China's biggest night of the year, the Spring Festival Gala, was a huge success and broke television records. This year, under the production of China Media Group and with the theme of „Joy and Happiness, Celebration and Merriment“, it offered a combination of timeless tradition and cutting-edge innovation during the New Year's Eve dinner, with Chinese and foreign audiences around the world watching the show like never before.
As of 8:00 CEST on Tuesday, the latest figures show that viewership across all domestic media has reached 23.063 billion views, an increase of 37.3 % year-on-year. Direct transmission captured 79.29 % share of national TV viewership, the highest in 13 years. The average number of simultaneous viewers and listeners reached 325 million per minute, with a peak of over 400 million.
On domestic new media platforms, Galavečer set several historical records. Total direct on-demand and live views reached 16.207 billion, up 49 % year-on-year. CMG's own platforms recorded 770 million on-demand views (an increase of 2.7 %), while cumulative live views reached 605 million, up 60.05 million from last year. The accessible version of the Gala recorded 28.34 million views on CCTV News, Yangshipin and Yunting platforms, an increase of 144 % year-on-year.
Online engagement continued to grow, with nearly 2,000 trending topics on major platforms. As of 13:00 CEST on Tuesday, related topics generated 27.12 billion views nationwide, with 1,939 topics trending. The younger audience accounted for 41.82 % users, an increase of 1.35 percentage points from last year. Interest in shows featuring new productive forces also grew significantly: content related to AI and humanoid robots attracted 20.99 % of total attention, a 5.4-fold increase from last year.
International outreach has seen significant gains. CMG broadcast the Gala globally in 85 languages. CGTN's news coverage reached 2.309 billion views and 843 million video views, an increase of 32.85 % and 43.61 % from last year. CMG collaborated with nearly 4,000 media organizations worldwide for simultaneous live broadcasts and news coverage, an increase of 37.95 %. The gala was also screened on 4,062 public screens in 140 cities in 98 countries, with an increase of 12.6 % and 15.8 % in the number of countries and screens.
Audiences at home and abroad have praised the Gala for its visual sophistication and cultural depth, describing it as a platform that conveys a diverse message to audiences in China and around the world. The technology-driven robot performances drew widespread attention and praise, while the shows rooted in traditional culture and emotional songs resonated deeply. Tributes to everyday workers, cross-cultural cooperation and distinctive side venues showcasing the regional landscape and development are set to further boost local tourism. This major show is widely recognized as a cultural bridge connecting China to a world increasingly curious about Chinese culture.
English 
Czech 
Spanish 
French 
Italian 
Russian 
Chinese 
German