By launching its Spanish-language channel on pay-TV platform Inter, China Central TV (CCTV) has completed its first step into Venezuela's premium TV market. The move has been closely observed by the government, which sees in it a consolidation of media relationships between the two countries.
cctvvenThe channel won't be broadcast immediately, but both CCTV's directors and Inter are working to have the channel on air before the end of January 2015.
CCTV is currently on air in 119 territories and its programming is available in Russian, Arabic, French, English and Spanish. The Chinese national network has currently 42 channels, 25 of these are free-to-air (FTA) and 17 are on pay-TV platforms.
"We are aware of the huge effort carried out in Venezuela lately, and CCTV's presence in the country comes as a new bridge connecting China and Venezuela," said Tong Zhu, vice editor at CCTV, during the signing of the agreement. Weilin Lin, channel manager for Latin America, and William Castillo, director at Conatel, Venezuela's telecom commission, were also at the signing.
"We have been working with private and subscription broadcasters since the beginning of the year in order to get the Chinese channel to air in Venezuela and diversify the TV offer in our country," added Castillo.
Source: http://www.rapidtvnews.com/2014112836249/cctv-enters-venezuelan-pay-tv-market.html#axzz3KMnjrFEF
