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Broadcast since 1 May 1958 as China Central Television (CCTV), CMG has a total of 49 television channels as of February 2021, consisting of 26 free channels, 17 pay channels and 6 foreign channels,[1] making CMG the world's largest number of TV channels operated by a single television network. All CMG channels are broadcasting around the world through satellite, cable and on Internet television. Those channels are listed below in sequence of launch day.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2023) |
Free public channels
All channels below are using Mandarin Chinese, with some news-related programmes showing sign language on the bottom-left or bottom-right.
| Name | Format | Launch date | Slogan | Former name | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCTV-1 General | SD: PAL 576i 16:9 (extruded) | 2 September 1958 (SD)
28 September 2009 (HD) |
- | Beijing Television
CCTV General and News |
The first TV channel of People's Republic of China, renamed to China Central Television on 1 May 1978, defined as CCTV-1 during launching of CCTV-2, and renamed to CCTV General when launch of CCTV-13 |
| CCTV-2 Finance | 1 May 1973 (SD)
1 January 2014 (HD) |
财经频道，看见价值 (lit. Finance channel, look for values) | China color television test channel
CCTV Economical, Life and Service |
The first color TV channel of People's Republic of China, at the earlier test launch era, the programmes are related to education, later General television for economical, renamed to CCTV Economical, Life and Service on 3 July 2000, renamed to CCTV Economical on 20 May 2003, and renamed to CCTV Finance on 24 August 2009 | |
| CCTV-3 Variety | 1 January 1986 (SD)
28 September 2012 (HD) |
艺启欢笑 艺起发光 (Arts open the mirths, arts start lighting) | CCTV Opera and Music | Renamed to CCTV Literature and Art on 30 November 1995, renamed to CCTV Opera and Music on 15 January 1996 and renamed to CCTV Variety on 18 December 2000 | |
| CCTV-4 Chinese International | 1 October 1992 (SD)
15 April 2015 (HD, Asian Edition) 5 February 2016 (HD, European Edition) 20 February 2017 (HD, American Edition) |
- | CCTV International | Was general television for culture, renamed to CCTV International on 1 November 1994, and renamed to CCTV Chinese International in 2006. Was having English and Cantonese programmes before 2006, channel signal splitted to 3 edition (Asian, European and American) in 2006, bilingual captions available since 2009 for dramas. | |
| CCTV-5 Sports | 1 January 1995 (SD)
28 September 2012 (HD) |
May temporarily rename to Olympic channel during Olympic Games, before launch of CCTV-16 | |||
| CCTV-6 Movies | 1 January 1996 (SD)
15 December 2012 (HD) |
打开电视看电影 (lit. Open TV set to watch movies) | Owned by PDCCP, co-operate by China Film Group Corporation | ||
| CCTV-7 Defense and Military | 30 November 1995 (SD)
1 January 2014 (HD) |
- | CCTV Children, Military, Agriculture and Science
CCTV Children, Military and Agriculture |
||
| CCTV-8 Television Drama | 1 January 1996 (SD)
28 September 2012 (HD) |
为你停留，为我守候 (lit. Stay for you, wait for me) | CCTV Literature and Art | Renamed to CCTV Television Drama on 3 May 1999 | |
| CCTV-9 Documentary | 1 January 2011 (SD)
1 January 2014 (HD) |
记录，天地之间 (lit. Documentary, between heaven and ground) | For the former CCTV-9 (International), see belowOn 31 December 2016, the CCTV Documentary International has re-packaged to be CGTN Documentary | ||
| CCTV-10 Science and Education | 9 July 2001 (SD)
1 January 2014 (HD) |
知识，就是力量 (lit. Knowledge, is just the power) | |||
| CCTV-11 Opera | 9 July 2001 (SD)
1 September 2018 (HD) |
戏曲小舞台，人生大智慧 (lit. The small stage for opera, the big smart for life) | |||
| CCTV-12 Society and Law | 12 May 2002 (SD)
1 January 2014 (HD) |
方圆之间，自有天地 (lit. Between square and circle, there are heaven and ground) | CCTV Western | Renamed to Society and Law in 2004 | |
| CCTV-13 News | 1 May 2003 (SD)
20 November 2019 (HD) |
- | |||
| CCTV-14 Children | 28 December 2003 (SD)
1 January 2014 (HD) |
||||
| CCTV-15 Music | 29 March 2004 (SD)
1 September 2018 (HD) |
||||
| CCTV-16 Olympics | 21 October 2021 | 天天奥林匹克 (Every day Olympics) | Co-operate by the office of IOC in Beijing, mostly air in HD and 4K UHD, SD edition only available in some local cable transmitters. | ||
| CCTV-17 Agriculture and Rural | 28 December 2003 (SD)
1 January 2014 (HD) |
乡村振兴，一起同行 (lit. Rural revitalization, work together) | |||
| CCTV-5+ Sports Plus | HD: 1080i | 1 January 2006 | - | CCTV HD film vision
CCTV-HD |
Renamed to CCTV-HD in 2008, and renamed to CCTV-5+ in August 2013 |
| CCTV-4K | 4K UHD: 2160p | 1 October 2018 | |||
| CCTV-8K | 8K UHD: 4320p | 24 January 2022 | Trial started on 1 February 2021 | ||
| CCTV Home Shopping | HD: 1080i 16:9 | 28 December 2006 (SD)
23 September 2019 (HD) |
Foreign channels
Except two English channels, HD format signals aren't available within China.
