Does anyone watch CCTV International ---CCTV 9?

Shuimo   Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:14 pm GMT
Does anyone here watch CCTV 9? It is the international TV channel of China Central Television Station broadcasting in English 24 hours a day.
What do you think of its programs, hosts and news presenters?
nonno   Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:10 pm GMT
Are the presenters Chinese??? what about their accent??
jella   Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:16 pm GMT
If I wanted to improve my English I woudn't listen to a Chinese television :-)
Shuimo   Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:55 am GMT
nonno Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:10 pm GMT
Are the presenters Chinese??? what about their accent??
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There are actually quite a number of native English-speaking presenters, with either British or Amercian accent.

The website of CCTV 9:
http://english.cctv.com/index.shtml
Robin Michael   Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:31 am GMT
I would not watch CCTV 9 if I was interested in World News because I found the Presenters and the general style rather boring. However if I was interested in China, it would be very nice to see something in English.

I generally watch the BBC News, specifically BBC News 24 (hours)

Sometimes I watch Sky News (UK)

On both Sky News and BBC News they sometimes show American News channels, particular ABC and CBS News. I am quite familiar with the Presenters and the style, and I find quite interesting. Something a little bit different.

America is very important to British people, so it is interesting for British people to see the News from an American point of view.
antiABC   Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:04 am GMT
I hate American news because the presenters put far too much emotion into their reports.
Shuimo   Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:46 pm GMT
antiABC Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:04 am GMT
I hate American news because the presenters put far too much emotion into their reports.
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I share your feeling on that!
Most of the news anchors seem to me overacting in their role as conveyer of news, rather dramatic and even giving the impression of being affected and over-affected!
On that account alone, I would like to watch BBC news!
Shuimo   Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:47 pm GMT
<<Robin Michael Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:31 am GMT
I would not watch CCTV 9 if I was interested in World News because I found the Presenters and the general style rather boring. However if I was interested in China, it would be very nice to see something in English.

I generally watch the BBC News, specifically BBC News 24 (hours)

Sometimes I watch Sky News (UK)

On both Sky News and BBC News they sometimes show American News channels, particular ABC and CBS News. I am quite familiar with the Presenters and the style, and I find quite interesting. Something a little bit different.

America is very important to British people, so it is interesting for British people to see the News from an American point of view.>>
Can you tune in to CCTV 9 in Britain?
Robin Michael   Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:31 am GMT
Dear Shuimo

I have a TV aerial and a Satellite Dish. The Dish is pointed at the Astra Satellite which carries Sky Televison.

Via the Satellite I watch both the BBC News Channel and the Sky News Channel.

I could watch CCTV 9 in the UK via the Internet.

You can see Sky and the BBC via the Internet too.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Bye for now

Robin Michael
Robin Michael   Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:36 am GMT
I think that I can get CCTV English via the Astra Satellite.


CCTV French launches on Astra

By Robert Briel | September 25, 2008 | 15:39 UK

The French version of the Chinese international channel CCTV has started free-to-air broadcasts on the Astra satellite at 19 degrees East. CCTV-F originates from China Central Television and also has English and Spanish versions.

CCTV-F is aiming at an international French audience in Europe and French speaking Africa. The channel broadcasts news, documentaries, interviews and intends to increase understanding of China and Chinese culture. Chinese Mandarin courses are also a part of the schedule.
Shuimo   Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:51 am GMT
<<Robin Michael Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:31 am GMT
Dear Shuimo

I have a TV aerial and a Satellite Dish. The Dish is pointed at the Astra Satellite which carries Sky Televison.

Via the Satellite I watch both the BBC News Channel and the Sky News Channel.

I could watch CCTV 9 in the UK via the Internet.

You can see Sky and the BBC via the Internet too.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Bye for now >>

I do watch BBC a lot on my computer as well as Deutshe Welle International and occasionally the CNN , but never skynews.
How popular is the skynews among average Brits? Is it a serious competitor of the BBC within Britain?
Damian in Edinburgh   Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:24 am GMT
***How popular is the skynews among average Brits? Is it a serious competitor of the BBC within Britain?***

First point - Sky TV - it is viewed on a regular basis by most of us, switching back and forth between all the available news channels, which pretty takes up most of the UK viewing public. The vast majority of Britons have full access to all the digital channels which is just as well as analog will have died a death completely by early 2011.

