Rumor: Production of TV Serials Plummets in China
Southern Metropolitan News, 8/07/12
An industry source claimed recently that following State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) diktats issued this month and in December 2011 restricting TV drama airtimes, the number of new TV serials being shot in China this year has dropped to one-third of 2011 volumes. The GM of one production company said that while SARFT's latest six restrictions on program content had only been issued recently, it had been known that the agency would not issue production approval for stories of palace intrigue, time-traveling, or crime dramas before October of this year, leading many production companies to cut down heavily on projects.
According to figures from Beijing-based entertainment industry market research firm EntGroup, nearly 30,000 episodes of television dramas received production approval from SARFT in 2011, with 14,942 episodes in 469 series subsequently completed and approved for distribution by SARFT. Television stations aired between 6,000 and 8,000 episodes, with roughly 3,000 episodes turning a profit.
A satellite television station employee involved in TV series acquisitions said that many satellite TV stations have their broadcast schedules planned through H2 2013, meaning that even if production stopped altogether for a year, the stations' output would not be affected. Stations have becoming more cautious in their acquisition of television serials, the source said, and their wait-and-see approach has spread to major production companies, leading to a further decrease in programming production.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Rumor: SARFT to Ban Four TV Drama Genres in Primetime" MD 12/07/11 issue and "SARFT Tightens Restrictions on TV Drama Themes" MD 8/03/12 issue. Prices and licensing agreements for TV serials have declined heavily since the 18th Shanghai TV Festival this June. An industry insider said that the highest-priced licensing agreement to date this year topped out at RMB 750,000 per episode - less than half of the RMB 1.85 mln per-episode for 2011's time-travel and palace intrigue drama Gong.
Keywords: TV content production television SARFT TV drama regulation
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