Chinese Central Television

China Central Television
中国中央电视台

The China Central Television Headquarters
Type	Television network Satellite television Cable television
Industry	Television broadcasting
Founded	2 September 1958
Headquarters	CCTV Headquarters, Beijing
Key people	Nie Chenxi (聂辰席, President)
Products	Television content, television programming
Operating income	RMB 1.12 billion
Number of employees	10,000
Parent	State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television
Website	cctv.cntv.cn

China Central Television (formerly Beijing Television), commonly abbreviated as CCTV, is the predominant state television broadcaster in the People's Republic of China. CCTV has a network of 50 channels broadcasting different programmes and is accessible to more than one billion viewers. As of present, there are 50 television channels, and the broadcaster provides programming in six different languages. Most of its programmes are a mixture of news, documentary, social education, comedy, entertainment, and drama, the majority of which consists of Chinese soap operas and entertainment.

CCTV is one of the official mouthpieces of the Communist Party of China, and is part of what is known in China as the "central three" (中央三台), with the others being China National Radio and China Radio International.

CCTV () broadcast its first program on 2 September 1958. Due to increasing demands, it soon launched its second channel in 1963 and third channel in 1969, followed by the first simultaneous satellite broadcasts nationwide in 1972. Starting from 1 May 1973, Peking Television began broadcasting experimentally in color on its second channel every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday using the PAL-D system, and fully converted to color broadcasting by 1977. The network changed its name to CCTV on 1 May 1978.

Until the late 1970s, CCTV held only evening broadcasts, usually closing down at midnight. During the summer and winter academic vacations, it occasionally transmitted daytime programming for students. In 1980 CCTV experimented with news relays from local and central television studios via microwave. By 1985, CCTV had already become a leading television network in China. In 1987 CCTV's popularity soared due to the adaptation and presentation of Dream of the Red Chamber. The 36-episode TV series—the first Chinese television drama to enter the global market— still remains popular in the international market. In the same year, CCTV exported 10,216 programmes to 77 foreign television stations.

Initially, the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee issued directive censorship of programs. During reform in the 1990s, the Party adopted new standards for CCTV, "affordability" and "acceptability", loosening the previous government control. Affordability refers to purchasing ability of programs, while acceptability requires that a programme has acceptable content, preventing broadcasts of material that contains inappropriate content or holds against the Communist Party of China.