▼Outline of Cambodia’s Broadcasting Industry

Cambodia’s first television station, the state-run National Television of Cambodia (TVK), was founded in 1966. However, function-wise, it was altogether destroyed during the Pol Pot era. TVK recommenced with the establishment of the Heng Samrin government in 1979, but was only able to air four hours of programs a day.

The year 1996 saw the rebuilding of KTV with full-scale Japanese assistance. Japan provided broadcasting facilities, machinery and equipment, which led to the formal resumption of the airing of programs in 1998. The improvements to the broadcasting infrastructure allowed TVK to extend the amount of time it was on air from four to 14 hours per day, while satellite broadcasts brought TV programs from 126 countries. Until about 1986, however, Cambodia had a total of 15 television stations, which aside from TVK, included a station relaying programs from Vietnam, a French station, and local stations.

Cambodia’s telecommunications sector gradually began to grow with the end of the protracted civil war. Competition in the television industry became particularly fierce around 2012. New private TV stations were set up and the stations put effort into the production of new programs to ride out the competition. With its decision to switch television from analogue to digital by 2023, the government in August 2021 concluded an agreement with three major TV firms — Bayon Media High System Group, Hang Meas Group, Cambodian Broadcasting Service Co., Ltd. (CBS) – to establish a public-private partnership, the Cambodia TV Alliance Co., Ltd., for managing Cambodia’s national digital TV platform. Competition in digital broadcasting has heated up since then.

▼Major Broadcasters at the Center of the Shift to Digital

Cambodian Broadcasting Service (CBS)

Since its creation in 2003, the Cambodian Broadcasting Service (CBS) has pursued various innovations in the nation’s TV industry. With its emphasis on news, entertainment, and the production of education-related content, it is a top-notch private TV station, whose motto is to inspire viewers. CBS aims to improve the lives of all Cambodians with its news reporting, and with its stations and digital platforms, including CTN, MyTV, CNC, CBS Sports, and CBS Digital, it currently has about 15 million viewers, and is the most popular TV company.

CBS is run by the Royal Group, which is also the parent company of One TV (digital TV), Ezecom (internet provider), and Cellcard (mobile phone provider). CBS aspires to provide first-rate television to entertain, educate and inspire, with a view to enriching the lives of all Cambodians.

Content Procurement Strategies of the Cambodian Television Network

The Cambodian Television Network (CTV) was the first channel launched by CBS in 2003. It is the nation’s most popular station, having a 30% share of viewers. It is particularly popular among young Cambodians in the 15-to-20-year age group. It is a free-to-air digital terrestrial channel that broadcasts from Phnom Penh, and can also be viewed by broadcast satellite subscription.

CTN was initially a joint venture between Cambodia’s Royal Group and a European digital entertainment company, the Swedish-based Modern Times Group. In 2004, CTN began streaming in the US, Australia, and Canada in the form of CTN International. CTN introduced a range of entertainment and educational program formats from Sweden, the US, and Britain, and in addition, airs domestically produced documentaries, as well as drama, sports, concerts, and other popular programs in order to achieve its goal of reaching 70% of the nation’s viewers. The programming is focused on entertainment, but daily domestic and international news are featured in the morning and evening time slots.

Share of viewers:　30%
Reach:　Nationwide
Format:　Free-to-air (VHF)
Parent company:　Cambodian Broadcasting Service Co., Ltd. (CBS)

MyTV Offering Ample Content for the Young

MyTV, the nation’s first channel for the young, commenced as CTN’s first sister firm in January 2008. It is a free-to-air digital terrestrial channel, and can also be viewed via broadcast satellite subscription. MyTV targets the mobile phone generation aged under 25, and is one of the most popular stations among the nation’s young. It introduced the first genuine music videos to Cambodia through strategic partnerships with Universal, Sony, EMI, and other major regional music labels. In 2017, MyTV had the second largest market share nationwide. Since 2021, it has introduced talk shows featuring popular hosts, variety shows, and sports-related programs, and also continues to provide domestic and foreign dramas and other first-rate entertainment. Like It Or Not? is its most popular show where the performances of candidates are judged by a panel of Cambodian artists. Young people in the 13-to-29-year age group account for 60% of the channel’s fans, with middle-aged people aged between 30 and 45 accounting for the remaining 40%.

