Television in China
Television is a prominent industry and form of mass media in China. Since 2018, state administration of the television industry has been overseen by the National Radio and Television Administration. China Central Television is China's largest state-run national television broadcaster.
Television has existed in China since the Mao era, but has substantially increased in reach and popularity since the 1980s. By 1987, two-thirds of people in China had access to television. As of August 22, 2023, over 3,300 local, regional, and national TV channels are available in the country.
History
China has had access to film and movie theaters since the early twentieth century, but plans for a broadcast television network did not develop until 1953. While Hong Kong established the first Chinese television station, Rediffusion Television, in 1957, the first mainland television transmission signal was made a year later on May 1st, 1958, in Beijing. Beijing Television was formally launched on September 2, 1958. The first regional station, Shanghai Television, was launched a month later on October 1, 1958.Growth in telecommunications halted with the general economic collapse after the Great Leap Forward. During the Cultural Revolution, military control was exerted over China's Broadcasting Bureau, and television growth was again stagnated. Nevertheless, television infrastructure developed at a moderate pace during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1965, there were 12 television stations in mainland China, 1 national and 11 regional, and by 1971, there were 31. Most experienced television through communal viewing areas, and there were few to no personal television sets.
Expansion and modernization of the broadcasting systems continued throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s.
1980s
The new decade started with an increase in the amount of television sets in China, which, up until early 1979, was mostly reserved to affluent organizations and officials. Programming, up until then limited to Chinese films and educational content, began to diversify. Television became one of the Big Four consumer items in demand in 1980, at the top of the list, which was followed by tape recordings, washing machines, and electric fans. Beijing alone had 250,000 television sets in 1979, three times the number of sets available in 1978, and television antennas covered 35% of households in the city. There was also an increase in airtime, as stations up until then broadcast three to four hours a day. Among the novelties included feature films in English and, from 1 March that year, Man from Atlantis, becoming the first US TV series to air on Chinese television.The Ministry of Radio and Television was established as a separate entity in 1982 to administer and upgrade the status of television and radio broadcasting. Subordinate to this ministry were the Central People's Broadcasting Station, Radio Beijing, and China Central Television. Additionally, the various broadcasting training, talent-search, research, publishing, and manufacturing organizations were brought under the control of the Ministry of Radio and Television. In 1986, responsibility for the movie industry was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the new Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television.
Radio and television expanded rapidly in the 1980s as important means of mass communication and popular entertainment. In 1982, television was available by one measure only to 350 million of China's population of 1 billion, and was mostly watched on a communal basis. By 1985, television reached two-thirds of the population through more than 104 stations ; an estimated 85 percent of the urban population had access to television. During this time, the content of the programming changed drastically from the political lectures and statistical lists of the previous period. Typical television shows were entertainment, including feature films, sports, drama, music, dance, and children's programming. In 1985, a survey of a typical week of television programming made by the Shanghai publication Wuxiandian Yu Dianshi revealed that more than half of the programming could be termed entertainment; education made up 24 percent of the remainder of the programming, and news 15 percent. A wide cross-section of international news was presented each evening. Most news broadcasts had been borrowed from foreign news organizations, and a Chinese summary was dubbed over. China Central Television also contracted with several foreign broadcasters for entertainment programs. Between 1982 and 1985, six United States television companies signed agreements to provide American programs to China.
Since the late 1950s, people in the Pearl River Delta began to receive channels from Hong Kong with coaxial cable and Yagi–Uda antenna. Hong Kong channels were considered more entertaining and had Cantonese shows. Such reception was banned by the central government, but semi-accepted by local governments. By the late 1980s, local channels began to syndicate shows from Hong Kong.
China launched its first television-broadcast satellite in 1986.
