Broadcast since 1 May 1958, China Central Television (CCTV) has 17 channels plus an additional five channels in different languages broadcast from China and across the globe. All CCTV channels are broadcast around the world through satellite broadcast and on

Internet television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

. The CCTV channels are listed below in sequential order with no discerning descriptions, e.g. CCTV-1, CCTV-2, etc.

Television channels

The following is a list of CCTV channels and their specializations: Free channels: # CCTV-1 - General # CCTV-1 (HK & Macau edition) # CCTV-2 - Finance # CCTV-3 - Variety # CCTV-4 - International (in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

) #

CCTV-5 CCTV-5 (), also known as the Sports Channel, part of the China Central Television family of networks, is the main sports broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. CCTV-5 began broadcasting on 1 January 1995. CCTV-5 now broadcasts 24 hours ...

- Sports #

CCTV-5+ CCTV-5+ (), formerly CCTV-HD, is China Central Television's channel designated to broadcast top international sporting events in high-definition. It was tested in Beijing on 1 January 2008, and launched officially on 30 June 2008 under CCTV-HD. ...

- Sports Plus (broadcast in HD) #

CCTV-6 China Movie Channel (), the trade name of (), an agency at the Chinese Government's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. In mainland China, the agency provides programming to the China Central Television chan ...

- Movies # CCTV-7 - National Defense and Military # CCTV-8 - Television Drama # CCTV-9 - Documentary (in

) #

CCTV-10 CCTV-10 is the science and education focused channel of the China Central Television (CCTV) network in the People's Republic of China. Its schedule includes mostly local and imported documentaries, as well as educational studio productions. Pro ...

- Science and Education #

CCTV-11 CCTV-11 is the Chinese opera channel of the CCTV (China Central Television) Network in the People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous cou ...

- Chinese Opera #

CCTV-12 CCTV-12 is the law and society focused channel of the CCTV (China Central Television) Network in the People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most pop ...

- Society and Law #

CCTV-13 CCTV-13 (, China Central Television News Channel), formerly CCTV News (), broadcasting across China since 2003, is a 24-hour news channel of China Central Television and the biggest news channel in mainland China. Content CCTV News channel broad ...

- News (in

) #

CCTV-14 CCTV-14 is a Chinese free-to-air television channel that was launched on 28 December 2003 and is owned by the China Central Television. It airs animated films and series as well as kids game shows and other young-oriented programmes, including ' ...

- Children #

CCTV-15 CCTV-15 is one of the official broadcasting channels of China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different ...

- Music #

CCTV-16 CCTV-16 is a Chinese free-to-air television channel, owned by China Central Television. The channel is a localised version of the Olympic Channel, broadcasting primarily in 4K UHD format, with a downscaled feed for HDTV. History and programm ...

- Olympics (launched on 25 October 2021, broadcast in HD and

4K UHD 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) is the dominan ...

) #

CCTV-17 CCTV-17 is a Chinese free-to-air television channel, owned by China Central Television. It handles the agricultural programmes moved from CCTV-7 after the revamp of the latter channel. This is a state-run TV channel. As such, it has been criti ...

- Agriculture and Rural # CCTV-4K - 4K UHD programmes # CCTV-8K - 8K UHD programmes #

CGTN China Global Television Network (CGTN) is the international division of state media outlet China Central Television (CCTV), headquartered in Beijing, China. CGTN broadcasts six news and general interest channels in five languages. CGTN is reg ...

- international (in English) #

CGTN French CGTN French (formerly CCTV International French or CCTV-Français formerly CCTV-F is a French language entertainment and news channel of China Central Television (CCTV) originating in China, and are part of the Chinese Government's information min ...

- international (in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

) #

CGTN Spanish CGTN Spanish (formerly CCTV International Spanish or CCTV-Español and CCTV-E) is the Spanish language entertainment and news channel of China Global Television Network (CGTN), which is part of the state-owned broadcaster China Central Television ...

- international (in Spanish) #

CGTN Arabic CGTN Arabic ( ar, سي جي تي أن العربية), formerly CCTV-Arabic ( ar, سي سي تي في العربية), is an Arabic language television channel owned by China Global Television Network, a subsidiary of China Central Television. H ...

- international (in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

) #

CGTN Russian CGTN Russian (formerly CCTV International Russian (russian: Центральное Телевидение Китая Международный канал на Pусском языке, ''Tsentral'noye Televideniye Kitaya Mezhdunarodnyy kanal na ...