Share of viewers:　16%
Reach:　Nationwide
Format:　Free-to-air (VHF)
Parent company:　Cambodian Broadcasting service Co., Ltd. (CBS)

CNC Focused on News

In 2012, CBS launched CNC as Cambodia’s first nationwide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week news channel specifically designed to keep Cambodian families informed of the latest events happening inside and outside the nation. It is a free-to-air digital terrestrial channel, and can also be viewed via broadcast satellite subscription. It reaches nearly all of the provinces of Cambodia.

Share of viewers:　1%
Reach:　Nationwide
Format:　Free-to-air (VHF)
Parent company:　Cambodian Broadcasting service Co. Ltd. (CBS)

With its sights set on 2023, CBS began digital transformations aimed at a complete transformation of its broadcasting, production, marketing, and streaming capabilities. This modernization of its news reporting combined cloud services, cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools, and innovative online strategies, and considerably enhanced operational efficiency, innovative developments, and engagement with viewers. This resulted in CBS receiving the Digital Transformation Award on 30 May 2024 at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Broadcasting + Awards in Singapore. By switching from conventional broadcasts to being a major producer of content and a digital platform, CBS boosted its potential audience of 2 to 3 million to more than 15 million in the space of only nine months.

Bayon TV

Bayon TV, which commenced in 1998, makes many high-production value original programs in comparison to other local networks. Its present owner Hun Mana, the eldest daughter of the former Prime Minister Hun Sen, took over the station from her mother, and invested money and pursued modernization to expand its programming in domestic and foreign news, education, concerts, Khmer boxing, and suchlike. Concerts and boxing are its most popular shows. It is currently focusing on the production of entertainment programs to win over more young viewers. It is riding the wave of digital broadcasts and putting effort into the production of online content that can be viewed from smartphones. Bayon TV is part of the Bayon High Media System Co., Ltd., which is also runs BTV and ETV.

No. of Bayon TV followers on Facebook: 2.6 million

Share of viewers:　4%
Reach:　Nationwide
Format:　Free-to-air (VHF)
Parent company:　Bayon Media Hight System Co., Ltd.

Hang Meas HDTV

Hang Meas Video Company Co., Ltd. was established as a video and audio production firm in 1994. It acquired exclusive rights for streaming dramas from Hong Kong and Singapore, and moreover streams domestically produced dramas, karaoke videos, and entertainment videos. Hang Meas FM (104.5 MHz) was established in May 2009 featuring music exclusively produced by its parent company. Reasmey Hang Meas FM (95.7 MHz) was subsequently set up. Hang Meas HDTV, which is mostly focused on entertainment, was set up in 2012. Hang Meas Video has subsequently expanded, establishing Reasmey Hang Meas HDTV, which provides content similar to that of Hang Meas HDTV. Reasmey Hang Meas HDTV has earned high acclaim, and is most notable domestically for its strength in entertainment programs. Moreover, it organizes concerts, making it Cambodia’s leading entertainment company. It is currently involved in the streaming of content produced on Facebook in order to acquire mobile viewers. In addition to its TV and radio stations, Hang Meas Video has also set up the news website hangmeasdaily.com. The site provides regularly updated news and also enables users to tune into TV and radio programs.

Hang Meas Video Company runs the following companies:

• Hang Meas HDTV, Reasmey Hang Meas HDTV
• Hang Meas FM, Reasmey Hang Meas FM
• Reasmey Hang Meas (film production)
• Phleng Records
• WE Production (commenced in 2015)

No. of followers of Hang Meas HDTV on Facebook: 3.5 million
No. of followers of Reasmey Hang Meas HDTV on Facebook: 673,000

Hang Meas HDTV

Share of viewers:　23%
Reach:　Nationwide
Format:　Free-to-air (VHF)
Parent company:　Hang Meas Video Company Co., Ltd.

