Please wait...
Please wait...

PERSPECTIVE

Viewpoints from the frontline of content.

Rising in the fall

By Content China 04-11-2014

Media convergence was once again a hot topic in China as mergers and acquisitions plus crossmedia business became even more prominent.

Where Are We Going Dad?

Where Are We Going Dad?

Recent survey result showed that 87 M&A deals between July 1, 2013 and September 10, 2014 were connected to media companies, including films, advertising, software, smart TV, online lotteries and games. Remarkably, the share prices of firms behind the acquisitions rose by more than 30%.

In addition, leading media companies are venturing into new areas, with 360 reportedly set to co-found a video website with Enlight Media focusing on films. As well as being a video-on-demand website for movies it will be a service platform for cinema ticketing and other spin-off products.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which was recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange, announced a strategic cooperation deal with local streaming platform Youku Tudou, under which they will explore the area of entertainment consumption using data technology. It’s worth mentioning that Alibaba has launched a platform that allows ordinary viewers to invest in TV shows. The company has cooperated with Dragon TV and uses the new platform to back Chinese Idol.

The Chinese market is in a frenzy about media properties and the landscape is set to change dramatically.

At the start of Q4, the main broadcasters are well set up for 2015. Most of them chose to hold promotional press conferences in October and a bunch of new shows were unveiled. It is reported that there will be more than 200 variety shows in 2015, meaning the competition between broadcasters should be much more fierce than expected.

Also, this season witnessed a boom in the celebrity reality genre. The following are the ratings and shares (based on CMS 50) of the most popular shows.

Where Are We Going Dad? (S2) reached its season finale during the National Day holidays, achieving a rating of 2.838 and a share of 14.80%. On October 17, Hunan TV aired Grade One in the Friday primetime slot. The new show rated 1.060 with a 4.57% share.

Chinese remake Running Man eventually landed on Zhejiang TV on October 10. The premiere episode did not perform as well as expectation but the second episode, on October 17, saw a significant improvement, with a 0.448 rating and a 5.11% share. Shenzhen TV also welcomed the season premiere of Chinese remake Amazing Race on October 17, recording a rating of 0.941 and a 5.11% share.

Both featuring female celebrities and with marriage themes, She’s My Family (Jiangsu TV) and Here Comes The Bride (Tianjin TV) had a minor battle over copyright issues. The former premiered on October 10 to a 1.660 rating and a share of 7.33%, while the latter reached a rating of 0.678 and a share of 2.06% when it premiered on October 25.

The Chinese version of Rising Star finally aired on CCTV3 on the last day of October, but TV insiders were less happy with the new version as it had been changed in many respects from the original. It achieved a rating of 0.88 and a 2.27% share.

Last but not least, the government has brought in two new regulations that have shocked the Chinese TV industry. SARFT tightened up the rules around health shows at the end of September, saying they could only be developed and produced by broadcasters. Presenters and medical experts invited to take part in such shows must now have certain qualifications, and actors and celebrities will not be allowed to present. It also forbade any form of advertisement around health shows.

More explosive news came out on October 30 when the government officially released rules surrounding imported series. Foreign shows will have to go through a strict censorship process, which means difficulties for online platforms.

Please email your Chinese news to [email protected] and stand by for the next update on the country’s leading content business website.

today's correspondent

Content China

ContentChina is a joint venture between C21Media and Beijing-based 3C Media, delivering international and local industry news to the Chinese broadcast and production community.

Launched last year, the site translates C21Media.net into Mandarin, adding exclusive news and features generated by a team of local journalists. The move marks the start of an ongoing collaboration between 3C Media (formerly Shixi Media) and C21 to develop a significant publishing brand in China. The initiative has been developed in association with the Chinese government’s media regulator, SARFT. You can visit the website by clicking here.



OTHER RECENT PERSPECTIVES