International Channel Shanghai
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA Shanghai Media Group foreign-language cable television channel that operated primarily in English until its closure in 2025.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
International Channel Shanghai, commonly known as ICS, was a foreign-language cable television channel based in Shanghai and operated by Shanghai Media Group. Its development followed Shanghai Television Station’s earlier efforts to produce English-language programming for international residents and other overseas-facing audiences. One important precursor was the English-language news program News at Ten, which Shanghai Television Station had been producing since 1986. ICS formally became a 24-hour English-language service on 1 January 2008, when it replaced Shanghai Broadcasting MusicChannel. The channel also carried one weekly Japanese-language program, giving it a limited multilingual role within Shanghai’s television landscape. ICS was designed as an outward-facing local media service rather than a general national broadcaster. Its programming combined news, business reporting, city information, culture, lifestyle, travel, health, food and entertainment. The channel’s news department produced Shanghai Live, a Monday-to-Saturday evening news program focused on Shanghai and related regional and international developments. Its weekly business and financial program Money Talks addressed markets, companies and economic issues. Other locally produced programs included Bridge to Japan, Cosmo Times, City Beat, You Are the Chef, Getaway, Culture Matters, Voices, Way to Wellness and Minds of Millionaires. Together, these programs presented Shanghai through an English-language television format intended to be accessible to expatriates, international visitors and viewers interested in the city. The channel also participated in larger-format entertainment production. It co-produced two seasons of The Amazing Race: China Rush, a China-focused adaptation of the international adventure reality format. The first season received a highly commended recognition at the 2011 Asian Television Awards, expanding ICS’s profile beyond news and city-service programming. ICS underwent a visual identity change in 2010. It replaced the Red Sun Seagull logo associated with the former Oriental TV channel with Shanghai Television’s Magnolia logo. This change connected the channel more visibly to the broader Shanghai television system and its institutional brand architecture. On 8 December 2011, the Asian Television Awards named Shanghai Live the Best News Programme for 2011, marking the channel’s strongest documented external award recognition. International Channel Shanghai remained part of Shanghai Media Group’s television portfolio until SMG shut it down on 1 January 2025. Following the closure, its flagship program ShanghaiEye moved to Dragon TV. The shutdown ended ICS as a standalone channel, although the transfer of a key program indicates that some of its content identity and international-facing editorial function continued elsewhere within SMG’s broadcast structure.
History
International Channel Shanghai emerged from Shanghai’s long-running effort to provide English-language television programming. Shanghai Television Station had already established an international-facing news tradition by producing the English-language News at Ten from 1986. That earlier production work provided a foundation for a dedicated channel serving viewers who needed or preferred English-language coverage of Shanghai and China. On 1 January 2008, International Channel Shanghai formally replaced Shanghai Broadcasting MusicChannel as a 24-hour English-language service. The channel was generally known as ICS and operated under Shanghai Media Group, the major Shanghai broadcasting and media organization. Although English was its principal language, the schedule also included one Japanese-language program each week. The service therefore combined local broadcasting with an international orientation, concentrating on content that could connect Shanghai with foreign residents, visitors, businesses and other overseas audiences. ICS’s programming strategy covered several complementary areas. Its news department produced Shanghai Live from Monday through Saturday at 9:00 p.m., giving the channel a regular flagship news window. Money Talks, broadcast weekly on Saturday nights, provided business and financial coverage. The wider schedule included programs such as Bridge to Japan, Cosmo Times, City Beat, You Are the Chef, Getaway, Culture Matters, Voices, Way to Wellness and Minds of Millionaires. These titles indicate a broad mix of city affairs, cross-cultural communication, food, travel, arts, health, personal stories and business-oriented content rather than a narrowly defined news-only format. The channel also expanded into reality and entertainment production. ICS co-produced two seasons of The Amazing Race: China Rush, which adapted the international competition format to a China-centered setting. The first season received a highly commended distinction at the 2011 Asian Television Awards. This recognition complemented the channel’s news credentials and demonstrated its ability to participate in internationally recognizable television formats. In 2010, ICS changed its on-screen identity. The Red Sun Seagull logo used by the former Oriental TV channel was replaced with Shanghai Television’s Magnolia logo. The change placed ICS more clearly within the visual system of Shanghai’s television institutions and linked it to the city’s established broadcast identity. The channel’s news output received notable external recognition in 2011. On 8 December of that year, the Asian Television Awards named Shanghai Live Best News Programme for 2011. This award was a significant acknowledgment of ICS’s editorial and production work, particularly its role in presenting Shanghai news in English. ICS continued as a Shanghai Media Group channel until 1 January 2025, when SMG shut down the service. Its flagship program ShanghaiEye subsequently moved to Dragon TV. The closure ended International Channel Shanghai as a standalone broadcast brand, while the relocation of a principal program preserved part of its international-facing content within another SMG television outlet. No reliable source material in the supplied references identifies a single founder, individual channel executive, detailed corporate financial history or a successor brand carrying the complete ICS service.
