China Central Television (CCTV), China's leading TV network, is starting a channel devoted to science. It debuts on 10 July and will air programs on nature, history, geography, ecology and environment, hot issues in science and education, and interviews with prominent scientists.
The channel is part of the government's strategy to "rejuvenate China by relying on science and education," says Gao Feng, director of CCTV's Department of Society and Education, which is spending $12.5 million to get the channel off the ground. Programs from National Geographic and the Discovery Channel imported by local TV stations "have cultivated an audience for our new channel," he says. Some 300 people are involved in the effort, which will include 7 hours of new programming as part of every 18-hour broadcast day.
The scientific community welcomes the new outlet, which will be broadcast via satellite on Channel 10. "It may serve as a bridge between the scientists and the public," says Yang Linzhang, deputy director of the Nanjing Institute of Soil Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "But it will be a challenge for the TV workers to make their programs appealing to different kinds of audiences."
