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China Cuts 'Excessive Entertainment' From TV
An anonymous reader writes "Chinese broadcasters have axed two-thirds of popular TV shows in line with a government directive to curb 'excessive entertainment.' From the article: 'The rule, first announced in October, is targeted at what Chinese regulators have called "excessive entertainment and a trend toward low taste," to address the rise of talent shows, dating shows and other such programming aired by China's tightly regulated, but increasingly competitive, regional satellite broadcasters. Authorities also encouraged broadcasters to air more news and educational programming.' according to local media reports."
If the viewers can't find what they want on the tube, they'll get it somewhere else.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
If I had my own country, I would make reality TV illegal too.
But after being pestered by so many Big Brothers and other related horrors, it's very hard for me to frown upon the chinese here.
just go without cable and save yourself 100 bucks a month
TV programs have become so incedibly ridiculous and debilous that the only station I watch is ARTE (France-Germany-Belgium publicly funded with NO audience level as a goal !)
Despite the slippery slope argument, I am in complete favor of some forms of censorship. Go China.
Although... the lack of programming designed to actively destroy intelligent thought will probably accelerate their rise to global dominance.. Hrm...Time to learn Mandarin.
Thank you, China, for the excessively entertaining action!
There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
A country where stupid politicians don't try to learn dancing salsa on TV? Count me in!!!!
10 ?"Hello World" life was simple then
So Big Brother shut down Big Brother?
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(but so much more, including game and movie reviews)
http://yanteb.peasantoid.org
One-child-per-family, and now this?
Greedy heartless fuckers that they are, even Chinese powerbrokers do their society service once in a while.
TV doesn't make people stupid, it just keeps stupid people entertained and out of the public eye, so why is excessively entertaining media a bad thing?
Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things...
Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
After watching cable TV in the US over the holidays, could I ask that they do the same thing to American TV?
(Only partially tongue-in-cheek).
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Beside the obvious "OMGFreeSpeech" and "OMG1984" arguments, in the face of garbage programming like American Idol, Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, etc, what practical non-what-if arguments are there for this being a bad thing?
I didn't realize that it is actually possible for a government to decide their people are having too much fun.
Excessive entertainment over the tube is one of the lead causes of the downfall of the Western nations.
Turn on the tube if you don't believe me, flip some channels, see how many of the programs are of any value in the first place?
No wonder over 90% of the American high school graduates can't even pinpoint their own country - the United States of America - on the world map.
They have been dumbed down by the entertainment industry.
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
while we lazy arrived Americans excessively entertain our way to idiocrisy.
That's true of geeks, but I wonder how true it is of most Chinese. We shouldn't underestimate how much the government can shift media consumption patterns by making access more difficult.
If a country has the backspine to get rid of Television, then it is China.
Imagine Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly... oh(!) and Democrats... without Television...
If only they did that here. Maybe they would be forced to air something worthy of having cable for.
We tax the snot out of cigarettes and booze because they aren't healthy for society... we've had a TV in every home for 50+ years now, and parents are exposing their children to TV from birth... if you can't restrict people's use of TV, you might as well remove the incentive to watch it by making it more informational/educational, rather than an "opiate of the masses".
We ended up with the evening news in a response to a federal mandate that X% be used for reporting the news, how much better off would we have been if we'd restricted entertainment to Y% of the total broadcast time? How would society be if we limited mass entertainment? Would local entertainment like playhouses still be much more successful?
moox. for a new generation.
There are several online services which offer loads of pirated TV shows and even movies. For example, my wife uses a streaming program called funsion to watch HIMYM, Big Bang and other popular American TV shows.
As of yesterday, those show are no longer available. This was also the case on the two other alternative services.
Granted, one can use a VPN tunnel, but most people will not be willing to pay money for a VPN which is fast enough to stream.
I do happen to pay for premium VPN services, but as I was last in China, it was impressively slow. Enough for real google results and such, but not enough for netflix.
I wish we would do the same - starting with Big Brother and Pop Idol
You seriously underestimate the spread of technology in China.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
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In China, you watch CCTV (China Central TeleVision), in Soviet Britain, CCTV watches you!
When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
Heck, I can't even remember anyone watching fictional TV in that documentary.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
The Chinese government is almost as funny as the South African government.
