SARFT Bans TV Adverts During Dramas, Online Comedy Follows

Posted December 1st, 2011 at 12:58 am (UTC+0)
3 comments

This is a news report from Dragon TV, a major Chinese television network. It’s been embedded onto Youku, China’s leading online portal.

This might be future for Chinese television, as SARFT (广电总局 State Administration of Radio Film and Television) announced on Monday that beginning in January, 2012, ads will be banned from the middle of TV dramas.

Beneath this TV report, Youku user “Dongtai Crazy,” said:
I only watch the ads, it’s annoying when a soap opera suddenly pops out of nowhere…
“GoldenFatboy” said:
I strongly support the suggestion that all regional channels launch an ‘advert channel’ and then put all adverts on this channel! And then ban all adverts from all the other channels!
“hgusfg” said:
Why not just make sure dramas in the future are half ads and half dramas, a win-win situation!
“Fivefish..” had a humorous yet perceptive comment:
I guess it the bosses at SARFT must have gotten peeved by the ads during TV dramas!
Also, users on Sina microblog are mocking the number of adverts that appear on TV. “Gu Qingsheng” (古清生) said:
But they didn’t ban soap operas being embedded into adverts
However, some reaction to the news was a bit more on the serious side. On the popular blog forum Tianya, “Ye Ge” had written in early 2010 how much he didn’t like adverts, something that is often cited and seems to be a genuine reflection across the country:
About a year ago, from 6pm to 10pm I watched the classic adaptation of Three Kingdoms (三国演义) and The Water Margin (水浒传). As I was watching the best parts, ads came out of nowhere, discussing its products at length, repeating itself, it felt like I had bitten on a burnt peanut in a plate of fresh ones. I waited patiently, or I stopped viewing, just in case I couldn’t wait for the end. In two years I’ve been busy and had no time to watch classic shows. Lately CCTV had a Spring Festival gift to us views: Journey to the West (西游记), so once again I stopped everything I was doing and sat in front of TV, but when it should have been an ad, there were none… until the whole thing was over and I had enjoyed a full episode, and said to my wife, “Look, there are no ads in Journey to the West.”
Mouseeatsacat on the longhoo forum saw the other perspective:
TV stations get their revenue from ads, banning ads from prime time TV is like taking away its lifeline? The State can’t just do whatever it wants!

3 responses to “SARFT Bans TV Adverts During Dramas, Online Comedy Follows”

  1. […] Bans TV Adverts During Dramas, Online Comedy Follows – Voice of America (blog) SARFT Bans TV Adverts During Dramas, Online Comedy FollowsVoice of America (blog)This is a news report from Dragon TV, a major Chinese television network. […]

  2. […] SARFT Bans TV Adverts During Dramas, Online Comedy FollowsVoice of America (blog)This is a news report from Dragon TV, a major Chinese television network. It's been embedded onto Youku, China's leading online portal. This might be future for Chinese television, as SARFT (广电总局 State Administration of Radio Film and Television) …and more » […]

  3. […] SARFT Bans TV Adverts During Dramas, Online Comedy FollowsVoice of America (blog)In two years I've been busy and had no time to watch classic shows. Lately CCTV had a Spring Festival gift to us views: Journey to the West (西游记), so once again I stopped everything I was doing and sat in front of TV, but when it should have been an …and more » […]

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