China’s national channel, China Central Television (CCTV), is to launch the first Chinese-language HD channel in January 2006, the Xinhua news agency reported. The subscription-based channel will broadcast concerts and sports, such as the 2006 Football World Cup in Germany. The channel has been airing 15 hours a day of pilot programming in the city of Hangzhou since September, and is expected to offer 18 hours per day once officially launched. China is to start digital terrestrial transmissions in 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympic Games, and is to cease analog broadcasting by 2015.