Korean Central Television

**Korean Central Television**, also known as **KCTV** (Korean: **조선중앙텔레비죤**, *Joseon Jungang Tellebijyon*), formerly known as **Pyongyang Television** and **Central Television Broadcasting System** is the national broadcast station of North Korea, and the flagship channel of the Korean Central Broadcasting Committee. It is broadcasting in North Korea on analog and digital cable along with IPTV; and officially broadcasts worldwide online. It is also available on satellite on ChinaSat and Intelsat.

## History

### As Pyongyang Television (pre-launch, 1953-1961)

The channel was established on September 1, 1953 as Pyongyang Television after the Korean War ended by Kim Il Sung. However, broadcasts couldn't start until an 8-year preparation period.

### As Central Television Broadcasting System (1961-1973)

The channel started test broadcasts on September 1, 1961 as Central Television Broadcasting System.

The channel officially launched on March 3, 1963 at 19:00, first broadcasting for 2, then 4, and finally 6 hours a day.

The first live broadcast of the channel was on October 1, 1970 at the 5th Workers' Party of Korea Congress.

### 1973-present

The channel was relaunched as Korean Central Television on January 3, 1973 at 17:00, only broadcasting on weekdays, excluding national holidays.

The first color broadcasts were on July 1, 1974 with the 7th Asian Games, with full-time color broadcasts starting on September 1, 1977.

The first broadcast received via satellite television broadcasts was the opening ceremony of the 1980 Summer Olympics ony July 19.

Broadcasts on national holidays began on March 1, 1981.

The channel was the host broadcaster of the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in 1989 in Pyongyang.

In September 2012, the Chinese Central Television donated 5 million yuan worth of broadcasting equipment to the channel.

By 2015, programs were started to be produced in 16:9, however, the channel was still 4:3. On January 19, 2015, HD tests began on satellite.

16:9 stereo broadcasts started on December 4, 2017.

## Logos

Currently, logos are unavailable prior to 1973.

## Programming

A lot of the channel's programming is state propaganda, including state-made television shows, movies, and other programs.
Occassionally, movies deemed safe by the government for the North Korean ideology, from China and Russia, get aired on the channel.

Some sports events are aired on the channel, however, not in real time. For example, the 2020 Summer Olympics broadcasts began 2 days after the games ended, on August 10, despite having it sub-licensed by the Seoul Broadcasting System. Despite having a unified team with South Korea, it did not broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics. 2018 FIFA World Cup broadcasts excluded matches involving Japan.

It's news program is called *Bodo* (보도), which is infamous for it's overdramatic presentation style.

## Availability

The channel is available on analog cable's channel R12 (223.25 MHz in Pyongyang) and on DVB-T2 digital cable channel 1 (since 2012), along with IPTV on Manbang in North Korea.

Satellite broadcasts began on June 24, 1999 on Thaicom, making it available in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania, and lasted until February 25, 2020, when it moved to ChinaSat due to Thaicom's technical difficulties. It started being available on satellite in the Americas in April 2015, via Intelsat. Since March 2019, Koreasat relays its broadcasts to allow news agencies in South Korea to monitor the channel.

It is broadcasting on Twitch under the account kctv\_elufa, and on KCNA Watch owned by NK News.

## Trivia

* Despite popular belief, the channel has never claimed to win the world cup, or beat Hungary 98-0, as all of these are made up, sometimes pretty obviously.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.northkoreatech.org/2020/02/05/kctv-appears-on-chinese-satellite/
2. ↑ https://www.northkoreatech.org/2015/04/15/north-korean-tv-expands-satellite-transmissions/
3. ↑ https://www.northkoreatech.org/2019/03/25/kctv-on-koreasat/