- 2025
ICS was shut down
[1]Shanghai Media Group closed the channel on 1 January. ShanghaiEye moved to Dragon TV after the closure.
- 2011
Shanghai Live won Asian Television Awards recognition
[1]Shanghai Live was named Best News Programme for 2011 by the Asian Television Awards.
- 2010
Channel identity changed to the Magnolia logo
[1]ICS replaced the former Oriental TV Red Sun Seagull logo with the Shanghai Television Magnolia logo.
- 2008
ICS became a 24-hour English-language channel
[1]On 1 January, ICS replaced Shanghai Broadcasting MusicChannel and began operating as a 24-hour English-language service, with one weekly Japanese-language program.
- 1986
Shanghai Television began producing News at Ten
[1]Shanghai Television Station began producing an English-language news program that later served as an important precursor to the city’s dedicated international television service.
Products and positioning
An international-facing Shanghai television service using primarily English-language news, business, cultural and lifestyle programming to present the city to foreign residents, visitors and globally oriented audiences.
News program
Shanghai Live
ICS’s principal news program, broadcast from Monday through Saturday at 9:00 p.m. It presented Shanghai-focused news and related developments in English. The program was the channel’s most prominent documented editorial offering and received the Asian Television Awards’ Best News Programme recognition for 2011.
Business and financial news
Money Talks
A weekly business and financial news program broadcast on Saturday nights. It extended ICS’s English-language news remit into markets, companies, finance and economic affairs, providing a business-oriented complement to Shanghai Live.
Reality competition · 2010
The Amazing Race: China Rush
A China-focused reality adventure program co-produced by ICS for two seasons. It adapted the international The Amazing Race format to Chinese locations and teams. The first season received a highly commended distinction at the 2011 Asian Television Awards.
International news and current affairs
ShanghaiEye
A flagship international-facing ICS program that moved to Dragon TV after Shanghai Media Group shut down ICS on 1 January 2025. The transfer allowed part of the channel’s outward-looking content role to continue elsewhere in SMG’s television portfolio.
Lifestyle, culture and city programming
ICS locally produced program slate
The channel’s additional locally produced programs included Bridge to Japan, Cosmo Times, City Beat, You Are the Chef, Getaway, Culture Matters, Voices, Way to Wellness and Minds of Millionaires. Collectively, these programs covered cross-cultural affairs, city life, food, travel, culture, health, personal stories and wealth or business themes.
Brand decisions
2025
Closure of International Channel ShanghaiStrategyBackground
ICS had operated as Shanghai Media Group’s foreign-language cable channel since 2008.
Action taken
Shanghai Media Group shut down ICS on 1 January 2025.
Aftermath
The flagship program ShanghaiEye moved to Dragon TV, while ICS ceased operating as a standalone channel.
2010
Adoption of the Shanghai Television Magnolia identityStrategyBackground
ICS had been using the Red Sun Seagull logo associated with the former Oriental TV channel.
Action taken
The channel replaced that logo with Shanghai Television’s Magnolia logo.
Aftermath
The visual change aligned ICS more closely with Shanghai’s established television identity.
2008
Launch of the 24-hour English-language ICS serviceProduct launchBackground
Shanghai Media Group’s predecessor television structure had already produced English-language news, but the service was not yet a dedicated 24-hour English-language channel.
Action taken
On 1 January 2008, ICS replaced Shanghai Broadcasting MusicChannel and adopted a continuous English-language cable schedule, while retaining one weekly Japanese-language program.
Aftermath
The change established ICS as Shanghai Media Group’s dedicated foreign-language television channel and enabled a broader schedule of news, business, cultural and lifestyle programs.
Sources2 sources
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