Global Television Formats

15

A REVOLUTION IN TELEVISIONAND A GREAT LEAP FORWARDFOR INNOVATION?

China in the Global Television FormatBusiness¹

Michael Keane

The People's Republic of China has never really countenanced a scarcity of domestic television content. Supply has been constant, indicating both the importance and the sheer size of the sector. The nationalized broadcast media has for several decades churned out cheaply produced films, documentaries, dramas, and news programmes. During the last two decades of the twentieth century, however, audience demand for domestic content began to wane as more international programmes found their way into schedules, particularly in southern China. China's accession to the World Trade Organization in December 2001 seemed to ...