New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) is best known for its role in presenting the Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular global tour, which is taking the world by storm this year, spanning a total of 65 cities.
As of this week, however, Vancouverites have the opportunity to get to know the New York-based NTDTV in depth. Thanks to Novus digital service, they can now watch NTDTV's 24-hour news and lifestyle programming from the comfort of their own homes.
Depicting traditional Chinese culture is a core value for New Tang Dynasty. The network is well known for its uncensored and independent news about China – it claims to be the world's only independent Chinese language network.
"We take a stand on independence. We don't take any pressure from anyone," says Joe Wang, president of NTDTV Canada.
Donna Robertson, co-president of Novus, a Vancouver owned and operated company, believes that signing on with NTDTV will assist the company in bringing in new digital cable subscribers.
"The main reason was to give viewers a choice, another voice, another point of view," she says. Starting today, customers already with Novus digital cable can watch NTDTV free of charge for two months.
Novus, who also offers Fairchild and Talentvision in Mandarin and Cantonese languages, has plans to offer services in the City of Burnaby this month, with Richmond coming down the pipeline in the near future. Both cities boast large populations of Chinese-speaking Canadians.
NTDTV received approval from Canadian media regulator CRTC in 2005 to broadcast its wide array of programming, including a daily English-language show called Asia Brief, but Novus is the first on-air provider in Canada to partner with New Tang Dynasty.
Nine Chinese channels sponsored by the Chinese Communist Party, which were granted eligibility by the CRTC around the same time as NTDTV, were quickly swept up by Rogers Cable, but not without a considerable amount of public concern.
NTDTV's Joe Wang, who traveled to Vancouver from Toronto for today's press conference, is still working hard toward gaining broadcast rights throughout Canada.
"Everyone wants to have access to information so that they can draw their own conclusions," says Wang.
Currently, the station offers programming via cable networks in 16 metropolitan areas in the US and Taiwan. Over 200 million potential viewers are reached worldwide via satellite, including those in Mainland China.
In fact, NTDTV is the only Chinese-language news service to broadcast into China without being subject to censorship — a Chinese citizen need only have the appropriate receiver to tune in.
Novus, which as a company prides itself on its ability to provide the highest quality service to its consumers, sees the addition of NTDTV as the valued offering of a "choice."
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