China Media & Entertainment Law Report : China Media Lawyer & Attorney : Reed Smith Law Firm : Entertainment, Sports & Consumer Rights Law

China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (“SARFT”) has been monitoring the introduction and broadcasting of overseas TV programs in China since the 1990s.  In 2004, SARFT promulgated the Provisions on the Administration of Introduction and Broadcasting of Overseas TV Programs (the “Provisions”), which are still valid today. The Provisions set out the approval procedures for the importation and broadcasting of overseas TV programs in China, including films, TV dramas, cartoons, and educational, scientific and cultural programs.

In February 2012, SARFT issued the Notice on Further Strengthening and Improving the Administration on the Introduction and Broadcasting of Overseas Films and TV Dramas (the “Notice”). The Notice, which became effective as of February 9, 2012, reiterates some of the rules set out in the Provisions and other relevant notices issued by the SARFT. For example, the time allocated by a TV channel to overseas films and TV dramas must not exceed 25% of the overall broadcasting time for films and TV dramas by that TV channel in a single day. However, unlike the Provisions, which permit the broadcast of foreign films and TV shows during the “golden hours” (between 7-10 pm) subject to approval, the Notice places a flat ban on such broadcasts.

The Notice also imposes some new restrictions on overseas films and TV dramas. For example, imported TV dramas should not last for more than 50 episodes. The Notice also discourages TV channels from concentrating their broadcast of foreign films and TV dramas to imports from a single county.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) recently released a notice critical of time travel and other supernatural content on television.The notice as written does not actually ban shows featuring this kind of content outright – despite the alarmist headlines of numerous media reports – but this official discouragement indicates that any current or planned programming with such content will face significant challenges in production and obtaining approval from state regulators.

SARFT’s decision to speak out against programs that take liberties in their representation of historical situations and events indicates the central government’s active management of the entertainment sector and the mechanisms by which the government will use its powers to set the cultural agenda.  The notice will have a cooling effect on the production of period pieces with fantastical elements, which apparently aggravated regulators because of their “bizarre [and] superstitious” plots.  SARFT’s decision to focus on time travel may appear arbitrary, but this action demonstrates that the government is not averse to pulling the plug even on popular media that it believes to have an adverse social effect. 

Television and film producers will be forced to consider whether their programming may fall into regulatory disfavor, and the result will likely be more conservative content more consciously aligned with the government’s social messaging priorities.  SARFT also took this opportunity to encourage programmers to develop more content focusing on how well all ethnic groups in China have done under the leadership of the Communist Party as part of the celebration of the Party's 90th anniversary. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link