Fans of ”The Voice of China,” have no fear. The show is staying put.
Broadcaster Zhejiang Satellite TV has confirmed it will continue airing the hit show despite new regulations that take aim at broadcasts based on formats developed abroad, and said it is tweaking other shows to make sure they conform with the new restrictions.
“The Voice of China” is based on a Dutch show, “The Voice of Holland,” that has done well in its international iterations, including as “The Voice” in the U.S.
China’s state TV regulator announced late last week that beginning in 2014, satellite TV channels will be allowed to have only one new TV show a year based on a foreign format, according to the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece. The authorities are also requesting that TV channels abstain from broadcasting shows based on foreign formats during prime time—between 7:30 and 10 p.m.—next year, according to the newspaper.
The move is aimed at fostering innovation and strengthening regulation of imported content, according to the regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. The agency didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The TV regulator has been promoting originality in local show production in recent years as part of a broader effort to clean up broadcasting that officials feel has become too devoted to mindless entertainment. In its most recent move, the authority promised to “strengthen encouragement and support to original TV shows that are close to reality, life and the people”.
“The new restriction on foreign-based TV programs will make us more cautious,” said Wang Zhengyu, promotion director at Zhejiang Satellite TV. But it won’t impact the decision to air “The Voice of China,” he added, calling the show the channel’s “trump card.” Mr. Wang said it would apply to regulators to keep the show at its current post-9 p.m. time slot.
The talent show – in which judges listen to contestants sing before turning around to see what they look like – is both a broadcast and online hit, with videos like this drawing more than a million viewers. The show’s title was the top Chinese search term on Google in 2012
To protect its other shows with foreign roots, Zhejiang Satellite is adding elements to make their more Chinese. For example, it has already changed its adaptation of BBC’s “Tonight’s the Night” – a show in which the host and producers let ordinary people live out fantasies – so much that it now considers the show “a totally originally show,” he said.
It also plans to slip one in before the rules take effect next year. A game show based on the U.K.’s “Breakaway” is slated to run this weekend, Mr. Wang said.
Still, the rules could take a toll. Liu Xichen, chief executive of Beijing-based Shixi Media, a production company that helped pioneer the concept of importing foreign formats, said the restrictions will have a big impact on creation and production of local TV shows.
Shixi Media, which specializes in importing foreign formats, established its reputation in the area by adapting BBC’s “Just the Two of Us” and “Strictly Come Dancing”—talent shows with singing and dancing themes, respectively—for Hunan satellite TV channel in 2006.
Mr. Liu said he was concerned that the new rule may push some local producers to simply copy foreign shows without giving credit to the creator. “We hope that the authority could roll out regulations to regulate copycats,” he said.
It isn’t just western shows that have found a home in China. A number have come from South Korea, including a hit singing competition show named “ I Am a Singer” this spring and a weekly family show called “Dad! Where Are We Going?” with two episodes broadcast yet.
The latter show has won good reviews on Sina Weibo, topping the search rankings of TV shows and dramas.