Someone in the CCP must have seen Jersey Shore, and decided to stop the trend before it's too late.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
given the age we live in it is unlikely the chinese regulators will be able to control it. But perhaps it will have some effect on the character of the country. Who can say. Similar restrictions in US history influenced it's culture.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
First they pass laws to ensure equality among persons given the effort. Next they pass laws to ensure equality among persons regardless of the effort. Next they MANDATE that all people are equal in all aspects regardless of education or effort Finally, they mandate what activities, and what you must do to entertain yourself. After all, it's all in the name of equality. Everybody else has access to this, and watches it, so you must also be reduced to those sole choices. Socialism: Sharing misery equally since 1948.
Get your free Dropbox account with 2 GB Free storage!
Difference is, America takes every-fucking-opportunity to say how great they are, that they value freedom and liberty, the "greatest country" in the world. Those hypocrites deserve all of it and more.
I'm a Chinese, I really hate those shows. You have no idea how many prostitutes are there on the dating shows.
just lost my password.
The last time I checked out the cable situation a few months ago, the U.S. has already scrubbed entertainment from broadcast and cable TV.
I am not sure if this was a patriotic move on the part of Hollywood to build a nation of young people who enjoyed more sunshine, or something imposed upon them by government officials afraid of citizens enjoying themselves too greatly as it would seem China has encountered. Either way, the U.S. beat ya' to it China!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
More news, more education, and endless pony marathons.
Seriously I get real tired of the America basing some people feel the need to do whenever anything about another country comes up...
2) Not everyone on the Internet lives in America. Maybe they are interested in news about other countries, ever think of that? Stop trying to steer everything back to your country. There are plenty of discussions on /. about the shit that happens in America. Don't hijack others.
You do realize the GP didn't mention America at all in his comment, don't you? It was only you who mentioned America. In essence, you're doing exactly what you said shouldn't be done.
I'm Canadian, and I had a similar sentiment as the GP. I think _you_ should stop steering the discussion towards America.
Geeks don't grock information, they grep it.
You seem to have gotten there ahead of us.
The very fundamental ideals of Chinese society place family and the greater community at higher priority than the individual's wants or needs. I suspect the vast majority of the Chinese people actually don't mind this. Those that do can certainly access media from elsewhere in the world -- technology is wide spread in China.
You really need to get the image of rice farms out of your heads.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
State run TV means it's going to serve the priorities of the state. It's not a commercial enterprise out to win the greatest number of eyeballs, but a tool of the government first and the entertainment of the people second.
It's not unlike the emphasis the CBC placed on their programming mix when state-run TV was the only option in Canada. I saw a lot of documentaries, docu-drama histories, and educational shows when I was young.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
I just love hearing how awful popular entertainment is from people who buy Space 1999 on Blu-Ray, think Firefly was the pinnacle of western civilization, and just never seem to get tired of zombie shows and films.
The real idea here is to leverage television as a tool of propaganda - Hu Jintao more or less laid it all out in a recent series of essays. The government believes that wanting the sorts of things western countries wants erodes their ability to influence public policy, so they're steering the boat back around. The earlier move to block most science fiction time-travel shows was another example. Sci-fi is a great tool for political discourse, which is a no-no on the mainland.
Most people view this as a good thing, yet they some how don't think China will shape what people watch based around how they want to condition them. No sir, China is just out to cancel all forms of reality TV and badddd programing. They're going to show their kids Sesame street from now on too!
Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things...
Oh man, that made my day. Bravo
I could not agree more.
Disclaimer: I have a dislike for shows, i'll have me some non-fiction documentaries or fiction comedy instead.
Hivemind harvest in progress..
If there was ever any doubt China was going to overtake the west it's gone now. :)
I have no idea how Chinese kids grow up but the vast majority of western kids spend their time playing FPS games and watching junk TV...which is pretty much what I've been doing for the last decade and a half, and I know it's turned my brain to mush.
Funny story - the spread of technology in China is almost guaranteed to topple the idiots running North Korea. Firstly, it's made most Chinese despise the North Korean government, which makes the Chinese - North Korean alliance a bit of a farce. Everyone except North Korea (who think China is still their friend) knows that China's only concern now is whether or not it suffer any collateral damage (i.e. bombs, shells, or fallout falling on Chinese soil), and how to deal with the refugees.
More importantly, North Koreans buy black-market goods from China. This includes iPod clones, many of which will come sold pre-loaded with the best Korean entertainment videos, all of which come from South Korea. It's getting harder and harder to explain that they are so superior, when all the South Korean shows are about families which are 10X richer than the families shown in pro-North propaganda.
if the vast majority didn't mind, they wouldn't need banning as they wouldn't have any viewers, while in fact these bans are a part of a war for viewers.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Curbing reality and dating shows?
