MCLC: tv gets a chaperon

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: tv gets a chaperon
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Accompanying this article are a video and slideshow:

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/12/31/world/asia/100000001227148/a-date
-with-the-censors.html
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/12/31/world/asia/20120101-TELEVISION.
html

Kirk 

===========================================================

Source: NYT (1/1/12):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/world/asia/censors-pull-reins-as-china-tv
-chasing-profit-gets-racy.html

China TV Grows Racy, and Gets a Chaperon
By EDWARD WONG

NANJING, China ‹ Wang Peijie¹s idea for what would become the
most-talked-about show in China was simple: Throw a spotlight on this
country¹s bright young things as they court each other on stage to pop
music and audience applause.

The men boasted of their bank accounts, houses and fancy cars. The women
were svelte and sassy, dousing suitors with acid putdowns. But mixed into
the banter were trenchant social issues that urban Chinese from their 20s
to 40s grapple with, if not always so publicly: living together before
marriage, the unabashed pursuit of wealth or the government¹s one-child
policy.

³Through this show, you can tell what China is thinking about and chasing
after,² said Mr. Wang, a veteran television producer.

The show, ³If You Are the One
<http://www.chinahush.com/2011/06/01/tv-dating-programs-in-china/>,² broke
ratings records in the first half of 2010. More than 50 million people
tuned in. The sauciest contestants became sensations ‹ one aspiring
actress <http://www.danwei.org/tv/sarft_supposedly_ban_golddigge.php>
famously rejected a man offering a bicycle ride by saying, ³I¹d rather cry
in a BMW.² The show attracted huge interest from Chinese overseas; some
students on American campuses even filmed their own versions. It increased
the nation¹s cultural influence, which China¹s leaders crave.

But reality television proved too real for the censors. Disturbed by the
program¹s revealing portrait of Chinese youth and the spread of copycat
shows, they threatened to cancel it. Producers raced to overhaul the show.
They brought on older contestants and added a third host, a matronly
professor from the provincial Communist Party school. ³We¹ve had more
restrictions on expressions on the show, to eliminate remarks that could
have negative social impact,² the wiry Mr. Wang, 45, said one morning as
dozens of screens flickered behind him in a control room here in Jiangsu
Province.

Then regulators formulated a sweeping policy
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/world/asia/china-imposes-new-limits-on-e
ntertainment-and-bloggers.html> that takes effect on Sunday and
effectively wipes out scores of entertainment shows on prime-time
television. The authorities evidently determined that trends inspired by
³If You Are the One² and a popular talent show, ³Super Girl,² had gone too
far, and they responded with a policy to curb what they call ³excessive
entertainment.²

That a dating show could help set off the toughest crackdown on television
in years exposes the growing tension at the heart of the Communist Party¹s
control of the entertainment industry. For decades, the party has pushed
television networks here to embrace the market, but conservative cadres
have grown increasingly fearful of the kinds of programs that court
audiences, draw advertising and project a global image not shaped by the
state. Television, after all, occupies a singular position in the state¹s
media arsenal: with its 1.2 billion viewers and more than 3,000 channels,
it is the party¹s greatest vehicle for transmitting propaganda, whether
through the evening news or staid historical dramas.

³A conflict has arisen: On the one hand, they¹re pushing for the building
of a commercial industry, but on the other hand they wonder if this
commercialization has led to an overall decline in cultural quality and
moral cultivation,² said Yin Hong, a professor at Tsinghua University in
Beijing who studies television.

The party¹s definition of ³entertainment shows² encompasses game shows,
dating shows and celebrity talk shows. As in the West, they are cheap to
produce but earn high ratings and advertising revenue, which is critical
since stations get little or no government subsidies. Now, the new rules,
which were announced in late October, are forcing television executives
and producers at 34 satellite stations across China to cut many
entertainment shows from their lineups to limit what regulators describe
as ³vulgar tendencies.²

The tightening of television is at the fore of a major new effort to
control culture <http://cmp.hku.hk/2011/10/26/16743/> overseen by
President Hu Jintao that is also permeating film, publishing, the Internet
and the performing arts.

Government regulators issued the television guidelines right after the
party¹s Central Committee made culture and ideology the focus of a meeting
in October. Mr. Yin, who advised officials in the prelude to the meeting,
said cadres had originally intended to issue a paper that would push
cultural industries closer to the market. But starting half a year ago, he
said, senior officials began growing more worried about ³social morality,²
so they steered the policy toward the control of culture. Regarding
television specifically, he said, ³many old comrades² frequently
complained about entertainment shows and ³the idolizing of celebrities.²

Under the new rules, each television station can broadcast only two
³entertainment shows² during prime time each week. Only nine can be shown
nationally per night, down from an official estimate this fall of 126 per
week. A panel convened by regulators will decide which ones will remain if
the stations do not trim. Ideas for new shows must be approved by censors.
Satellite stations are also expected to increase their news programming
and broadcast at least one show that promotes traditional Chinese virtues
and the ³socialist core value system.²


