Posted on February 22, 2012 by the China Media and Entertainment Law Team

SARFT Bans Advertisements in the Middle of a Soap Opera Episode

On November 25, 2011, SARFT issued new regulations banning the placement of adverstisments during the middle of any soap opera episode.  The new rules, entitled the Supplemental Regulations to the Administrative Measures on Broadcasting of Radio and Television Advertisements took effect as of January 1, 2012.

This is not the first time that the Chinese regulator has set restrictions on commercial TV advertisements.  Pursuant to the Administrative Measures on Broadcasting of Radio and Television Advertisements which took effect as of January 1, 2010, commercial advertisement  per hour must not exceed 12 minutes, while the total advertisement time between 7-9pm must not exceed 18 minutes. 

China’s TV advertising industry was worth nearly RMB500 billion (US$78 billion) in 2010, while soap opera advertisements bring in about 70% of the total revenue of TV stations.  Some have estimated that TV stations may lose over RMB20 billion (US$3.1 billion) if the ban is strictly implemented nationwide.

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