In 1987, China Central Television, the state network, managed China's television programs. In 1985, consumers purchased 15 million new sets, including approximately 4 million color sets. Production fell far short of demand. Because Chinese viewers often gathered in large groups to watch publicly owned sets, authorities estimated that two-thirds of the nation had access to television. In 1987, there were about 70 million television sets, an average of 29 sets per 100 families. CCTV had four channels that supplied programs to over ninety television stations throughout the country. Construction began on a major new CCTV studio in Beijing in 1985. CCTV produced its own programs, a large portion of which were educational, and the Television University in Beijing produced three educational programs weekly. The English-language lesson was the most popular program with an estimated 5 to 6 million viewers. Other programs included daily news, entertainment, teleplays, and special programs. Foreign programs included films and cartoons. Chinese viewers were particularly interested in watching international news, sports, and drama.
1990s
By 1991, there were 140 million television sets for an audience of 700 million people. Stations such as CCTV and Guangdong TV, which had been relying on commercials for more than a decade, have reached their break-even point.In September 1993, after acquiring the STAR TV satellite network, Rupert Murdoch publicly declared:
After this, the former prime minister Li Peng requested and obtained a ban of satellite dishes throughout the country. Subsequently, the STAR TV network dropped the BBC channels from its satellite offer. This, and many ensuing declarations from Murdoch, led critics to believe the businessman was striving to appease the Chinese government in order to have the ban lifted. It is also alleged that the PRC government was unhappy with BBC coverage and threatened to block STAR TV in the huge mainland Chinese market if the BBC was not withdrawn. This is despite technology that is capable of blocking BBC World in China, while making it available in other countries it serves.
On New Year's Day 1994 at 06:00 Hangzhou Time, Zhejiang Television was China's first commercial satellite television based in the East China surrounding areas, the Yangtze Delta.
On October 6, 1997, at 09:00 Hefei Time, Anhui Television was China's second commercial satellite television. Later in the same year, on December 28 at 06:00 Nanjing Time, Jiangsu Television was China's third commercial satellite television based in the East China surrounding areas, like the Yangtze Delta.
In 1998, the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television began the Connecting Every Village with Radio and TV Project, which extended radio and television broadcasting to every village in China. One of the first provinces to do so was Zhejiang, which enabled CCTV-1 and CCTV-2 to have total coverage in its mountainous areas.
On October 1, 1998, at 06:00 Shanghai Time, Dragon Television was China's fourth commercial satellite television station based in East China surrounding areas, the Yangtze Delta.
2000s
In 2000, the Chinese government put forward a goal of promoting media amalgamation by establishing trans-regional multi-media news groups. It also instituted detailed regulations on media industry fund-raising, foreign-funded cooperation, and trans-media development.The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television, founded at the end of 2001, integrated the resources of the central-level radio, television, and film industry, plus those of the radio and television, Internet companies, into China's biggest and strongest multi-media group covering the fields of television, Internet, publishing, advertising, etc. At the same time, the Chinese media industry is cooperating with overseas media groups.
On 23 June 2002, most of CCTV's channels, as well as ten provincial channels, were inaccessible on satellite to air pro-Falun Gong messages. Two days later, on 25 June 2002, the television transmitter in Yantai, Shandong had the signals of CCTV-1, CCTV-3, and CCTV-5 hijacked to air a message saying "Falun Gong is good". In Laiyang County, the signal fell for fifteen minutes. It was reported by the Hong Kong press that Falun Gong members intercepted the satellite using sophisticated equipment. The sect is outlawed in the PRC.
By 2003, 30 overseas television networks, including Phoenix Television, Bloomberg Television, STAR TV, Eurosport, BBC World, CNBC, and China Entertainment Television, had entered China with limitations. At the same time, the English-language channel of CCTV entered the United States through Fox News Internet under the jurisdiction of News Corporation.
In conformity with trends in the international television industry, CCTV has made progress in the direction of specialization, introducing three specialized channels between 2003 and 2004: CCTV-News, CCTV-Children, and CCTV-Music.
Since September 1, 2006, the Chinese government has banned foreign-produced animation between the hours of 5:00 and 8:00 P.M. on state-run television to protect struggling Chinese animation studios that have been affected by the popularity of such cartoons.
Despite these advances, a considerable gap remains between the eastern coastal region and the Chinese hinterland, where television sets and regional broadcasters are far less common.