutelsat resume NTDTV broadcasts
in Asia.
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On June 16, 2008, Eutelsat SA abruptly terminated the broadcast of New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) over mainland China, citing a “power anomaly” with its W5 satellite. It later became clear that the broadcasts were in fact terminated to gain business favor with China's communist regime. NTDTV demands that Eutelsat to resume its broadcast, and held the October 8 press conference to increase awareness of their plight. The event attracted attention from shareholders, media outlets and local residents who learned from NTDTV supporters that Eutelsat Chairman and CEO Giuliano Berretta chose to shut down NTDTV broadcasts mere weeks before the start of the Olympics in order to curry favor with Beijing and pave the way for future business deals.
At the press conference, the NTDTV France Branch appealed to shareholders to urge Berretta to resume NTDTV broadcasts immediately. A representative from Sound of Hope Radio elaborated the importance of free media to Chinese people and the fact that NTDTV is the only independent TV available to them. Before the broadcasts were suspended, NTDTV reportedly had about 50 million viewers in Mainland China alone.
Many stock holders received a special print about the NTDTV case and asked for more background information. A number of stock holders expressed their support for NTDTV and said that they would try their best to help.
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A stock holder told the reporter that he knew the Chinese Communist Regime quite well and he was not surprised by this incident. He gave his best wishes to NTDTV and Chinese people.
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Another stock holder told the reporter that he felt very sorry for what had happened and he would contact politicians to help the NTDTV.
Mr. Li Minghong, in his 80s, is a loyal NTDTV viewer, and he said: “I hope that people in China will be able to watch NTDTV broadcasts so that they can learn what is really going on in China and around the world.”
Reporters from many media outlets including Normandie National TV 3 and RFI Normandie Station attended the press conference and interviewed a NTDTV representative.
Posting date: 13/Oct/2008
Original article date: 13/Oct/2008
Category: World News