CCTV

CCTV to resume Premier League coverage after two year absence

China Central Television (CCTV), the country’s sole nationwide linear broadcaster, is set to broadcast the English Premier League live for the first time since 2020. While no formal deal has been announced, SportBusiness reports that the broadcaster has agreed a deal with the league through to the end of the 2024-25 season, with CCTV recently […]

CCTV broadcasts NBA in China for the first time in 18 months

The NBA has been broadcast in China for the first time since late 2020. State-owned broadcaster CCTV holds the exclusive rights to the NBA in China, but pulled coverage in late 2019 when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for protesters in Hong Kong during the demonstrations against the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment […]

China pulls Arsenal match following star’s controversial tweets

CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster, did not air the English Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester City on December 15 following controversial posts on social media from Arsenal player Mesut Özil.  The German Özil posted criticism of China’s persecution of Uighur Muslims. Writing about the Chinese-controlled Xinjiang, the player said: “Qurans are burned, mosques […]

Basketball world cup smashes records with 3 billion reach

The 2019 Fiba World Cup in Beijing has broken records across linear and digital platforms, the federation has said. According to the organisation, the basketball world cup had a TV audience reach of 3 billion, with a further 1.5 billion views on social media.  China, the host nation for the competition, drew the largest local […]

Eutelsat reaches 1,000 HD channel milestone

Satellite operator Eutelsat now claims to offer more than 1,000 channels in high definition, following the launch of Chinese channel CGTN HD in Europe earlier this month. Eutelsat said that HD TV continues to gain ground across its broadcast satellites, with 240 HD channels launched in 2016 – equalling the total number launched during the […]

China’s CCTV signs new channel distribution deal with Eutelsat

China Central Television (CCTV) has signed a distribution deal with Eutelsat to broadcast three of its channels in HD across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The long-term contract applies to three of CCTV’s flagship channels – CCTV-4, CGTN (formerly CCTV News) and CGTN-Documentary (formerly CCTV Documentary). The channels will all be available in […]

New satellite and OTT TV service launches for Asian expats in Europe

Hamburg-based Bubbles Media has launched Bobbles.tv, a new satellite and OTT-delivered pay TV service with bouquets aimed at Chinese and Indonesian expatriates living in Europe, with services targeting Korean and Vietnamese speakers to follow in November. Versions of both the Chinese and Indonesian services are available on SES’s Astra satellite platform at 19.2° East, with […]

UPC Czech Republic adds Asian channels

Liberty Global-owned UPC Czech Republic has added a string of Asian channels to its line-up, primarily aimed at the country’s Vietnamese and Chinese communities. UPC is adding two Vietnamese, three Chinese and one South Korean channel, along with a new Czech cooking and lifestyle channel called Mňam TV (Yummy TV). The two Vietnamese channels are […]

Cosmos TV adds international news channels

Belarusian pay TV operator Cosmos TV has added news channels from France and China to its line-up. Viewers can now watch French and English-language versions of France 24 in the Basic and Cognitive packages. The channel is joined by Chinese news channel CCTV News, which airs in English and is available in the Basic package, […]