TV in China Compared to that of United States

As different as some people believe the United States and China are, they are actually quite alike in the ways in which they view TV.

One of the main similarities is the TV shows in which the two countries watch. Consisting of close to 25% of its shows, China places a heavy emphasis on dramas (with popular shows like Big Sister and The Camphor Tree), as does the United States (with hit shows like CSI and Law and Order).

A large part of Chinese TV viewership is reporting of the news, as is the same in the United States. Chinese citizens watch 22 minutes of news coverage everyday. And while I do not have the statistics for the United States, I would guess it to be quite the same, if not a bit more (taking into account all of the different times major networks show news on TV).

Sporting events and reality shows are very popular in both China and the United States also, with MTV and ESPN being two major channels in both countries.

Lastly, both the United States and China's TV viewership is measured by Nielsen Media Research.

Though both countries are very similar, they also have quite a few differences, as well. Because the Chinese TV industry is still state owned, a lot of the networks do not get full access to broadcast what they would like. Many have to be run by SARFT before going on the air. Though the United States has the FCC to censor what may be inappropriate, it is not even close to as harsh as the SARFT is on Chinese TV. Up until 2005, Chinese reality shows were very popular, but because of SARFT, reality shows can no longer air in prime time. Cops and robber shows were also quite popular in China, but SARFT has put a lot of restrictions on these as well.

Another difference is the size of the viewership. China's TV viewership equates to 820 million viewers, a much larger audience than that of the United States.

The United States has had a very big impact on China's TV over the past 30 years. Since the cultural revolution of the 1970's, Chinese TV has become more and more popular. Starting with the airing of the Ping Pong tournaments in thr 70's, it seems as if China has always mimicked the United State's TV shows.

In the United States, sports on TV became very popular (due to Roone Arledge). This led to China airing Ping Pong tournaments. In the 1980's, China signed a contract with a US company to air 7,000 hours of US television shows. Beginning in the 90's, Chinese TV executives began creating more "American" shows such as cops and robber dramas and shows about national heroes. In the 2000's, China got heavily involved in broacasting reality shows and airs such shows as China Next Top Model.