The agency regulating the industry, the State Administration of Radio,
Film and Television, or Sarft, is not shy about imposing limits on dramas,
either. Last year, it expressed disapproval of spy dramas and time-travel
shows. In late November, it surprised the industry by mandating that as of
January, commercials cannot be shown in the middle of television dramas.
³The whole point here is that Sarft is trying to get TV station presidents
back to the roots,² said a person once involved with ³If You Are the One,²
who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ³What are the roots? TV is
supposed to be the mouthpiece of the party in the country. You¹re supposed
to broadcast propaganda instead of sensationalistic content.²

The Role of Money

Reining in television is not just ideological, but is also tied to
advertising money, people in the industry contend. Officials at Sarft are
close to those at China Central Television, or CCTV, the state-run
television network that is the largest in the country. CCTV still
dominates the industry, but it has ceded market share to provincial
satellite stations because they are producing the most popular
entertainment shows. CCTV and Sarft have a revolving-door relationship: In
November, a former vice minister of Sarft, Hu Zhanfan
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/world/asia/cctv-chinas-largest-tv-networ
k-names-hu-zhanfan-as-head.html>, took over as president of CCTV. The
network also remits a fraction of its annual revenue to Sarft. From 2001
to 2005, it gave the agency $675 million, according to statistics from
CCTV. By contrast, provincial stations remit revenue to local authorities,
who have little incentive to censor successful shows.

So Sarft¹s crackdown on entertainment shows is partly aimed at enriching
CCTV, industry observers argue. The announcement of the new order in
October may already have yielded benefits for the network. On Nov. 7, at
its annual auction for advertising spots in 2012, CCTV earned $2.2
billion, a 12.5 percent increase over the previous year. Sarft and CCTV
officials did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.

Tightening the vise could backfire. Some analysts say that the more
television is regulated, the more viewers will watch shows on the
Internet, over which Sarft wields much less power.

³If You Are the One² dropped in ratings after censors forced it to change
its format last year. But Mr. Wang and his crew have found ways to keep it
the top-rated variety show. When the parent station, Jiangsu Satellite
Television, held its 2012 advertising auction in November, ³If You Are the
One² earned an astounding 82 percent of the station¹s total haul of $345
million.

Jiangsu wants desperately for censors to allow the 90-minute show to
remain in its Saturday and Sunday prime-time slots. The station is cutting
a half-dozen other entertainment programs, Mr. Wang said, and is
developing shows that promote ³social responsibility.² But some wonder
whether censors will show leniency. People¹s Daily, the party¹s
mouthpiece, ran a commentary in October that lamented the negative
influence of two shows. One was ³Super Girl,² an influential talent show
that had been repeatedly punished for being ³vulgar² since its 2004 debut
on Hunan Satellite Television. It was suspended in September. The second
was ³If You Are the One.²

³Some programs seek novelty as their objective,² the article said. ³They
rely on peering into the privacy of others to achieve that, and they hype
money worship and pleasure-seeking, which have aroused the antipathy of
the audience.²

Clashes Between Ideas

At a recent taping of ³If You Are the One² in a Beijing studio, a male
contestant, Wang Yan, 23, told the women on stage that he appreciated
women who wore silk stockings. The women grilled him, to the delight of
the audience. That turned into a discussion of the sizes of women¹s legs.

³Do you prefer S- or M-sized women?² asked one of the female contestants,
Zuo Teng¹ai, a single mother.

³I¹m sorry, I really have no idea about the difference between the two,²
Mr. Wang said. The main host, Meng Fei, chimed in: ³Is she asking whether
you like S-and-M?²

³I didn¹t ask him about S-and-M!² Ms. Zuo said. The audience laughed and
applauded. But the exchange was excised from the episode that aired Nov.
12.

Sharp dialogue was once the show¹s hallmark. One of its original goals was
to push the limits of what could be discussed on Chinese television. ³We
hoped there would be some clashes between different ideas,² Mr. Wang said.
The show was conceived in cigarette-fueled talks between Mr. Wang and Xing
Wenning, a media entrepreneur now with the Hearst Corporation. In the fall
of 2009, Mr. Xing, a graduate of Harvard and Columbia, was working
forFremantleMedia <http://www.fremantlemedia.com/home.aspx>, owned by
Bertelsmann, and his task was getting Chinese stations or production
companies to buy the rights to adapt foreign television shows. One of
FremantleMedia¹s properties was ³Take Me Out
<http://www.itv.com/takemeout/>,² a dating show popular in Britain. Mr.
Xing approached the two most adventurous stations, Hunan and Jiangsu.