Wow China is turning into an utopian society.
I fcking hate reality and dating shows.
If a vast majority was like how you say the highest rated shows would be educational and news. Yet it seems the highest rated shows are entertainment based.
Hmm, it seems that humans everywhere are the same .. who'd have thought?
The very fundamental ideals of Chinese society place family and the greater community at higher priority than the individual's wants or needs. I suspect the vast majority of the Chinese people actually don't mind this. Those that do can certainly access media from elsewhere in the world -- technology is wide spread in China.
buddy, you need to come over here for a few months before you start rhapsodizing about Chinese family values. This place is just an experiment in too many people with too few things and too much capitalism. I read the Communist Manifesto in a Hangzhou Starbucks while kids driving parent's Porsche order 100 Yuan of crap and outside a guy is spooning real crap into a bucket. Marx had it right, the capitalist society breeds its own destruction. Its not the utter lack of anything cultural or the absolute destruction of the air quality but the selfishness I see in every chance encounter that is magnified by the world's largest gap between wealthy and impoverished (guess what other country has this type of imbalance?). They have lived too long in a feudal society in abject poverty with literally millions of people starving around them. What you call "greater community" I call mob mentality. What you say is prioritization is really a lack of opportunity. There are no fundamental ideals in China, Mao fixed that, just pure capitalism with a totalitarian veneer. Just watch the wealthy do whatever they want here and turn back into the KMT leadership.
What ever happened to Bread and Circuses for keeping the population in line? It has worked up to this point, why change it?
...when you get better and more interesting TV programming in a communist country than in the free world.
I weep for humanity.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
"trend toward low taste,"
Seems to be a pretty accurate description of mainstream TV.
So either (a) their brains will rot more slowly or (b) they'll need to refine already formidable hacking skills to get around this b.s. and just watch shows from another country instead? Or, perhaps the more terrifying option...home movies... O.O
these CHICOMs good trading partners?
When I went there for a short while I found that while most can speak Taiwanese (Taiwanese Hokkien) they seem to default to Mandarin a lot more. That may be because I was in Taipei?
They use a different script though- "Traditional" vs mainland China's "simplified" version.
We still see video of people falling over themselves weeping when Kim-Jong "mentally" ill dies. Not to say that those videos aren't at least partially staged, but some "undercover" video has leaked out of NK showing that at least some of the weeping, wailing and carrying on was genuine. (I apologize for not having a link ATM. Search on YouTube. It's there.)
Not to say that the new regime isn't weak, it certainly is. But not so weak that ipod clones are going to topple them anytime soon. We see how well "westernization" has "toppled" the communist Chinese government. (IE: Not at all) If Kim-Jong Un decides to modernize and westernize following the Chinese model, Korea isn't likely to see unification anytime in the next century.
Sadly, there really is only ONE way to absolutely topple a government of any stripe. That's with violent revolution. The only way that Korea will unify is if SK invades and defeats NK. With NK's recent round of sabre-rattling, that's looking more and more likely every day.
Official Heretic from the "Church of Global Warming". Proven right thanks to whistle blowers. AGW = Flat Earth Theory
There are 'way too many entry points to this discussion. The mass hypnosis of TV and movies undermined Japan's post-war program for a stronger Japan, by "Americanizing" Japanese values. American "reality" TV fosters a view of stupid, immoral Americans, but it also shows the vast difference in wealth between the two nations. This must be a threat to Chinese Government-approved values and economics. Now, 2/3 of the people in Chines TV may be "out-of-work" in whatever way a government-subsidized "production" can exist.
This puts one of China's leading-edge economic industries about where the United States was in 1921.
"The mind works quicker than you think!"
This was a completely unnecessary move. China should learn from America and just let the entertainment industry remove excess entertainment from TV themselves.
Television is regulated everywhere in the world. TV channels being a finite resource, a free market of channels couldn't exist, thus regulation is required. What programmes can air and when, the amount of ads etc. And while some would say that China's regulations are overextensive, I think that a tightly government-controlled TV is still better than one controlled by the Big Media cartel. The customers don't really decide anything, the success or failure of a show is determined by survey groups of a few dozen. The problem with Chinese TV regulation is not the ban of low-quality shows, but the ban of politically sensitive topics.
This is a strategic mistake. Western societies learned, long ago, that a distracted populous is less likely to revolt. Circuses and Circuses.