Second point - Sky is not really a "threat" as such to the national BBC news channels (or the ITV - independent) channels, but I think it's fair to say that it rather depends on social status or the generational gap which channel is more popular than the other. I know that older, middle class, people are the most loyal to the Beeb (as they call the BBC over here). Apart from the main BBC TV news bulletins there are a range of current affairs programs, with Newsnight, on BBC-2 TV, a very popular late evening program - from 22:30hrs each weekday.

BBC-TV operates separate regional news channels covering the whole of the UK, as you may well know, as do the independent channels.

The main gripe with the BBC which many Britons have is that it is mainly funded by a licence fee, unlike the independent TV channels which are funded by commericial advertising in the main. Every single household in the UK which houses a TV set, whether or not it is ever tuned into any of the BBC channels must, by law, hold a TV licence, which currently stands at £139.50 (€152 or US$197) per annum and set to rise on 01 April, as it generally does every year. Households which contain anyone over the age of 75 are not subject to this feel, but nevertheless this fee, which is paid directly to the BBC by the TV Licencing Authority, is a real bone of contention with many Brits, especially those who never watch any of the BBC channels, but there is no way, at present, to determine who does watch the BBC ....or who doesn't!

Very few people in the UK watch any of the American news channels, to be quite honest with you, not even over the internet. We get all the American, and the rest of the world, news via our own domestic channels. A fair proportion of Brits have probably never heard of Fox news, for example, let alone the main American channels, so you could perhaps say that we are almost as insular as the Americans themselves.

Most TV channels in the UK, including the BBC of course, will transmit live the Presidential Inauguration ceremony from Washington DC today, and yes, America is very important to the UK and the rest of Europe, more so than the other way round as there are many Americans who are blissfuly unaware of, and uncaring for, the existence of the wider world.
Shuimo   Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:20 pm GMT
I will surely try SKY TV sometime.
Damian in Edinburgh, very informative one you gave. Thanks!
Robin Michael   Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:32 am GMT
I have got a Sky Box which decodes the signal coming from my Satellite Dish. The channels are presented in such a way as to give prominence to the channels that Sky would like you to tune into. In particular, if you choose the News option, the top three are in this order:

Sky News
Bloomberg
BBC 24

So, the first news channel that you come across when making your choice is Sky News.

Most people who have a Sky Box have got a monthly subscription to various Sky channels. I was able to access a much cheaper service, buying second hand equipment and a £20 card.

Although my preference is to watch BBC 24, I will watch Sky News as an alternative, particularly if I am bored with BBC 24 for some reason.

To answer your original question, I probably can get CCTV International. One I first got the Sky Box, I explored all the various channels, and picked the ones I was most interested in as my Favourites, to appear at the top of the menu.

I watched CCTV once or twice.


Freesat channels available on Astra 2.These channels are collectively known as Sky Freesat channels, ... Sky News; BBC NEWS 24; BBC Parliament; CCTV-9; CNN; Community Chnl; EuroNewsMusic ...
www.uk-satellite-tv.co.uk/freesat.html - 12k - Cached - Similar pages

Bye for now
Robin Michael   Thu Jan 22, 2009 5:39 am GMT
I have just discovered that I have CCTV -9 on my list of News Channels. If I wanted I could tune in very easily and watch CCTV on my television like any other News programme.

I had a look, and I concluded that I am unlikely to watch CCTV - 9.

Why?

I found the News Presenter a little bit difficult to understand. When I meet someone for the first time, I often have a little bit of difficulty in understanding what they are saying until I get used to their speech patterns, accent, etc.

The News Presenter used words that I was unfamiliar with. In describing the process in which 'Entrepeneurs' sell tickets for more than their face value; she described this as 'scalping'. In British English, these people would be described as 'Ticket Touts'.

The CCTV - 9 News Channel carries stories that I am not interested in. At the moment there is a problem with the whole Banking System. 'The Times' newspaper showed a picture of a 'Royal Bank of Scotland' £10 Note on its front page, and the headline was: "The Bank that Sank". Yet CCTV - 9 News was about Chinese Workers and Students having difficulty getting home for a holiday (probably not Christmas!).