Mr. Wang at Jiangsu was receptive. He had worked at the station since the
late 1980s and had witnessed the industry¹s transformation. In 1997,
satellite television was established, allowing some provincial stations to
broadcast nationally and compete with CCTV for advertising money. CCTV and
provincial stations had increased production of entertainment shows around
that time. ³Competition is fierce among the top few stations,² Mr. Wang
said.

Mr. Wang said he wanted a new dating show to capitalize on the concept of
³leftover girls² and ³leftover boys,² career-oriented people without a
partner, a hot topic in China. The show, too, would be a window into the
lives of the ³rich second generation,² the children of China¹s new money.

Hunan beat Jiangsu in the bidding for ³Take Me Out.² But Mr. Wang pushed
ahead with his version, which Unilever had wanted to sponsor.

³If You Are the One,² called ³Fei Cheng Wu Rao² in Chinese, is set up like
a tribunal. Twenty-four single women stand behind brightly lighted podiums
and pepper a potential male partner with questions. Directing the talk is
Mr. Meng, a bald, witty former news anchor. His sidekick is Le Jia, a
younger, slimmer (but also bald) man dubbed the show¹s ³psychological
analyst.²

The first episode aired Jan. 15, 2010, and set the tone. ³Any woman who
comes with me won¹t have to worry about her livelihood,² said the first
male contestant, Zhang Yongxiang, 23. His family ran a factory with more
than 1,000 workers. A video showed off his large apartment, white sedan
and endless rows of clothing. Other male contestants had their incomes
advertised in graphics on their videos.

Later in the episode, a female contestant in red, knee-high vinyl boots
and a tight black dress performed a chair dance that would not have looked
out of place in a strip club.

But serious issues wormed their way into the talk. Women interrogated Mr.
Zhang on why he clung to a traditional mentality of wanting to sire at
least one son.

³Today¹s youngsters dare to express themselves,² Mr. Wang said. ³You can¹t
be authentic if you don¹t dare to express yourself.²

Spare No Dignity

The show¹s notoriety surged after one contestant, Ma Nuo, rejected a man
with her ³cry in a BMW² remark. Ms. Ma got thousands of messages from fans
and critics alike. Supporters said she was only publicly voicing what many
women think.

Ms. Ma, 23, said in an interview that producers had told the women not to
spare the dignity of the male contestants. After the BMW comment, ³Because
they saw that I was outspoken, they wanted me to say more controversial
things,² she said.

On another episode, Zhu Zhenfang brushed off a suitor by saying that any
man who wanted to shake her hand had to pay 200,000 renminbi, almost
$32,000, because ³my boyfriend must have a monthly salary of 200,000²
renminbi. Another woman, Yan Fengjiao, made the headlines when nude
photographs of her appeared online.

Viewers swarmed to the show. By May 2010, its ratings were second only to
those of the CCTV evening news, which all satellite stations are forced to
carry. China Daily called it ³morally ambiguous and visually
electrifying.² Copycat dating shows sprang up, ones that were even more
explicit.

Censors were not amused. In June, the heads of the Jiangsu and Hunan
satellite stations were both called to Beijing for a meeting with Sarft
officials. ³They were quite harsh,² said one person briefed on the
meeting. The message was simple: Tone down the shows or face cancellation.
The agency issued two edicts. One said: ³Do not humiliate and assault
participants in the name of dating; do not discuss vulgar topics involving
sex; do not hype materialism and other unhealthy, incorrect viewpoints on
marriage; and do not air the show without censorship and editing.²

Zhejiang Satellite Television canceled a dating show. For a time, it
looked as if all stations might have to do the same. One person on the set
of ³Take Me Out,² the Hunan show, recalled a producer telling the entire
cast and crew: ³I might get a phone call at any minute, and all of you
will have to pack up and go home.²

Fans of ³If You Are the One² immediately noticed the changes when the June
26 episode aired. Most obvious was the addition of a third host ‹ Huang
Han was a mother who taught psychology at the local party school. All the
female contestants had been replaced. The new ones were more subdued. So
were the male contestants. And there was no mention of their incomes. ³We
started to choose older participants who have a stronger desire for
marriage,² Mr. Wang said.

Each episode now had to be reviewed at least six times in-house before
broadcast, one person said. The producers still asked the hosts to steer
talk toward social topics, but more subtly. ³The comments made by
contestants weren¹t as incisive as before,² said Guo Wei, 34, a longtime
fan.

Mr. Wang said he hoped the censors, when they whittle down the
entertainment shows, keep in mind that ³If You Are the One² made changes
when asked. The show now tries to win ratings not through fiery dialogue,
but by promoting itself online and bringing on overseas Chinese
contestants. On the show¹s Web site, all the episodes from the show¹s
first half-year have been deleted. ³Our show,² he said, ³is one that obeys
the rules.²

Li Bibo and Edy Yin contributed research.