We could probably help with the "excessive entertainment" problem - just start exporting MTV's reality shows over there. After a couple weeks of "Road Rules Real World OMGWTFBBQ Challenge Cross-Country Millionaire", the Chinese won't even want to turn their TV's *on*...
Taiwan is not progressive nor does it mirror the midset of the Western World. I don't know where you go that idea. Sure they are "friendly" with us here in the USA, and I guess are "progressive" in terms of civil, and human rights compared with China, but they are a long way from what we think of as progressive.
Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Does that even qualify as entertainment ? I figured those were religious programs you had to watch to pay for your sins.
morcego
I didn't realize that it is actually possible for a government to decide their people are having too much fun.
What us westerners don't realize, is that the Chinese programs have become so excessively entertaining, they are in danger of creating "The Entertainment", and are banning such programs to ensure their own survival!
I assume you don't speak Chinese then? If you did, you'd be able to compare news networks in the US to CCTV1 or CCTV2 for a while and actually see who bullshits and boasts more. Don't let your single-minded focus on the US keep you ignorant of the greater bullshit going on around the world.
FCC does not have control of content of cable / sat channels.
So now they have to cut down on the TV channels to fit it in.
Mandarin is as popular as it is in Taiwan because when the KMT came after the Civil War they used their position of power to actively suppress indigenous culture in an attempt to remake the island into a bastion of Han culture and unify identity. Even after that ceased a few decades later the momentum has remained, especially and unsurprisingly in the urban areas.
I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
Now why would these shows need to be taken off the air if they weren't popular and the "vast majority of the Chinese people actually don't mind this"? The fact that they needed government interference in order to curb their growth suggests that your premise on the "very fundamental ideals of Chinese society" is wrong, because what people consume in entertainment is a reflection of the evolution of the fundamental ideals of any society.
I'd venture that the traditionalists/conservatives in China don't mind this, but the young people -- those who are and will continue to be the engine for liberalization -- will not. How would you react if Republicans wanted legislation to take The Bachelor/Bachelorette, The X Factor, or Big Brother off the air because they do not promote the "fundamental ideals of American society" like a nuclear family, patriarchal society, or heterosexuality? I suspect, if such a thing were to happen, you would be far more conflicted with your support than you are right now.
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
By the time I got this far into the discussion, I had to scroll back up to recall what the original slashdot post was about.
Big Brother was originally conceived of in the Netherlands, and has over 40 national or regional variations. Even if the GP is American, everyone from the UK to the Philippines can relate to his comment.
DarkOx is right: sluttier outfits does not make you more progressive.
China goes out of its way to censor anything in Chinese. Taiwanese programs, particularly news programs, can be really hard to find on China's Internet. South Korean and Japanese shows have more leeway because they're not Chinese.
Fits in a sig too!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Can we get the Chinese to apply this to US television and get rid of the Kardashians? /oh wait, they said excessive *entertainment*.... didn't think my cunning plan all the way through.
It sounds like you've never been to Taiwan because you don't have the first clue what you're talking about. Taiwan, in fact, is considered to be the most progressive nation in Asia.
But then I'm not sure what your criteria is for being "progressive". There are high profile women there running corporations. They've had a female vice-president and a woman is currently running for president and doing fairly well. The people there are very open-minded and great towards foreigners. They've got good labor laws and they offer more holidays than we get in the US. And they have a decent nationalized healthcare system, although not nearly as problem-free as PBS documentary from several years ago claimed. The major cities have a good public transportation systems and a couple of years ago completed a high-speed rail line that crosses the nation.
So how are they not progressive?
One thing you need to understand is that Taiwan is NOT China.
Whoever believes that cinema or TV programs are representative of the way in which people live in the country where they were made is a moron.
Y U ALWAYS MOD DOWN ANTI-CHINESE POSTS!?
Seriously: What are you people afraid of? Or is Slashdot hosted by the Chinese government now? Fucking explain yourselves!
He's always looking down his nose at us fun countries, going on about how he doesn't watch TV. Canada and Australia are much more fun.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Great suggestion, thanks!
Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
... that they're only following the lead of Hollywood. Between the rise of the so-called "reality" shows to the excessive use of the laugh track in current sitcoms (Example: Star of the show enters room: "Hi guys!" [uproarious laughter]. Me: [click]) it seems that most entertainment has already been removed from American television. Frankly, I'd say that the Chinese are fairly late to the removing-excessive-entertainment game.
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
The very fundamental ideals of Chinese society place family and the greater community at higher priority than the individual's wants or needs.
Interesting how the conservative christian in the United States share the same ideals as the Chinese, and they also share the same hate for each other.
