In 1993, director Li Qian-kuan and 29 deputies of the
National People's Congress proposed the establishment of a "China Movie Channel" during the first session of the 8th National People's Congress. In June 1994, with approval from the former Ministry of Radio, Film and Television of the People's Republic of China, the directly affiliated institution
Film Satellite Channel Program Production Center (commonly known as the
Movie Channel Program Center) was established. On November 30, 1995, at 8:30 AM, the Movie Channel commenced trial broadcasts, airing 16 hours of programming daily. The channel utilized dual identifiers: the "CCTV +6" logo in the top-left corner and "Movie Channel" in the bottom-right. Initially, during advertisements and promotional segments, the "Movie Channel" logo was absent but was later replaced with a graphical logo. From January 1, 1996, the channel officially launched under the call sign '''Ministry of Radio, Film and Television's Movie Satellite Channel''', becoming part of the
China Central Television channel lineup and broadcasting nationwide. By February 1997, the channel had attracted 20% of China's television viewing audience. At the time, the channel had an annual amount of movies (1,000 per year) for a daily 16-hour schedule, consisting of Chinese movies that were produced at least two years before, as well as cheap foreign movies. Usually, a day on CCTV-6 consisted of six Chinese productions and two foreign ones, for an average of fifteen out of the sixteen hours on air. The remaining hour of programming largely consisted of filler material, mostly made by CCTV. In 1998, following the
Institutional reform of the State Council, the former Ministry of Radio, Film and Television was downgraded to a ministerial-level institution directly under the State Council, becoming the
State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. Consequently, the official name of the Movie Channel was changed to '''State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television's Movie Satellite Channel'''. In June 1999, the channel gained an increase in its investment, especially with the potential rise in the film industry in China. The channel had aired a limited number of national movies due to low production figures since its 1995 launch. By then, the channel had become the second most-popular in China, behind its main channel,
CCTV-1. A November 2001 survey conducted by the China Mainland Marketing Research Company reported CCTV-6 as having 700 million viewers, with 81.4% of surveyants preferring the channel. In 2004, the China Movie Channel Program Center launched the digital pay-TV channel China Movie Channel and the "China Movie Channel" (CMC) aimed at North American audiences through its subsidiary Huacheng Film & Television Digital Program Co., Ltd. In 2005, the "China Movie Channel" (CMC) was launched in Hong Kong. Starting January 1, 2006, the channel began 24-hour broadcasting, and in the same year, CHC HD Movie Channel and CHC Action Movie Channel were launched. In addition, the Program Center also began offering Video On Demand (VOD) services. It has since developed into a multi-channel, high-quality, and clustered program platform. On September 28, 2012, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television approved the channel's simultaneous broadcast in both SD and HD. In December of the same year, the HD version was officially launched. Initially, up until November 25, 2012,
China Central Television (CCTV) was responsible for the broadcasting and satellite uplink of the channel. On November 26, 2012, as part of a transition of some CCTV channels to a new site, the program feed responsibility was shifted to the China Movie Channel Program Center, with CCTV only managing the SD uplink. (CCTV ceased backup broadcasting on December 9, 2012.) This resulted in the channel being unable to independently broadcast national mourning programming on April 4, 2020, during the National Day of Mourning, instead simulcasting
CCTV-1. In 2013, as part of a reorganization of State Council institutions, the functions of the General Administration of Press and Publication and the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television were merged to form the
State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, and the former "SARFT Movie Channel Program Center" was renamed accordingly. On April 1, 2015, the channel adopted a new gold-colored logo at the lower-right corner. On September 28, 2018, following the 2018 institutional reform, the
State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television was abolished, and its film and media oversight duties were transferred to the
Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. The program center was accordingly renamed to the China Movie Channel Program Center under the Publicity Department of the CCP. == Major events ==