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Wang Xiangwei

At first glance, the mainland's television viewers are spoilt for choice.
More than 1,600 terrestrial, satellite and cable services provide 3,000 channels, and every year more than 10,000 episodes of dramas are produced for television - the most in the world.
But the mainland's channel-hopping couch potatoes are not a happy lot. No sex, no violence and no bad news - that has long been the mantra of the powerful television regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft). 
Its latest directive to curb 'excessive entertainment' came into effect this month, forcing satellite broadcasters to reduce the number of entertainment shows aired during prime time from 126 a week to 38. 
Specifically, the rule  has limited the number of entertainment programmes, such as dating and reality shows, that every broadcaster can air, setting the number at two each week with a maximum of 90 minutes daily between 7.30pm and 10pm.
The channels are now encouraged to 'broadcast programmes that promote traditional values and socialist core values', according to Sarft. 
The overseas media has extensively reported the government's ban of light entertainment, and many of them have linked the ban to recently published remarks by President Hu Jintao  in which he warns that the mainland must be alert to the influences of Western culture and hostile forces. 
However, as Sarft is trying to remove 'vulgar' and 'low taste' broadcasting from schedules, it is taking the fun out of television, judging from the series of directives in the past few years. 
More importantly, it is risking alienating tens of millions of viewers by force-feeding them propaganda  far removed from their everyday lives and forcing them to turn to the internet and other sources of entertainment over which the government has less control. 
Indeed, while the government has warned about the threat of rising Mafia-like societies and launched high-profile crackdowns, Sarft has since 2004 banned the airing of crime and detective dramas in the prime-time hours of 7pm to 11pm.
The mainland may be rife with official corruption, as state media reports punishment of corrupt officials almost daily. 
But one is unlikely to see any dramas depicting official corruption. Sarft has banned this category since 2007 and has instead urged television stations to air dramas praising the selfless cadres working hard for the masses, and sometimes dying while working.
The astute television drama producers started to make shows depicting how the Qing dynasty emperors fought corruption and had the corrupt officials beheaded. They have proved popular with mainlanders who see reflections of those fictitious corruption cases among today's cadres. 
Despite the obvious reference to today's official corruption, Sarft has, in fact, encouraged such dramas because they also contain another subtle reference that officials like - emperors are usually portrayed as saints who care for and love the people, and it is just the lower-ranking officials who are corrupt. 
However, such dramas that show a total disregard for history have caused concern among educators and historians, who fear young people may be gaining a distorted view of Chinese history. 
Recently, even Sarft officials admitted that there were too many Qing dynasty costume dramas and time-travel shows. 
The watchdog also has restricted foreign programming, including harmless children's programmes, in the name of encouraging domestically produced versions. Starting May 1, 2008, it banned all television stations from airing foreign animated programming from 5pm to 9pm, and programmes made through joint ventures with foreign animation companies require prior approval from Sarft. 
Its officials have long maintained that all those directives are aimed at encouraging television companies to produce high-quality programming, but they have failed to realise that those controls have greatly contributed to the fact that there is so much low-budget and lowbrow content being aired. 
Most television companies are content with producing copycats based on hit dramas. For instance, a popular spy show named Lurk spawned several dozen similar TV series, which prompted Sarft to warn of another cull. 
Tight controls and the fact there is so much shoddy content also mean that, while the mainland may produce a huge number of television dramas every year, most are never shown. 
According to a state media report, the mainland produced 17,000 episodes of TV dramas last year, but fewer than one-fourth have aired or are expected to be shown.



Mainland television land in a world all of its own