Review of Google play store App China Network Television (CNTV). Sorry, Android only. I haven’t touched anything Apple (other than when I reach into the refrigerator for a fruit) for a long time.

As the action for World Cup 2014 Edition hots up, options for watching the action online starts to pop up by the dozens. Here’s a convenient app you can use to watch the action. I like it because CNTV aggregates more than 1000 television stations in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. It provides 24 hours of uninterrupted news, variety shows, television drama and most of all, football! Smooth HD playback of all popular channels is available.

There is however one small little problem. Being an aggregrate for TV stations in China, no prizes for guessing what language the shows are in. But if you are mainly watching football, I think the action says it all, unless you are the type that likes to listen to the commentator babble away.

Anyway, let’s take a look at the App. After installation, you will see the CNTV icon (circled). Tap on it and you will be brought to the landing page of the App. If you are going to watch football from CCTV, tap on the first entry 央视－直播.

This is the menu under 央视－直播. The channels that will stream smoothly have the chinese characters 回看 on the right. Well, that’s my experience so far. Oh yeah, it doesn’t mean that a channel that says HD will be very clear. Tap on every single one and judge for yourself. Hey! It’s free anyway.

To watch Sports, tap on channels that say 体育. The streaming quality is quite good. Here’s a sample.

Ok, you are all set, sit back and enjoy the games!