CCTV-1 (CCTV General Channel) is the primary channel of

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

, the national

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

terrestrial television network of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It broadcasts a range of programs from CCTV Headquarters at East 3rd Ring Road in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and is available to both

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

and

terrestrial television Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is signal transmission, transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV rece ...

viewers. The terrestrial signal of CCTV-1 is

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

across China. However, due to copyright restrictions, the satellite signal of CCTV-1 is encrypted, and smartcards are necessary for decryption.According to LyngSat site, the encryption for CCTV-1 is VideoGuard.

History

Peking Television (2 May 195830 April 1978)

Initially branded as Peking Television (not to be confused with the present-day Beijing Television), CCTV-1 was launched on an experimental basis on 2 May 1958 and officially regular broadcasting for 4 hours 30 minutes each day starting on 2 September 1958. Peking Television was granted a free-to-air terrestrial television broadcasting license in the 1960s. From 6 January to 4 February 1967, Beijing Television's transmissions were suspended when the Rebel Faction temporarily seized power. It began broadcasting experimentally in

colour Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorp ...

in 1971 and was later launched via satellite transmissions in 1973 for major events. The first color programs were PAL-D/K, and full-time color broadcasting began in 1977.

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is the State media, national television broadcaster of China, established in 1958. CCTV is operated by the National Radio and Television Administration which reports directly to the Publicity Department of th ...
(Since 1 May 1978)

On 1 May 1978, Peking Television was renamed China Central Television (CCTV) with the approval of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...

. CCTV began domestic satellite transmissions in 1984 using the Song Dang Hong 2 satellite. In 1988, it began stereo broadcasting on all television channels. In 1994, it moved satellite broadcasting from Chinasat-3 to Chinasat-4, a quality-level broadcaster. It turned on its

digital signal A digital signal is a signal that represents data as a sequence of discrete values; at any given time it can only take on, at most, one of a finite number of values. This contrasts with an analog signal, which represents continuous values; ...

in 2002. CCTV-1 began broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1 October 2004 and began high-definition broadcasting on 28 September 2009. On 1 March 2011,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Asia Television Asia Television Limited (, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television () on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial televis ...

(ATV) started relaying CCTV-1 instead of CCTV-4, a Hong Kong–based free-to-air digital terrestrial station that is usually tuned to 15 on the UHF band. On 29 May 2017, Hong Kong's

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service of Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...

started relaying CCTV-1 instead of CGTN Documentary, a Hong Kong–based free-to-air digital terrestrial station that is usually tuned to 33 on the high-definition television.

High-definition

CCTV-1 HD is a simulcast network version of CCTV-1 in high-definition. All standard-definition content is upscaled to high-definition output. The rest of the programming hours consist of mainly upscaled resolution CCTV-1 simulcast. The horizontal resolution was increased to 1920 pixels. CCTV-1 HD was created specifically for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and the 2008 Summer Paralympics at the Beijing National Stadium. For the duration of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

broadcasting was increased to 24 hours a day to provide extra coverage of the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

events.

Hong Kong and Macau version

A re-compiled edition of CCTV-1 started broadcasting in Hong Kong and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

on 1 March 2011, and relaunched on digital terrestrial television on 29 May 2017. Due to copyright and law restrictions, commercial advertisements, some television dramas, and some entertainment shows are not aired on CCTV-1 Hong Kong and Macau versions.

Logo Evolution

Beijing Television era

BTV 1958.png, 1958-1978

CCTV-1 era

CCTV1 Logo 1983.svg, 1978-1987 CCTV1 Logo 1987.svg, 1987-1988 CCTV-1 Logo 1988-1992.svg, 1988-February 1992 CCTV1 Early 1992.svg, February-August 1992 CCTV1 2-1992 onscreen logo.svg, August-December 1992 CCTV1 Logo 1993-1998.svg, 1993-1998 CCTV1 1998.svg, 1998-2001 CCTV1 2001.svg, 2001-2010 CCTV-1 Logo.svg, 2011-present

References

External links

Official site
{{CCTV China Central Television channels Television channels and stations established in 1958 1958 establishments in China