PNN

PPN, or People National Network as it is formally known, is a TV station occupying a 10-hectare site, the biggest in Cambodia. The L.Y.P. Group Co., Ltd., which has large-scale investments in numerous sectors, including hospitality, agriculture, real estate, infrastructure, and the media (since 2015), put up approximately $40 million for this channel. It commenced broadcasts in July 2015, and has invested considerably in news and mass entertainment programs, children’s programs, and especially drama production. It is also noteworthy for its airing of Hong Kong and Thai dramas. It is currently striving to expand its smartphone audience through the likes of the PNN PLUS app.

No. of PNN-Tv Cambodia followers on Facebook: 2.3 million

▼Strategies of the State-run TVK for Boosting Educational Content, etc.

The state-run TVK has been seeking in various ways to show its raison d’être amid the brisk business expansions of the private TV stations.

The Ministry of Information announced the Strategic Plan for the Development of the Information and Audiovisual Sector 2024-2028 to support the implementation of the Cambodia Digital Government Policy 2022-2035 and the National Strategic Plan 2024-2028 being pursued by the cabinet under Prime Minister Hun Manet. Cooperation and partners from the private sector are regarded as indispensable for the adoption and advancing of digital technologies.

The state-run National Television of Cambodia (TVK), set up in 1966, was the nation’s first TV station. It was completely destroyed during the civil war, but rebuilt in the 1990s with the full-scale assistance of Japan. Given that it is state-run TV under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Information, programs are made in accordance with national strategies. The global spread of Covid-19 led to the closure of schools across Cambodia and concerns about a decline in scholastic aptitude among school-age children. In April 2020, TVK promptly launched a new e-education-focused channel TVK2 (also known as TVK Education) with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Information. It provides around-the-clock remote-learning programs in all major subjects for pupils at all levels, from kindergarten to secondary school. Aside from TVK2, students can also access remote-learning programs via the satellite DTV channel 22, Ministry of Information apps, and the cable TV services available in all of the provinces and municipalities.

▼Interest in Foreign Programs

YouTube and social media are the common means for Cambodians to obtain foreign culture and content. Dramas from the likes of Thailand, Hong Kong, and China have long been aired on television, but information about recent developments in Japanese anime and so on are chiefly obtained through the abovementioned means. When it comes to Japanese content, Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan were quite popular when they were aired on terrestrial TV about ten years ago, and the popularity of Japanese anime has grown since then, particularly among the young. Phnom Penh’s first-ever anime festival took place on 22 January 2022 as part of a project by the Phnom Penh-based non-government organization, Friends-International, which was established to help street children. Young fans of manga and anime, retailers of anime merchandise, creators of original manga, and so on, took part in this festival that was organized on account of the growing popularity of Japanese anime among teenagers.

▼Use of Television and the Internet

The amount of Internet users in Cambodia surged in 2013, a tendency which has also been having ramifications for the television industry. In 2010, there were more than 320,000 Internet users, but by 2013, the figure had jumped to around 2.7 million. In 2020, more than 16 million Cambodians were said to be using the Internet, with users of Facebook accounting for around 1.09 million. The paper for the Digital Government Policy 2022-2035 put the number of Internet users in Cambodia at 17.65 million people in 2021. The number of registered mobile phone users was 20.53 million, or 122.84% of the population, compared with the 17.35 million people or 105.6% of the population who were accessing the Internet via mobile phones. Approximately 37% of youngsters have access to digital media. Revenue from the telecommunications sector was around US$1.1 billion in the 2020 financial year, accounting for around 4.2% of the Gross Domestic Product, which is a high rate among the developing countries.

With Cambodia’s telecom firms offering plans charging $1.50 per week for 15 GB, nearly everyone accesses Wi-Fi via smartphones and have social media accounts, especially with Facebook, from which they can obtain all kinds of information. It means TV programs are chiefly a means for watching the likes of boxing, concerts, or soccer, and there is a growing tendency to obtain everyday news and the latest information from social media.