China pulls plug on TV reality shows that feature children
Regulator says decision aimed at protecting minors from ‘instant fame’
Mainland China’s media watchdog has banned reality TV shows featuring children, especially those of celebrities, effectively putting an end to a range of lucrative hit programmes.
In a notice to “guide and control” programming, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said the children of celebrities were no longer allowed to take part in such shows, and could not be covered in news programmes or interviewed, Xinhua reported on Sunday. The decision was to prevent the children falling prey to instant fame, it said.
Hunan TV, which produces the hit programme Dad! Where Are We Going? has decided to cancel the fourth season of the show, originally scheduled for this summer.
Chinese dads are going places
First launched in 2013, the family show was based on a South Korean programme of the same name and became an instant smash hit. It follows a number of celebrity fathers and their children as they make trips to remote parts of the country.
Hunan TV reportedly reaped huge profits as the show’s title sponsorship fee rocketed from 28 million yuan (HK$33.5 million) in the first season to 500 million yuan in its third.
Mainland media reports said the fourth season was expected to attract over 1.5 billion yuan in advertising revenue.
A commentary by Xinhua accused such programmes of exploiting children and invading their privacy. It said the overnight fame – as well as the great wealth that came with it – was not healthy for their psychological development. It also said the children and their celebrity parents were paid too much.
The administration said reality shows generated more than 10 billion yuan in revenue nationwide last year.
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Hunan TV’s new programme My Mum is a Superwoman, which features women celebrities and their children, was originally scheduled to air in early March, but will no longer be broadcast on TV, according to Huxiu.com, an online information and communication platform.
The provincial TV station has instead decided to put it online because production is already complete.
The sudden ban on children in reality shows could mean a huge loss in advertising income for the TV station, Huxiu.com reported.
The new programming ban comes after the media regulator last year demanded that reality shows reflect “socialist core values” and not become “a place to show off wealth”.
