The level of cash holdings is an important financial decision that may constantly decide a firm’s survival and failure． However，excess cash holdings are easily abused and appropriated by large shareholders and managers，thereby causing severe agency problems． Drawing on agency theory，this study analyzes the impact of media coverage on corporate excess cash holdings． Using a data set of 10 710 firm-year observations of Chinese A-share listed companies during 2004 to 2012，this paper finds that firms with higher media coverage is associated with lower excess cash holdings significantly． Meanwhile，institutional environment enhances the margin effect of media coverage，while product market competition reduces the marginal effect of media coverage． Furthermore，excess cash holdings harm firm value，and media coverage can reduce its negative value effect． The findings may enrich and expand the literature on both cash holdings and media coverage and provide meaningful implications for corporate cash holding decisions．