Wintertime, for all its haunting and poetic beauty, often makes us want to curl up inside with a good book, film, or TV show. Here in China we have a multitude of TV stations (电视台, diànshìtái, with 电视 being the general term for TV) and a big variety of programs, but things on the tube still might seem unusual to Western viewers, so in this week's ChinesePod Weekly, we'll do our best to explain what Chinese TV is all about and hopefully teach a bit along the way!

The Diary

Mainland Chinese TV was born in 1958 when China Central Television Beijing (北京电视台, Běijīng diànshìtái) transmitted its first broadcast. Programming was very limited, however, until the late 1970's when additional channels were added and the network changed its name to 中国中央电视台 (Zhōngguó zhōngyāng diànshìtái), usually known in English as just CCTV (or 央视 for short in Chinese). In its early days, CCTV (which these days is known in part for its ridiculous Jenga-like headquarters building in Beijing, pictured below) was the only game in town and was very pragmatic in its programming strategy, generally broadcasting only during prime watching hours and focusing on drier content like news. At the time, few individuals owned TV's and viewership was often a shared experience. As China became more developed and more open to the outside world, however, television programming expanded rapidly, and today there are some 22 individual stations under the CCTV banner, including ones devoted to sports, documentaries, Peking Opera, and even stations in French, Russian and Arabic. CCTV also features a handful of English channels, with their own foreign staff, and is making a serious push to set up overseas bureaus and expand their foreign presence.

The Little Things

CCTV is China's old hand, but the big news lately in the realm of Chinese TV is the country's regional satellite networks. In recent years dozens of satellite providers have popped up, serving up more region-specific content as well as programming with national appeal (in a rough US equivalent, certain CPod team members fondly recall whiling away summer afternoons watching the Chicago Cubs on WGN, a local Chicago station that was broadcast nationally). Because they don't operate under the CCTV umbrella, networks like Anhui Television (安徽电视台/安徽卫视), Qinghai Television (青海电视台/青海卫视) and Southeast Satellite Television (东南卫视) have more freedom in choosing what they broadcast. Indeed, Chinese TV made international headlines last year because of a dating show called 非诚勿扰 (fēi chéng wù rǎo), literally "really, do not disturb" but usually translated "If You Are the One" or "serious inquiries only" that was produced by Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation (江苏电视台). One of the country's more popular shows, it famously featured a young girl declaring that she'd "rather be sitting inside a BMW and crying than sitting on a bicycle and smiling.” Commentators were up in arms about the nation's morals and social priorities, but also noted that such programming likely wouldn't have aired on a CCTV station. Indeed, the (arguably) scandalous and controversial nature of some of the content featured on regional satellite channels (also known as provincial channels) has led to a ruling by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) that banned “excessive entertainment” on regional satellite stations (here's the link to the more thorough article, in Chinese).

It's interesting to consider, then, the effect such programming and the existence of these 卫视 stations has on society. It's also interesting to consider that this particular extremely memorable viral video came from Hunan TV, another provincial station. These provincial stations, along with almost all stations in Mainland China, broadcast in Standard Mandarin but usually include subtitles so that speakers of various regional dialects can better understand. It's all part of the fairly recent innovation of 卫视 (wèishì), or satellite TV. After a somewhat contentious entrance into the country, satellite TV channels have become common-place and have widened the entertainment sphere for China's viewers.

We've Got Spirit

The Mainland's TV offerings are diverse in nature, as is to be expected in a country of over a billion people, but some of the more popular genres these days include 电视连续剧 (diànshì liánxùjù), serialized dramas. A common joke among foreign viewers of Chinese 连续剧 is that every episode seems to end in a cliffhanger or overly-dramatic scene. Romance is a common theme, as is historical fiction, or modern-style dramatic plots playing out in ancient China. 乡村爱情故事 (Xiāngcūn àiqínggùshì), or "Rural Love Story", is a series that has proved extremely popular in the last few years, with city-dwellers tuning in to see what life is (fictionally) like in the hinterlands. If historical drama is your thing, there's always 故梦 (Gù mèng), known (florally) in English as "Remembrance of Dreams Past". Reality shows, particularly talent shows, are also among the country's highest-rated programs. China's Got Talent (中国达人秀, Zhōngguó dárénxiù, with 秀, a loan word from English, meaning "show") is one of the most prominent, making headlines when an armless pianist won the competition in 2010. The most popular program in China, however, is definitely 中国中央电视台春节联欢晚会 (Zhōngguó zhōngyāng diànshìtái chūnjié liánhuān wǎnhuì), the annual CCTV New Year's Gala. Perenially the country's highest-rated TV event, the 联欢晚会 regularly draws over 700 million viewers (for reference, that's the population of the US, Brazil, Russia and Italy combined) with its variety show format and countless celebrtiy appearances.