State-owned China Central Television (CCTV) is in talks with foreign broadcasters about securing a wider audience abroad for its programmes, South China Morning Post said. Vice president Zhang Changming said that having built two channels for overseas viewers, CCTV4 in Chinese and CCTV9 in English, the station wants to reach more people. He also said that the prime motive for broadcasting abroad was to promote understanding of China and not to make money.
Currently, the channels are carried in the UK and other parts of Europe by News Corporation's BskyB and in North America by AOL Time Warner in exchange for the right to broadcast their programmes in Guangdong province. Last month, France Telecom satellite transmission subsidiary GlobeCast signed a deal to broadcast CCTV9 in France.
CCTV is also interested in broadcasting in southeast Asia, but it recognises that its programming is unsuitable for overseas markets, with the two channels focused on news provision. CCTV is therefore looking to add a third international channel to bundle a wider range of entertainment programmes, such as soap operas, films and sport.
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