CTS Main Channel is the flagship

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 ...

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 ...

channel of the

Chinese Television System The Chinese Television System Inc. () is a terrestrial television station in Taiwan and was founded in 1971. Recent milestones of the network are in sports events, including having the distinction to offer exclusive coverage of the 2017 Un ...

network and is the third oldest free-to-air terrestrial television channel in the Republic of China (

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

) after TTV Main Channel and CTV Main Channel.

History

The origins of CTS Main Channel go all the way back to 1956 when the

Education Minister An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Chang Chi-yun Chang Ch'i-yun (29 September 1901 – 26 August 1985) was a Chinese historian, geographer, educator and politician. He was the founder of the Chinese Culture University and the Nanhai Academy, and served as Minister of Education of the Republi ...

proposed an educational television service that world be run by Taiwan's

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. Efforts to prepare the said television service began in 1958 when studio space was first allocated in the Ministry of Education's headquarters, and in August 1961, Education Minister Huang Chi-lu formally established Taiwan's Network of Educational Television (NETV), which first went on air on February 14, 1962, nearly 8 months before TTV Main Channel began transmissions. NETV closed down on February 16, 1970, after it was purchased by the Taiwanese government for NT$1 billion, and in May 1970, Order 117 of the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive (government), executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Under the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, amended constitution, the head of the Execut ...

proposed the formation of a third television channel to succeed NETV. CTS Main Channel was eventually established on January 31, 1971, as a joint venture between Taiwan's

Ministry of National Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divide ...

and the Ministry of Education. The channel opened on October 31, 1971, the 85th anniversary of then-president Chiang Kai-shek. On November 1, 1971, it started airing English learning classes two hours a day during the 6-8am period (repeated between 1:30 and 4:30pm). On July 1, 2006, by virtue of the Taiwanese government's media reform law, CTS Main Channel was incorporated into the

Taiwan Broadcasting System Taiwan Broadcasting System (TBS; ), founded 1 July 2006, is a public broadcasting group that operates 8 television channels in Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, ...

(TBS), the island state's consortium of public television stations, with Public Television Service (PTS) as the other member of the group. The absorption calls for the transfer of the station's main studios from Taipei to Kaohsiung in a span of five years. It shall, however, be allowed to continue generating its income through traditional advertisements, and maintain its 60-40 entertainment-news programming mix like before. Starting from January 20, 2015, some digital cable TV companies switched the main channel to high-definition broadcasts. On June 8, it started broadcasting in 16:9 format. On July 29, the National Communications Commission approved the application for upgrading CTS Main Channel to HD. On August 28, Chunghwa Telecom’s MOD was upgraded to high-definition broadcasting (originally scheduled to be upgraded on September 1). At 5 a.m. on October 1, the terrestrial signal was upgraded to high-definition (HD) broadcasting, becoming the second terrestrial TV station to change its main channel to high-definition broadcasting. CTS Main Channel is currently engaged in a campaign to restore its title as "Taiwan's drama authority", for having been home to some of Taiwan's most unforgettable drama serials.

Appearances

Test card

The test card of CTS is

Philips PM5544 The Philips circle pattern (also referred to as the Philips pattern or PTV Circle pattern) refers to a family of related electronically generated complex television station colour test cards. The content and layout of the original colour circle pa ...

Opening and Closing times

CTS Main Channel is on air 24 hours each day. Except the last day and first day open at 5.00 am and closing 4.00 am. ''Note:'' # The song " 中華民國國歌" ''Zhōng Huá Mín Gúo Gúo Gē'' (

National Anthem of the Republic of China The "National Anthem of the Republic of China", also known by its incipit "Three Principles of the People", is the national anthem of the Republic of China, commonly called Taiwan, as well as the party anthem of the Kuomintang. It was adop ...

), lyrics by

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

(孫中山) and composed by Ch'eng Mao-yün (程懋筠) was played at the start of each broadcast day.

History

Appearances

Test card

Opening and Closing times

References

See also