Pre-production and production of broadcast TV: CGTN

This report mainly focuses on the CHINA GLOBAL TELEVISION NETWORK, referred to as CGTN. CGTN is a multilingual, multi-platform media agency. The slogan is “See the difference.” It is composed of six television channels, one news agency and new media organizations.

Background

China Global Television Network, formerly known as CCTV-NEWS, CCTV-9, and CCTV English International, is a 24-hour English news channel, located in Beijing. CCTV9, which debuted on September 25, 2000 by CCTV international channel, became the first all English language TV station in China. It produces its own programs, which cover news, in-depth reporting and functional presentation. In 2010, its name was changed to CCTV-News which began producing a 24-hour English-language news service. On December 31, 2016 at midday Beijing time, the channel was renamed as CGTN, and new programs were produced and debuted.

Business Model and Management

The headquarters of CGTN are in Chaoyang district, Beijing, near the CCTV office area. It is currently setting up an international professional team which includes about 140 staffers. CGTN already has two substations in North America and Africa, and the European Substation is also under construction. Although CGTN has its own station caption, slogan and program packaging, its brand is still attached to CCTV, and the personnel and resource allocation still belongs to CCTV. Through the CCTV official website, we know that CGTN is mainly responsible for the production, arrangement and broadcast of six television channels. They include: CGTN, CGTN-Documentary, CGTN-Español, CGTN-Français, CGTN-العربية and CGTN-Pусский.

The pre-production workflow of CGTN programs are roughly the same. Although this is just a small part of the whole industry, it needs much more time than the production phase. For example:

Meetings are held daily by the creators to exchange story ideas and write the story boards and shot lists for upcoming programs. Shooting plans don’t just simply happen, they require important staffing decisions, including deciding on the content of programs, configuring the corresponding directors, hosts, make-up artists and actors. The art department is responsible for choosing and finding locations, stage designs, light designs and clothing choices for the on-air talent. The production department takes care of the scale of equipment – which cameras to use for certain shots, when to use blue tooth, microphone types, etc. Then producers refine all the plans of each department into one cohesive blueprint for production. Rental contracts must be signed, stages and props built, videos are chosen and collected.

Then comes the Financial Budget. Compared with other agencies, the CGTN program financial budget management has certain particular responsibilities. It includes two parts – the channel budget and the special program budget. The channel budget refers to the budget that maintains the regular broadcast of the channel throughout the whole year, which includes the budget of the TV programs, the budget of the departments and the special budget. The budget of the TV programs is managed by the TV producer, which means they need to use this money to buy props and pay for the staff’s salary. The budget of the departments ensures the daily operation of all departments; it is not directly involved in TV production. The special budget is just for special programs, which are designed for specific events or holidays, and are generally more complex and higher demanding than regular programs.

Revenue Model

There are two main sources of funding earned through broadcast television. The first is advertising. Advertising is the main source of revenue for almost all TV stations in China. Each channel makes different contributions to the entire television station. The agency now plays the role of a “supermarket,” enabling different sponsors to invest in the different TV programs. In the article “The advertising price of CCTV in 2009,” we learn that it costs about $3,000 for a five-second ad on the most popular program on CCTV-9; 15-second ads are $5,000. Although there is seldom information available about CGTN, we can conclude from the other channel’s information that the price has increased fivefold in eight years. Secondly, they also have support loans from the government. Actually, CCTV is now competing with the Shanghai Wenguang and Beijing Gehua for the standard of IP-TV. The winner will become the biggest TV media entity in China in the future. All other TV stations will then have to pay a patent fee.

Competitors

CGTN, as the brand of China’s new international communication media, I believe has the potential to be the same as the BBC, CNN and Disney in the future. The experiences of CNN, BBC and other media groups, especially how they use innovative ways of narrative to attract international audiences, are important for CGTN to learn.

BBC: multiple innovative reporting

As the oldest public radio and television network in the world, BBC never stops exploring. For example, BBC launched its @BBCtrending account on Facebook in 2015, which tracks popular content on the Internet, and analyzes why these are popular trends. It was reported that the “BBC” operation is highly successful and the company plans to extend it to Arabic, Hindi and other languages.

CNN: uses short form story techniques to tell stories to young people

CNN is the first 24 hour news broadcast channel in the world. As one of the pioneers of international media, it is naturally aware of the importance of the younger generation, so it created the first subsidiary company, Great Big Story (GBS), which produces short videos for young people. It’s videos are always meaningful and attract public attention.

Russia today: the ultimate in VR news

RT (Russia Today) is not only an international news channel in Russia and but also the first fully digital Russian television channel. In the past two years, RT has becomes one of the pioneers in the global VR and 360 degree video content production, and has maintained a high level of content for a long time.

Conclusion

All in all, as a digital international communication platform, CGTN needs to take on a heavy burden and embark on a long road to find success. It has just been launched, and there are many things that need to improve. However, I am convinced that CGTN will bring us a big surprise in the future.

Reference

Pwen. (2014). The structure of CCTV. Retrieved from

https://wenku.baidu.com/view/4f83f135af1ffc4fff47ac1f.html

Li, X. F.(07 July 2007). China TV media resources integration.

Li, S. H.(07 February 2017). How does the CGTN tell the good Chinese story. Retrieved from

https://www.jzwcom.com/jzw/50/16449.html

CGTN. (30 December 2016).CCTV to launch CGTN. Retrieved from

https://america.cgtn.com/2016/12/30/cctv-to-launch-cgtn

Yang, J,L. (2016). CCTV management mode.

CCTV propaganda department. (10 May 2015). CCTV advertising prices. Retrieved from

https://wenku.baidu.com/view/d559a854b14e852459fb570e.html

He, Z, J. (2008). The development and management mode of HDTV in CCTV. Retrieved from