China's broadcasting watchdog has hit the off button on "low-taste" television and radio talent shows in a wide-ranging and strict list of reforms announced yesterday.

TV network cash cows like "My Hero" and "Super Girl" may have aired their last shows.

In a long list of new rules published on its Website yesterday, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television:

Banned such programs from prime time;

All but banned live broadcasts;

Ruled out voting by phone or the Internet.

"Some shows have slid into low taste in terms of program design, selection of judges, and performances of contestants," the watchdog said in a statement.

All talent-selection shows on provincial-level satellite-TV stations should be presented to the administration for approval three months ahead of their debut.

Also under this umbrella are China's Central TV Station, China's National Radio, China Radio International and the China Education TV Station.

Provincial-level satellite-TV stations can only apply for one talent show every year. This show should be wrapped up within two months and include fewer than 10 episodes, the administration said. Each episode should be no longer than 90 minutes.

Live broadcasts of talent shows are forbidden except for the final round of a competition, which can be broadcast on a one-minute tape delay.

Talent shows should not appear on screen between 7:30pm and 10:30pm starting October 1. Voting for contestants by cell phones and the Internet is not allowed and no awards should be offered to the show's winners.

Mobile-phone voting, a vital factor behind the boom in talent shows in China, was said to have earned at least 30 million yuan (US$4 million) for Hunan TV Station in 2005 for its "Super Girl" show.

The administration also required that any performance tours by show winners after these programs should not be televised.

The watchdog stipulated that talent shows should include only "healthy and ethically inspiring" songs and try to avoid "gossip" about the contestants and scenes of fans screaming and wailing, or losing contestants in tears. Chinese songs should take up at least 75 percent of each segment of the show.

"All contestants are required to be over 18 and they should be mature, independent, confident and healthy during their performances with proper clothes, hair styles and language," the administration said.

Hosts of these programs should not be sarcastic, boast, or flirt with each other, it added. Judges need to be "authoritative, professional and respectable" while content that is not related to the programs, including gossip about contestants' personalities, clothes, and hair styles, must be cut.

The statement also noted that broadcasters have to rectify their program content at once after the administration delivers a criticism notice for the first time.

A suspension warning will be sent in the event of a second violation.

For a third offense, the program will be halted immediately.

A talent show producer in Shanghai said these rules "will bring difficulties" for production of the shows, but "broadcasters will come up with plans to deal with the problems." She agreed the rules may weed out some "indecent talent shows" which have a "negative impact" on teenagers.

(Shanghai Daily September 22, 2007)