China Central Television
| 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) is the major television broadcaster in Mainland China. Organizationally, it is a sub-ministry of People's Republic of China's central government within the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television 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.
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.
Today, CCTV has 16 national channels, most with 24-hour broadcasting, and a High Definition channel at times airing certain American programs such as CSI: New York, CSI: Miami and Lost, Documentaries, Movies, and new Chinese television series shot in HD.
Programs
Its thirty-minute evening news, Xinwen Lianbo ("network news", "news relay"), 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 1980s, 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.
Personalities
Producing a variety of different programming, China Central Television has a number of different program hosts, news anchors, correspondents, and contributors which appear throughout daily programing on the network.
CCTV-1 (National network) anchors
- Li Yong (gameshows and CCTV New Year's Gala)
- Xing Zhibin, Luo Jing - National News (Xinwen lianbo)
CCTV-9 (English network) program hosts
- Zhao Bin - Documentary
- Dang Bing - Nature and Science
- James Chau - World Insight
- Yin Chen - Culture Express
- Li Dongning (newscaster) - CCTV News
- Helen Feng - Centre Stage
- Liang Honn - Asia Today
- Jennifer Hsiung - Sports Scene
- Eyee Hsu - Up Close
- Zhu Jun - Around China
- Edwin Maher - CCTV News
- Mark Rowswell - Communicate in Chinese
- Tian Wei - Dialogue
- Ji Xiao Jun - Culture Express, New Frontiers
- Liu Xin - World Wide Watch
- Ja Thamrong - Biz China
CCTV-9 correspondents and substitute anchors
- Shaun Duff - Weather
- Jennifer Eden - Weather
- Halla Mohieddeen - Weather
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 Education
- 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
- CCTV-HD -- High-definition programming
Overseas broadcasting
Outside China, it is 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.
The English language CCTV-9 feed is available in the United States on DirecTV channel 455 and Dish Network Channel 265. CCTV-9 is also available in the United States on Time Warner Cable, channel 134 and Cox Cable, channel 322 in most areas. In the United Kingdom, CCTV-9 is available on Sky Digital channel 511. In Barbados, CCTV 9 is available via the subscription service Multi-Choice TV on channel 209. CCTV-9 is also available as a live feed from their website. The Spanish and French service (CCTV E&F) is available on Dish Network Channel 884, but not from DirecTV at this time. The Chinese language channels CCTV-1, CCTV-3 and CCTV-6 are also available via Dish Network's Great Wall TV Package and Rogers Cable in Canada.
CCTV-4 split into 3 channels beginning April 1, 2007, namely CCTV International Asia, CCTV International Europe, and CCTV International America, in order to improve service for audiences around the world.
The CCTV channels 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 can also be obtained for free as peer-to-peer internet feeds through TVUnetworks.
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)
External links
- CCTV Official Site (Chinese)
- CCTV (English)
- CCTV-HD Official Site (Chinese)
| China Central Television (CCTV) stations |
|---|
| CCTV-1 · CCTV-2 (Economy/Finance) · CCTV-3 (Arts) · CCTV-4 (International Mandarin) · CCTV-5 (Sports) · CCTV-6 (Movie) · CCTV-7 (Military/Agriculture) · CCTV-8 (Drama) · CCTV-9 (International English) · CCTV-10 (Science & Technology) · CCTV-11 (Opera) · CCTV-12 (Law & Society) · CCTV-News · CCTV-Children · CCTV-Music · CCTV-E&F (International Spanish/French) · CCTV-High Definition |
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