- international (in Russian) # CGTN Documentary - documentary (in English) # CCTV Home Shopping ---- Pay channels (all are broadcasting in HD): # CCTV-Billiards # CCTV-Cultural Features # CCTV-Golf and Tennis # CCTV-Hygiene and Healthy # CCTV-Nostalgia Theater # CCTV-Storm Football # CCTV-Storm Music # CCTV-Storm Theater # CCTV-The First Theater # CCTV-TV Guide # CCTV-Weapon Technology # CCTV-Women's Fashion # CCTV-World Geography CCTV was one of the six participants of China 3D TV Test Channel (, already closed), a television channel broadcasting various digital

3D television 3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopic display, multi-view display, 2D-plus-depth, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D television sets use an ...

content. All CCTV channels are also broadcast through the following: *

LiveStream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

(TM) - 24/7 non-stop online continuous broadcasting facility * Stream Vision (TM) - 24/7 non-stop online continuous broadcasting facility * CybersatelliteDirect * Universe Satellite Network * GalaxySatellite (TM) *plus an additional 10+ advanced integration satellite providers if possible

International broadcasts

It is possible to receive channels CCTV-4 (

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

channel targeted at an overseas

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

audience),

(targeting an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-speaking audience),

(in Spanish) and

(in

) outside China by using a

Digital Video Broadcast Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) is a set of international open standards for digital television. DVB standards are maintained by the DVB Project, an international industry consortium, and are published by a Joint Technical Committee (JTC) o ...

signal (plus additional broadcast support together with

Dolby Stereo Dolby Stereo is a sound format made by Dolby Laboratories. It is a unified brand for two completely different basic systems: the Dolby SVA (stereo variable-area) 1976 system used with optical sound tracks on 35mm film, and Dolby Stereo 70mm nois ...

Dolby Surround Dolby Pro Logic is a surround sound processing technology developed by Dolby Laboratories, designed to decode soundtracks encoded with Dolby Surround. Dolby Stereo (also known as ''Dolby MP'' or ''Dolby SVA'') was developed by Dolby in 1976 f ...

Dolby SR The Dolby SR (Spectral Recording) noise reduction format was developed by Dolby Laboratories and has been in common use in professional audio since 1986 and in cinema audio since the late 1980s. It is a revised version of Dolby's earlier format ...

Dolby Digital Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3, is the name for what has now become a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Formerly named Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, the audio compression is lossy ...

Advanced Sound Quality Definition and Improvement System Support, technologized and developed by

Dolby Laboratories Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is an American company specializing in Noise reduction#In audio, audio noise reduction, Audio data compression, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and ...

Datasat DTS, Inc. (originally Digital Theater Systems) is an American company that makes multichannel audio technologies for film and video. Based in Calabasas, California, the company introduced its DTS technology in 1993 as a competitor to Dolby Lab ...

, and the

SDDS is a movie theater, cinema sound system developed by Sony, in which compressed digital sound information is recorded on both outer edges of the 35mm movie film, 35 mm film release print. The system supports up to eight independent chann ...

for digital audio system supportments). CCTV has just recently switched from

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analo ...

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. CCTV-4 was officially relaunched by the split into three television channels on Monday,

1 January 2007 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

at 00:00 CST in order to improve service for audiences around the world. * CCTV-4 Asia () - broadcasts to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

from

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

at 00:00 SST * CCTV-4 Europe () - broadcasts to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

at 00:00 GMT * CCTV-4 America () - broadcasts to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at 00:00 EST On 25 July 2009, CCTV launched its

-language international channel, stating that it aims to maintain stronger links with Arabic nations and that the new channel would "serve as an important bridge to strengthen communication and understanding between China and Arab countries". The Arabic channel targets the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

region. On 10 September 2009, CCTV launched a Russian-language channel, CCTV-Русский. All five foreign language channels were rebranded under the

China Global Television Network China Global Television Network (CGTN) is the international division of state media outlet China Central Television (CCTV), headquartered in Beijing, China. CGTN broadcasts six news and general interest channels in five languages. CGTN is r ...

(CGTN) brand at the end of 2016.

References

External links

* {{CCTV Channels Cable television in Hong Kong Multilingual news services

Television channels

International broadcasts

See also

References

External links