China's broadcasting authority has decided to impose a new time
limit to some reality pop contests like "Super Girl," "My Hero,"
and "Dream China." The authority demanded such TV-propped contests
run for no more than two and a half months.
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT)
made the decision in response to another heated round of three such
major contests this year. All of these shows were broadcast on TV
last year over a lengthy period of more than four months and
snatched a huge amount of money by millions of viewers voting via
text messages.
Pop contest organizers have voiced their compliance with this
decision so far although there seems to be an obvious worry over
the new edict. An official with Shanghai Media Group, also
organizer of "My Hero," a reality TV show featuring young men, said
they will abide by the policy made by SARFT. Shortening broadcast
time, they claim, will not affect the course of their contest. The
official adds they have submitted their bid for this year's "My
Hero" to SARFT and if approved, the contest will start as early as
the end of next month.
Director of "Dream China," another pop singing contest held by
China Central Television, said that two and a half months is indeed
short, but that they will follow the official dictation. It is
equal and therefore fair.
Meanwhile, Hunan TV, the organizer of the most popular "Super
Girl" singing contest say they haven't received a word about the
broadcast time limit yet.
Reality pop TV contests became a hit in China in recent years,
starting with the "Super Girl" singing contest in early 2004.
Further contests were quite popular last year. According to QQ.com,
"Super Girls" for instance, hooked about 67 million viewers for its
six finalists competitions last year.
Such contests, however, were also criticized for trying to raise
audience ratings and bag huge SMS fees by deliberately prolonging
competitions. The longer the competitions, observers say, the
bigger the crowd of audiences is enticed to vote for contestants by
texting short messages through their cell phones.
(CRI.cn February 27, 2007)