American Conservatives believe in censorship for a better society, and so do the communist Chinese. The American Conservative believes in family values, and so do the communist Chinese. The American Conservative believes in a strong Law and Order government, and so do the communist Chinese. The American Conservative believes in the War on Drugs, and so does the communist Chinese.
With everything that the American Christian Conservative has in common with the communist Chinese, you'd think that there would be no reason for all the hate, and every reason to pat each other on the back.
Having a 17yo (physically maybe, mentally certainly) tell anyone they are dumb, sheep, idiot, insult o' the day because they like or don't like _____ really gets old on /., almost as bad as hearing made up facts and uninformed opinions. I don't care for reality tv, and therefore don't watch it. One of my best friends, a PhD in medievel lit who works in a technical field, happens to like COPS (particularly when they are using dogs!) but it doesn't make him an idiot in my judgement. Perhaps a few more of the "they're idiots" crowd should try to broaden their horizons. Work on understanding and appreciating rather than just being a counter-idiot.
And remember: Those same dumbed down people are electing the people who rule over us.
Sometimes the mod point system really needs new categories.
They wont have to worry about it being excessive, It has almost no entertainment value at all.
I'm pretty sure that the boom in these kinds of shows is driven by competitiveness between the producers of these shows, and not audience interest.. Let's face it, if you feel disenfranchised as a viewer , with limited choice in favor of this shoddy "reality TV' crap.. think how much more the average Chinese feels.. I suspect a higher up member of the party took offence at the Chinese version of this druck, and since traditionally the leaders have felt obligated to "defend" the culture there, acted on it.. Although this can have disastrous consequences, such as in Mao's 60's 'revolution' , I'm not so sure this time it's such a bad thing.. It's not like they can't find that kind of stuff if they really want to...
Just spent 3 weeks in Shanghai and CCTV (the government TV networks) is easily the dullest I've ever had inflicted on me. CCTV5 just kept showing olympics highlights 24x7 with a short break for Dragon Boat Racing which was interesting for about 10 minutes. I'm not sure how they could make it "less entertaining" than it already is.
Must say that I approve - there's more and more crap on TV these days and even historically good programmes like the BBC's Horizon have gone downhill - more filled with dramatic music and camera shots than with good information.
No wonder the Chinese are doing so well - they *can't* rot their brains watching trash TV and they also have Tiger Mothers! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12249215
No wonder the Obama administration, especially some of his czars (that have publicly praised Mao, (a blood thirsty tyrant that murdered 65 - 85 million ungrateful non conformists) and would like to see the USA (and the rest of the world) follow the Chinese model of governance. ........The Chinese social planners really know how to spot over entertainment when they see it, and thank god, the lord know we all need to be protection from that sinister plot.....Whew! that was a close one, would have never figured that out myself so thanks for looking out for me wise and filthy rich Chinese oligarchy dudes.....You can't be too careful though, now you going to have to round up all the "Over entertained losers" and execute them,. Now it's your time to shine and spring into action and sell their organs. How clever you are by harvesting them in your hi tech mobile specially out .outfitted ambulance's that keep the "meat" fresh on the way to client (I heard that you sometimes kill those terrorists in the ambulance on the way.....Tricky tricky.......Keep up the good work comrades, you'll get that Dali Lama one of these days (If not in this life time, maybe in one of his others.
Thanks again dudes
Sincerely,
Almost too entertained
They aren't murderers, they are just "DIFFERENT".. Your kidding, right?... I think the Chinese that were dragged out of their homes by the brainwashed youth shock troops then burned alive on spits or buried alive wouldn't get it either.....That's where the brilliant agenda of our govt education social planners blossoms...No right, no wrong, no absolutes, no stable relationships, kids turned against their parents, separated from national heritage, history revised.....We then end up with citizens that say things like the above....The Chinese are murdering and torturing their citizens, and the good ole USA is killing everyone else's citizens, and now they have their sights on the American people.... Both are criminal actions...Do yourself a favor and Google something like similar to "Ex- Hitler youth sees same patterns unfolding in America OR Holocaust survivor speaks out, America on the path of WWII Nazi's, OR Russian survives gulag, tells US citizens don't make same mistake, regrets not fighting back....BE creative, these WISE testimonials are coming out of the woodwork with each stroke of Obama's pen.
The US cut 'excessive entertainment' from TV in the late 80s, and removed the last vestiges of entertainment by the mid 90s, leaving today's mix of reality shows and other garbage as the only things on.