| Name | Language | Format | Launch date | Slogan | Former name | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CGTN | English | SD: PAL 576i 16:9 (extruded)
HD: 1080i |
20 September 1997 (SD)
1 September 2016 (HD) |
See the difference | CCTV English
CCTV International CCTV-News |
Former CCTV-9 before 26 April 2010, renamed to CGTN on 31 December 2016 |
| CGTN Español | Spanish | 1 October 2004 (SD)
11 April 2014 (HD) |
CCTV E&F
CCTV Español |
splitted on 1 October 2007 | ||
| CGTN Français | French | Regard de la Chine (lit. Focus China) | CCTV Français | |||
| CGTN العربية | Arabic | 25 July 2009 (SD)
18 April 2014 (HD) |
CCTV العربية | |||
| CGTN Pусский | Russian | 10 September 2009 (SD)
18 April 2014 (HD) |
Видеть мир иначе! (lit. See the difference!) | CCTV Pусский | ||
| CGTN Documentary | English | 1 January 2011 (SD)
7 January 2014 (HD) |
See the Changes | CCTV Documentary International |
Pay channels
All channels below are using Mandarin Chinese. The previous 13 channels are owned by Central Digital Television Media Co., Ltd., their HD signals were launched on 23 September 2019, and their SD signals were shutted down in 2020. The last 3 channels are owned by CND Films.
| Name | Format | Launch date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCTV-TV Guide | HD: 1080i 16:9 | 1 November 2004 | De facto free for some local cable transmitters. |
| CCTV-Storm Football | 1 January 2004 | ||
| CCTV-Women's Fashion | |||
| CCTV-Hygiene and Healthy | Was co-operate by SMG. | ||
| CCTV-The First Theater | 9 August 2004 | HBO programmes available in golden times. | |
| CCTV-Storm Theater | |||
| CCTV-Storm Music | |||
| CCTV-Nostalgia Theater | 1 November 2004 | ||
| CCTV-Golf and Tennis | 1 January 2005 | ||
| CCTV-Cultural Features | |||
| CCTV-World Geography | 14 March 2005 | ||
| CCTV-Billiards | 6 May 2012 | ||
| CCTV-Weapon Technology | 8 May 2006 | ||
| CNDF-Old Stories | SD: 576i 4:3 | 8 August 2005 | |
| CNDF-Discovery | 1 January 2007 | ||
| CNDF-Middle Students | 4 May 2009 |
Overseas channels
None of channels below are available for subscribers within Mainland China.
| Name | Language | Format | Launch date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daifu | Standard Chinese and Japanese | SD: PAL 576i 16:9 (extruded)
HD: 1080i |
27 May 1998 (SD)
1 June 2014 (HD) |
Japanese edition of CCTV-4, available in Sky PerfecTV! |
| CCTV Entertainment | Standard Chinese | SD: PAL 576i 16:9 | 1 October 2004 | Overseas edition of CCTV-3 |
| CCTV Chinese Opera | Overseas edition of CCTV-11 | |||
| CCTV-1 Hong Kong & Macau Edition | Standard Chinese and Cantonese | SD: PAL 576i 16:9 (pure)
HD: 1080i |
1 March 2011 (SD)
29 May 2017 (HD) |
For both: Due to copyright and trademark concerns, all advertisements and some programmes of original CCTV-1 are censored, and replaced by local, mainly Cantonese-speaking, advertisements and other news programmes.
Hong Kong Edition: Was transmitted by ATV before 1 April 2015, later de facto only available for some pay channel networks, such as now TV 541, until 23 May 2017 where RTHK took over the channel spectrum as RTHK33. Macau Edition: Transmitted by TDM, was using original CCTV-1 spectrum during 20 December 2016 through 29 May 2017. |
Former channels
- China 3D TV Test Channel - a television channel broadcasting various digital 3D television content.
- CCTV High Definition Test - The first HDTV channel in the Great China area, as well as the world's first Chinese-speaking HDTV channel, launched on 1 October 1999, closed date 2013
- CCTV Security information - pay channel
- Universe Satellite Network
- GalaxySatellite (TM)
- plus an additional 10+ advanced integration satellite providers if possible
It is possible to receive channels CCTV-4 (Mandarin channel targeting an overseas Chinese audience), CGTN (English channel targeting an Foreigner audience), CGTN Spanish (in Spanish) and CGTN French (in French) outside China by using a Digital Video Broadcast signal (plus additional broadcast support together with Dolby Stereo, Dolby Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital Advanced Sound Quality Definition and Improvement System Support, technologized and developed by Dolby Laboratories, Datasat, and the SDDS for digital audio system supportments). CCTV has just recently switched from analog to DVB primarily due to better signal quality and the ability to charge for reception (about US$10 per year subscription). The overseas channels are widely available across many cable and satellite providers.
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