Another government-sponsored media outlet that has ventured into U.S. broadcasting is China's CCTV America, launched last year.

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It has kept its editorially-dynamic media, in contrast to the rest of China where official control over broadcasting is pervasive.

BBC: Hong Kong profile

For Mr. Katzenberg, "Tibet Code" is the product of a business quest that began two years ago when he fired off an email to an executive at the Shanghai Media Group, an ambitious broadcasting group owned by the government of China's commercial capital.

WSJ: Katzenberg Unveils China Film Project