CCTV seals deal for distribution in the US

China Central Television (CCTV) will make a giant step into the American market next month, when a deal will be unveiled for the distribution of 17 mainland channels over the Echostar satellite network, media sources say.

The agreement will introduce mainland Putonghua programming into more than 8.5 million American homes.

'It's an unprecedented entry from China [in terms of] the number of channels,' a media executive said.

News Corp's DirecTV had also been interested in carrying the CCTV programming but backed out of the bidding, sources said.

A group of CCTV executives, led by vice-president Zhang Chang- ming, would visit Los Angeles for a launch ceremony on September 25, to be followed by a formal announcement on October 1.

Echostar already carries Hong Kong's ATV Home in Cantonese, CCTV-4 in Putonghua and the Phoenix North America Chinese Channel, along with several channels from Taiwan's ETTV.