Hunan Television or Hunan TV (Chinese: 湖南卫视; pinyin: Húnán Wèishì) is a provincial satellite TV station. It launched in January 1997 and is currently China's second-most-watched channel, second only to CCTV-1, owned by China Central Television, although Hunan STV occasionally overtook CCTV-1 in ratings. Hunan TV's signal covers most of China, including Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas as (Hunan STV World) in North America, Japan, Australia, Europe and other countries and regions landing. From 28 September 2009 onward, the channel uses standard high-definition broadcast.

Meanings of the logo

The original idea of the logo of Hunan TV is about a white fish and a golden grain, symblizing that Hunan is a land of abundance and a land flowing with milk and honey. The light yellow and golden color symblize the sprits of Hunan people, including optimistic, brave and creativity. In recent years, audiences gave Hunan TV a nickname as Mango TV which is accepted by Hunan TV as an official byname, because the shape of its logo looks like a golden mango. The nickname is especially useful as there are 22 provinces and the official channel name can be easily confused with other television channels.

Satellite television is – according to article 1.39 of the International Telecommunication Union´s (ITU) ITU Radio Regulations (RR) – a Broadcasting-satellite service.

It is delivering television programming using signals relayed from space radio stations (e.g. DVB satellites). The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic reflector antenna usually referred to as a satellite dish and a low-noise block downconverter (LNB). A satellite receiver then decodes the desired television programme for viewing on a television set. Receivers can be external set-top boxes, or a built-in television tuner. Satellite television provides a wide range of channels and services, especially to geographic areas without terrestrial television or cable television.

The most common method of reception is direct-broadcast satellite television (DBSTV), also known as "direct to home" (DTH). In DBSTV systems, signals are relayed from a direct broadcast satellite on the K_u wavelength and are completely digital. Satellite TV systems formerly used systems known as television receive-only. These systems received analog signals transmitted in the C-band spectrum from FSS type satellites, and required the use of large dishes. Consequently, these systems were nicknamed "big dish" systems, and were more expensive and less popular.

Hunan Province (Chinese: 湖南; pinyin:  Húnán; Hunanese: Shuangfeng, [ɣəu˩˧læ̃˩˧]; Changsha, [fu˩˧lã˩˧]) is a province of the People's Republic of China. It is located in South Central China, south of the middle course of the Yangtze River, and south of Lake Dongting (hence the name Hunan, which means "south of the lake"). Hunan is sometimes called for short and officially abbreviated as "湘" (pinyin: Xiāng), after the Xiang River which runs through the province.

Hunan borders Hubei Province in the north, Jiangxi Province to the east, Guangdong Province to the southeast, Guangxi Province to the southwest, Guizhou Province to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest. The provincial capital is Changsha.

History

Hunan's primeval forests were first occupied by the ancestors of the modern Miao, Tujia, Dong and Yao peoples. It entered the written history of China around 350 BC, when under the kings of the Zhou Dynasty, it became part of the State of Chu. After Qin conquered the Chu heartland in 278 BC, the region came under the control of Qin, and then the Han dynasty. At this time, and for hundreds of years thereafter, it was a magnet for migration of Han Chinese from the north, who displaced or assimilated the indigenous people, cleared forests and began farming rice in the valleys and plains. The agricultural colonization of the lowlands was carried out in part by the Han state, which managed river dikes to protect farmland from floods. To this day many of the small villages in Hunan are named after the Han families who settled there. Migration from the north was especially prevalent during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties Periods, when nomadic invaders pushed these peoples south.