| Korean Central Television 조선중앙방송 |
|
|---|---|
| Launched | 3 January 1975 |
| Owned by | Government |
| Country | North Korea |
| Headquarters | Pyongyang, North Korea |
| Formerly called | PBN |
| Website | None[1] |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Analogue | Channel 3 (55.25 Mz) |
| Satellite | |
| Thaicom 5 | 3696 H |
| Korean Central Television | |
|---|---|
| Chosŏn'gŭl | 조선중앙방송 |
| Hancha | 朝鮮中央放送 |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chosŏn Chung'ang Pangsong |
| Revised Romanization | Joseon Jung-ang Bangsong |
Korean Central Television (KCTV) is a state news broadcaster in North Korea, located in the capital city, Pyongyang. KCTV is the only official source of television news for North Koreans. The reach of the programming is limited, as there are only around 1.2 million television sets in the country of over 23 million inhabitants. Additionally, the North Koreans who do own televisions are almost exclusively found in cities.
KCTV is part of the Korean Central Broadcasting System, the state-owned media network of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and is part of its television arm of 3 television stations.
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KCTV was formally launched in 1963 as Pyongyang Broadcasting Network (PBN). PBN was later renamed to KCTV and officially relaunched at 20:42 on Friday, January 3, 1975 (the first working day in 1975 in DPRK). The broadcasting was only Monday-Saturday (workdays in North Korea) and closed on Sunday and national holidays. In 1977 colour telecasts commenced in the channel. KCTV started broadcasting on national holidays in 1993.
Now, KCTV broadcasts six hours each day from 17:00 to 23:00 on weekdays and from 9:00 to 23:30 on key national holidays. An exception was on Kim Jong-il's birthday in February 2010, when it was broadcast 24 hours for the first time. There is another exception, for the emergency events in DPRK at night or daytime, it starts up without any announcers or the Voice of Korea interval signal. The station is still open until that event becomes normal. The station's output is dominated by propaganda programming focusing on the history and achievements of the ruling Korean Workers' Party, the Korean People's Army (KPA) and Kim Jong-il. Topics covered range from new construction projects to history lessons about the accomplishments and past of Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung and the juche idea. As with most propaganda, the accuracy of these historic accounts is not always credible, with facts sometimes being distorted in favor of the government. Other programs on topics such as health, education and even children's programs are also aired. Movies and even patriotic musical shows and theater are also shown on the network. On national holidays, military parades, musical performances and movies, plus more special programs are shown on all three networks.
The following illustrates part of a typical day's broadcasting on KCTV on weekdays:
Schedule after supreme leader Kim Jong-il's death
KCTV was broadcast free-to-air on Thaicom 2 before it was grounded, and has been moved to Thaicom 5 on August 1, 2010, so with the appropriate equipment can be picked up in Asia, Australia, Middle East, Africa and Europe.
The daily KCTV news bulletin is also distributed online with Japanese subtitle through this Chongryon.
There are 5 idents broadcast daily since 1980.
The blue background with KCTV's logo and Juche Tower flying in slowly, with remix of Song of General Kim Il-sung. The late-night version uses the slow instrumental music played on traditional Korean instrument, is a short part from 50's North Korean song.
There are test card changes from time-to-time.
Korean Central Television generally signs on at 17:00 pm with the country's national anthem along with shots of Mount Paekdu and Lake Chon, followed by a shot of the national flag on which an image of the Chollima statue appears, along with the caption 조선중앙텔레비죤 (Korean Central Television). An announcer then appears, welcoming viewers to the day's transmission. This is followed by the Song of General Kim Il-sung accompanied by shots of Mount Paektu and Lake Chon, and then a red flag flutters on the screen, on which appears a portrait of late president Kim Il Sung. This is followed by a rendition of the Song of General Kim Jong-il by military band and all male military choir with Korean subtitles. The entire overall start-up sequence lasts just over six minutes.
Korean Central Television signs off at around 10:50 pm each evening with an extended preview of the next day's schedule followed by an in-vision closing announcement and with the station main theme a shot of the national flag.