Rendering of three satellites in the Eutelsat Hot Bird satellite group. Photo: Eutelsat

[Via Satellite 01-26-2017] China Central Television (CCTV) has signed a long-term distribution contract with Eutelsat Communications to broadcast three of its flagship channels in High Definition (HD) across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. CCTV-4 HD, CGTN HD (formerly CCTV News) and CGTN-Documentary HD (formerly CCTV Documentary) are now available in HD in Chinese and English from Eutelsat’s Hot Bird satellites. The channels broadcast free-to-air and complement Standard Digital (SD) versions already available from Eutelsat’s broadcasting neighborhood.

Eutelsat started broadcasting CCTV channels in 2008 and currently broadcasts on seven Eutelsat satellites serving Europe, Africa and the Middle East. China Global Television Network, or CGTN, is China’s new international media organization, launched by CCTV in December 2016.