How to watch CCTV live abroad (CCTV-1, CCTV-5 and more)

Step by step on phone, TV and computer, plus Xinwen Lianbo local times 简体中文繁體中文English

In short: live streams of the CCTV channels are on the "TV" (电视) tab of CCTV's Yangshipin (央视频) app, but outside China they're blocked by a region lock. Install Homeway, light up the moon gate, then open Yangshipin and go to the "TV" tab to watch CCTV-1, CCTV-5 and other channels at the same time as viewers in China, on a phone, TV or computer. The exact channel list is whatever the app shows.

On a phone: the Yangshipin app

1. Install two apps: on Android, install Homeway and Yangshipin. On iPhone, install Homeway from the App Store, then Yangshipin. See the Android install guide for Homeway.
2. Sign in to Homeway and light up the moon gate: sign in with an email code. The first time, your phone asks for VPN permission; tap Allow. New users get a 7-day free trial, and after that Homeway stays free on one phone.
3. Open Yangshipin and switch to the "TV" (电视) tab: it lists live streams by channel. Tap CCTV-1, CCTV-13 or another channel to start watching.
4. If Yangshipin was already open: fully close it (swipe it away from recent apps) and reopen it, or it may still remember the old region.

On a TV: the big screen

1. Check your TV: you need an Android TV or Google TV set or box, such as a Xiaomi, Sony or TCL TV, or Chromecast with Google TV. For Samsung or LG, plug in an Android TV box; see Samsung and LG TVs.
2. Install Homeway for TV: if your TV has Google Play, search for Homeway there. If not, type homeway.tv/tv into the TV's browser or a downloader app to get the installer. Full steps are in the TV and box install guide.
3. Install CCTV's TV app: the phone version of Yangshipin isn't made for a remote. Download the installer (APK) for CCTV's official TV app from CCTV's official website and install it the same way as Homeway for TV. Avoid unknown download sites.
4. Sign in to Homeway by scanning the QR code with your phone, light up the moon gate, then open CCTV's TV app and pick a live channel.

On a computer: the Yangshipin website

1. Install the Homeway browser extension for Chrome, Edge or Firefox (Windows or Mac), or the Homeway Windows app. See the browser extension guide.
2. Sign in to Homeway and light up the moon gate.
3. Open the Yangshipin website (yangshipin.cn) in your browser and go to the live channels. If the page was already open, refresh it once.

Hook the computer up to a projector or a large monitor and it works well for the evening news or a weekend match.

What time is Xinwen Lianbo (新闻联播) abroad?

Xinwen Lianbo, CCTV's flagship evening news, airs every day from 19:00 to 19:30 Beijing time, live on both CCTV-1 and CCTV-13. Beijing time is UTC+8 all year with no daylight saving, so the local time abroad shifts by an hour when your clocks change. The table splits each city by whether local daylight saving is in effect:

"Same day" and "next day" are relative to the broadcast date in Beijing. On the North American west coast it's 3 or 4 am, so most people watch the replay after they get up (see below). Melbourne and the rest of south-east Australia follow Sydney; Brisbane and Perth don't use daylight saving and are at 9:00 pm and 7:00 pm all year.

Watching live sport

• CCTV-5: we've tested CCTV-5's live stream on Yangshipin's "TV" tab and it plays abroad with Homeway. During big tournaments several matches often run at once, so check the "TV" tab for other sports channels; the line-up is whatever the app shows.
• Migu Video: also carries a lot of live sport, and Homeway supports it on phone, TV and the web.
• Rights depend on the event: online broadcast rights differ for every competition. Which platform shows a match, and whether it streams online at all, is set by the schedule inside Yangshipin or Migu Video before the event. Homeway can't add events a platform has no rights to.
• Convert kick-off times: schedules in China use Beijing time. Use the offsets from the table: New York is 12 hours behind Beijing during daylight saving and 13 hours behind in winter, London 7 and 8 hours behind.
• Open it ten minutes early: light up the moon gate and check that a live channel plays, then switch to the right channel before kick-off.

Missed it? Watching replays

• Search Yangshipin for the programme name, for example 新闻联播, to find the full episode for today and earlier days.
• Many channels' live pages include a programme guide where you can tap shows that have already aired to catch up; which channels support this, and for how long, depends on the app.
• Replays are region-locked just like live streams, so turn on Homeway's moon gate first.

For the Spring Festival Gala, see Watching the Spring Festival Gala abroad. For dramas and variety shows, see Which apps Homeway supports.

Try Homeway

New users get a 7-day free trial, no card required. Watch CCTV live on your TV, phone or computer.