China Central Television

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CCTV (中国中央电视台)
Type	Television network, Satellite television and Cable television
Founded	September 2, 1958
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Industry	Television Broadcasting
Website	www.cctv.com

China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV (Simplified Chinese: 中国中央电视台; Pinyin: Zhōngguó Zhōngyāng Diànshìtái) and often referred to derogatorily as Chinese Communist Television, is the major broadcast television network in Mainland China. Organizationally, it is a sub-ministry of People's Republic of China's central government within the State Administration of Radio, Television, and Film and as such it does not have any editorial independence from the PRC government.

Its news reporting follows parameters directed by the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China. Most of its programming, however, is a mix of comedy and dramatic programming, the majority of which consists of Chinese soap operas. Like many media outlets in China, CCTV has had its state subsidy reduced dramatically in the 1990s, and hence finds it necessary to balance its role as a government agency with the practical fact that it must attract viewers so that it can sell commercial advertising.

In searching for viewers, CCTV has found itself in competition with local television stations (which are also state run) which have been creating increasingly large media groups in order to compete with CCTV.

Contents 1 History 2 Programs 3 Channels 4 Overseas broadcasting 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] History

CCTV first broadcast on September 2, 1958, under the name Beijing Television, after an experimental broadcast on May 1, 1958. The name was changed to CCTV on May 1, 1978. In 2008, the new CCTV Headquarters will open.

At the end of 1980s, like many other Chinese TV stations, CCTV only had one channel. At that time, it only had evening programs, with the broadcast usually ending at midnight. During the summer and winter time, it occasionally broadcast during daytime for the students who were on their breaks.

[edit] Programs

Its thirty-minute evening news, xinwen lianbo, which is broadcast at 7:00 PM Beijing Time, is the most important news program in China which mainland Chinese watch to keep up with the government's politics. Although news reform has been a prominent feature of CCTV networks, the Evening News has remained relatively the same since its first appearance in the early 1980's, having mainly focused on leaders receiving foreign guests and going on visits to foreign countries, the CPC's leaders having top meetings or conferences, and stories of courage that are supposed to exemplify one form or another of communism. Many important political news stories are broadcast through that program. This program is uploaded onto YouTube daily by Duowei, a Chinese news network.

Its yearly special program of celebrating the Chinese New Year, the CCTV New Year's Gala, is undoubtedly the most watched program. In 2007 research data shows that the Gala was watched by over 800 million people all over the world. It started in the early 1980s. Each year, some singers and comedians become famous because of their single performance on that night.

[edit] Channels

CCTV has sixteen different channels of programming content and competes with television stations run by local governments (such as BTV and several regional channels) and foreign programming which can be readily received via satellite television. Unlike US channel naming conventions, but similar to the situation in many countries in Europe, most CCTV channels are listed in sequential order with no discerning descriptions, e.g. CCTV-1, CCTV-2, etc.

The sixteen channels are:

• CCTV-1 Mixture
• CCTV-2 Economy
• CCTV-3 Arts (similar to ARTV {French-Canadian TV network} and France 4)
• CCTV-4 International, in Chinese
• CCTV-5 Sports
• CCTV-6 Movies and series
• CCTV-7 Military/Agriculture
• CCTV-8 TV drama
• CCTV-9 International, in English
• CCTV-10 Science and Technology
• CCTV-11 Opera
• CCTV-12 Society and Law
• CCTV-News -- 24-hour News
• CCTV-Children -- Children's channel
• CCTV-Music -- Music
• CCTV-E&F -- International, in Spanish and French

[edit] Overseas broadcasting

Outside China, it is only possible to receive channels CCTV-4 (overseas channel), CCTV-9 (overseas channel targeted at an English-speaking audience), and CCTV-E&F (overseas channel targeted at Spanish-speaking and French-speaking audiences) via a Digital Video Broadcast signal. CCTV has just recently switched from analog to DVB primarily due to better signal quality and the ability to charge for reception (about 10 USD per year subscription). The aforementioned overseas channels are relayed off many different satellites around the world. Alternatively, CCTV-1 through CCTV-10 can be obtained as a peer-to-peer internet feed through PPLive.

The English language CCTV-9 feed is available in the United States on DirecTV channel 455 and Dish Network Channel 265 and the Spanish and French service (CCTV E&F) is available on Channel 884. The CCTV E&F service is not available from DirecTV at this time. CCTV-9 is also available in the United States on Time Warner Cable, channel 134 and Cox Cable, channel 322 in most areas.

CCTV-4 will split into 3 channels beginning April 1, 2007, namely CCTV International Asia, CCTV International Europe and CCTV International America to better serve audiences around the world.

[edit] See also

• Government control of the media in the People's Republic of China
• List of Chinese language television channels
• CCTV New Year's Gala (中国中央电视台春节联欢晚会)

[edit] External links

• CCTV Official Site (Chinese)
• CCTV (English)
• CCTV on online68.com - chinese tv portal
• Skyscrapernews.com article on CCTV Headquarters(English)