One of China's most popular television shows this summer finished recently with a finale at the Shanghai Stadium. The final episode of the first series of The Voice of China may have got off to a great start, but it didn't finish quite how everyone expected it to. The 4-hour live broadcast contained a yawn-inducing 2 hours of commercial breaks that were blasted out a full volume inside the stadium long into the night.
The show is a singing competition franchise that started in the Netherlands as The Voice of Holland in 2010 and since then has been adapted by many other countries. What distinguishes The Voice from other television talent formats is that the celebrity judges sit with their backs to contestants so that those contestants are judged from their voice alone.
The Voice of China was a big hit throughout its run, right up until its last night. But while the audience, both inside the stadium and in front of their televisions at home, grew increasingly unhappy as the show dragged on, the organizers of the talent show were laughing all the way to the bank. Advertising rates for The Voice reached 1.16 million yuan ($185,132) for a 15-second spot. According to media reports, the series earned more than 100 million yuan in advertising revenue alone. Jiaduobao, the herbal tea brand, stumped up 60 million yuan to become the show's official sponsor.
In the final show, 14 rounds of advertisements were aired with each scheduled at a crucial, nail-biting moment just before important results were announced.
On the night itself, organizers were deluged with complaints from audience members who were tired of waiting for results and who said the show wasn't worth the ticket price, (the prices went up to 1,680 yuan) as well as from the nearby residents, many of whom called the police because of the late-night noise. The show's organizers are now facing possible legal action for running overtime and disturbing local residents.
While it is understandable that advertising is a major part of any television show, producers of The Voice should not have allowed such a popular show to turn into one long advert for their sponsors. A 4-hour show, frequently interrupted by advertisements, is enough to test anyone's patience.
The producers need to learn lessons for any upcoming series of the show.
And to ensure that nothing like this happens again, there should be stricter policies implemented that would impose a maximum time limit for advertising breaks during television shows.
On a final note, the goodwill shown by a program's audience should never be taken for granted. Because if people's trust and loyalty in a show is abused, producers will quickly find themselves without an audience. And when your audience disappears, so do your advertisers.