CNDF Old Stories

CNDF Old Stories (中央新影老故事频道), originally launched as CCTV Old Stories Channel, is a Chinese digital pay-television channel dedicated to history, humanities and documentary programming. It was approved by the former State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and is operated by the Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio (Group), part of the Central New Film Group. The channel began trial broadcasting on 8 August 2005 and was officially launched on 16 April 2006, making it the first national history-and-humanities digital pay channel in China. The channel broadcasts in Chinese to a nationwide audience. According to its official introduction, it airs four hours of first-run programming per day within an 18-hour daily broadcast schedule. Its distribution spans cable television, IPTV, internet streaming, mobile app live feeds and mobile television, covering nearly 256 provinces, cities and local enterprise networks across China. In key cities such as Beijing it is carried as an openly free-to-view channel, allowing users to watch in real time without a subscription. Old Stories positions itself around China's precious 'national image' archive, aiming to build a 'national image archive' and to serve as a professional historical and cultural channel. Its programming is built largely on humanistic documentary content, drawing on the rich film and newsreel collections accumulated by generations of filmmakers at the Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio over roughly eighty years. Signature programmes include 'China Image Chronicle' (中国影像志), 'Personal Experience' (亲历), 'Image China' (影像中国) and 'Humanities Documentary' (人文纪录), alongside series such as 'Old Places' (老地方), 'Tracing the Past' (往事钩沉), 'Revisiting' (重访) and the micro-documentary series 'Memory of the War of Resistance in Light and Shadow' (光影中的抗战记忆). The channel has received industry recognition, including repeated wins of the 'Top Ten Digital Pay TV Channels Most Praised by Target Audiences' award from the central digital programming platform, and its programmes have won honours such as the Top Ten Columns award at the China Documentary Academic Gala. Its stated mission is to 'tell China's story well and pass on the essence of Chinese culture', while developing itself into a documentary industry platform and window that integrates quality resources and guides audiences through history, humanities and cultural roots.

Old Stories Channel was established in the mid-2000s as part of China's expansion of digital pay-television. It was approved by the former State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and set up by the Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio (Group), an entity with deep roots in Chinese documentary and newsreel production. The channel began trial broadcasting on 8 August 2005 and was formally launched on 16 April 2006, becoming the country's first national history-and-humanities digital pay channel. Originally known as CCTV Old Stories Channel, it was later renamed Central New Film Old Stories Channel (中央新影老故事频道) following the restructuring of its parent organization into the Central New Film Group. Throughout its history the channel has drawn on the extensive film and newsreel archives of the Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio, whose filmmakers accumulated roughly eighty years of footage documenting modern and contemporary China. This archive forms the backbone of the channel's programming identity. Over more than a decade of operation, the channel developed a stable slate of documentary and history programmes, including 'China Image Chronicle', 'Personal Experience', 'Image China' and 'Humanities Documentary'. It expanded its distribution from cable television to IPTV, internet streaming, mobile apps and mobile television, reaching nearly 256 provinces, cities and local enterprise networks. In key markets such as Beijing it is available free-to-view. The channel has earned industry recognition, repeatedly receiving the 'Top Ten Digital Pay TV Channels Most Praised by Target Audiences' award from the central digital programming platform, and its columns have won Top Ten Column honours at the China Documentary Academic Gala. It continues to position itself as a documentary industry platform and window, with a mission to tell China's story and transmit Chinese cultural heritage.

• Old Stories Channel begins trial broadcasting.

• Old Stories Channel is officially launched as China's first national history-and-humanities digital pay-TV channel.

• Channel renamed from CCTV Old Stories Channel to Central New Film Old Stories Channel following parent group restructuring.

• Channel expands distribution to cable, IPTV, internet, mobile app and mobile TV, covering nearly 256 provinces, cities and local enterprise networks.

• The 5th Chinese-Language Documentary Film Conference awards ceremony and closing ceremony airs on the channel.

China's first national history-and-humanities digital pay-TV channel, built on the 'national image' archive and dedicated to documentary storytelling about Chinese history and culture.

• 光影中的抗战记忆 (Memory of the War of Resistance in Light and Shadow)

  A micro-documentary series that reopens sealed film archives to present the War of Resistance through thirty micro-perspectives.

• 解码老胶片 (Decoding Old Film)

  A programme revisiting classic old films, from early Spring Festival Galas to hand-drawn animation and wartime cinema.

• 老地方 (Old Places)

  A programme using old streets, houses and place names as keys to open sealed historical doors and urban collective memory.

• 亲历 (Personal Experience)

  Documentaries covering modern Chinese history from the perspective of eyewitnesses.

• 往事钩沉 (Tracing the Past)

  A programme that restores history through stories and awakens memory through detail.

• 影像中国 (Image China)

  Focuses on the rich film archive accumulated by generations of Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio workers over eighty years.

• 重访 (Revisiting)

  A programme spanning multiple dimensions of New China's memory, from city lanes to national construction epics.

• 中国影像志 (China Image Chronicle)

  A flagship column noted among the channel's widely influential programmes.

• 人文纪录 (Humanities Documentary)

  A flagship humanities documentary column of the channel.

1. 1中央新影老故事 官方网站storymedia.com.cn
2. 2频道介绍 | 老故事storymedia.com.cn
3. 3Wikidata: CNDF Old Storieswikidata.org
4. 4维基百科：中央新影老故事频道zh.wikipedia.org