MCOT to Livestream Beijing’s Chinese New Year Celebration

Audiences applaud during the 4th rehearsal of the Spring Festival Gala in Beijing on Monday, January 20, 2020. Image: CCTV

BANGKOK — A state enterprise’s flagship TV channel will broadcast a gala event celebrating the Chinese New Year live from Beijing thanks to a partnership with a Chinese official media agency.

In an unprecedented move that signals a closer cooperation between Thai and Chinese state media, MCOT will livestream the celebration at the CCTV Hall to millions of its viewers from 6pm to 7.30pm and 9pm to midnight on Friday, according to channel managing director Kematat Paladesh.

Kematat said the broadcast is made possible by a cooperation between the channel and China Media Group, a multimedia conglomerate that includes CCTV, which organizes the gala.

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“Usually, the CMG and CCTV do not grant broadcasting rights of their Chinese New Year festival to other countries,” Kemetat said. “But since MCOT and Thailand have a cordial relation with the People’s Republic of China, we received the rights.”

The gala in Beijing will include cultural performances, musical shows, and a lucky draw of handouts worth 1 billion RMB, the program said. Despite concerns of corovirus infection, which forced many public gatherings in China to cancel, the event will go ahead as planned.

It’s the second celebratory event China to be broadcast live to the Thai audience via a government enterprise. Back in October, MCOT also aired the military parade at Tiananmen Square marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic.