All six non-Chinese language television channels under CCTV International were simultaneously relaunched at 04:00 London Time/12:00 Beijing Time, on 31 December 2016 to bear the CGTN name. CCTV-4, the international channel in Mandarin Chinese, was not a part of this rebranding.
Channels
Controversies
On November 23, 2018, former journalist Peter Humphrey filed a complaint to Ofcom against CCTV, alleging violations of UK broadcasting law. Humphrey's complaint cited violations of the Broadcasting Code's Fairness and Privacy provisions. It cited two films of Humphrey produced by CCTV and additionally aired in the UK by CGTN, stating that both were scripted and directed by the Chinese police, the public security bureau, while he was a prisoner, in conditions of duress amounting to torture. One such confession, staged in August 2013, was filmed by a CCTV crew with Humphrey locked in an iron chair inside a steel cage, wearing handcuffs and an orange prison vest. This was before he had been indicted, tried or convicted of a crime. The second, in July 2014, was once again filmed by CCTV, not in a cage this time, but still in a prison vest and handcuffs, before he had been tried or convicted on the charge of illegal information gathering. In the United States, the U.S. division of CGTN was obligated to register as a "foreign agent" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. CGTN America said in its filings stamped Feb. 1 2019 that it disagreed with the Justice Department's decision, but registered nonetheless. On 18 September 2019, Nick Pollard, a veteran British TV executive, resigned from his post as consultant and advisor to CGTN, giving his reason for leaving as being CGTN's failure to comply with Ofcom's rules on impartiality in connection to its coverage of the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests. He had joined CGTN in December 2018. Ofcom had several inquiries into CGTN going on in September 2019. In November 2019, CGTN aired a video of a UK consular employee, Simon Cheng, in captivity "confessing" to consorting with prostitutes. Within a week, Cheng had filed a new complaint to Ofcom. On 17 March 2020, CGTN aired a video in Arabic that Reporters Without Borders classified as disinformation related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. On 6 July 2020, CGTN was found guilty of breaching Ofcom's rules by showing footage of an alleged forced confession of investigator Peter Humphrey in the United Kingdom.