en.Wedoany.com Reported - On June 9, the National Radio and Television Administration released key data on the broadcasting and television service industry for the first quarter of 2026. According to preliminary statistics, the total revenue of the national broadcasting and television service industry in Q1 reached 356.238 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.55%; among which, actual revenue generated was 317.497 billion yuan, up 10.85% year-on-year.
From the perspective of revenue structure, online audiovisual service institutions have become a significant source of income for the broadcasting and television service industry. In Q1, the total revenue of broadcasting and television institutions was 156.513 billion yuan, while that of online audiovisual service institutions reached 199.725 billion yuan, with the latter accounting for over half of the industry's total revenue. This structural shift indicates that the growth focus of the broadcasting and television service industry is continuing to migrate toward online audiovisual services, platform-based content services, digital distribution, and new types of audiovisual consumption. Traditional broadcasting and television institutions still undertake basic functions such as content production, channel broadcasting, public services, and cable television networks, but the industry's incremental growth is increasingly driven by online audiovisual platforms, short videos, live streaming, copyright operations, membership fees, advertising technology services, and new businesses related to mobile internet. For enterprises in the broadcasting and television sector, the growth rate of actual revenue in Q1 outpacing that of total revenue also suggests that market-oriented operational income is playing a more prominent role in driving industry growth. Going forward, content supply, user operations, technical services, and scenario-based business models will remain key directions for improving industry revenue.
Program broadcasting maintained stable supply. In Q1, the total broadcast time for radio programs nationwide was 3.8245 million hours, and for television programs, it was 4.5066 million hours.
User-side data shows that the broadcasting and television industry is still in a phase where traditional large-screen services and mobile communication services are advancing in parallel. As of the end of March, the number of actual cable television users nationwide was 205 million, and the number of 5G users of China Broadcasting Network (CBN) was nearly 43 million. The cable television user base remains at the level of 200 million, indicating that home large screens, live TV, public cultural services, and basic viewing networks still have broad coverage; the nearly 43 million 5G users of CBN suggests that the user base of China's broadcasting system in mobile communication services continues to expand. For the broadcasting system, the significance of 5G services extends beyond adding new communication package users, encompassing the integrated development of "content + network + terminal + scenario," including potential businesses such as ultra-high-definition video, emergency broadcasting, smart cultural tourism, in-vehicle audiovisual services, mobile live streaming, government and enterprise private networks, and local lifestyle services. As the boundaries between cable TV, IPTV, internet TV, mobile communication, and online audiovisual services continue to blur, competition in the broadcasting industry will shift from single broadcasting capabilities to comprehensive capabilities in content production, network carrying capacity, terminal reach, user data, and cross-screen services.
The Q1 data also provides an early observation window for the industry's annual trend. The revenue scale of online audiovisual service institutions continues to exceed that of broadcasting and television institutions, indicating that user attention and commercial revenue are still concentrating on the internet audiovisual end; the growth of CBN's 5G users leaves room for traditional broadcasting institutions to expand into communication and digital services. Moving forward, the quality of industry growth will depend on the efficiency of content investment by online audiovisual platforms, the recovery of advertising and paid services, the design of integrated products for CBN's 5G, and the ability of traditional cable TV services to retain users through high-definition, intelligent, and convenient upgrades. If the broadcasting and television service industry aims to maintain revenue growth, it needs to establish a clearer division of business between public service attributes and market-oriented operations, transforming content advantages, network resources, and mobile communication capabilities into sustainable digital service revenue.
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