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 high definition in Chinese and English from Eutelsat’s Hotbird satellites. Standard digital versions of the channels are already available, with Eutelsat first broadcasting CCTV stations in 2008.

Eutelsat’s cluster of three Hotbird satellites at 13° East provide coverage of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. They deliver a line-up of over 1,000 channels in 40 languages to over 135 million homes through direct-to-home reception, cable, IP and DTT networks.