The revolution, but no soaps or ads, will be televised in Chongqing

The lifeblood of any television station is usually its advertising income. However, Chongqing Cable TV has decided that commercials are not essential and that revolutionary spirit is more important.

It stopped broadcasting commercials on March 1 and instead offers self-made 'public-interest ads' aimed at promoting socialist values and propaganda burnishing the city's image. The station's running costs are now expected to be paid by the government.

Professor Huang Shengmin of the advertising school at China Communication University said a TV station usually made 70 to 90 per cent of its income from advertising.

On the mainland, the three hours after 8pm is regarded as prime time for airing drama. 'Up to 70 per cent of the total advertising income is from these three hours of soaps,' said Huang.

Chongqing Cable TV became a 'red' - revolutionary - channel in January and stopped playing popular TV series between 7pm and 11pm, replacing them with singing and talk shows reflecting party ideology. Since then, the city's residents have noticed a sharp drop in advertising, with ads disappearing completely this week.

The local government mouthpiece, the Chongqing Daily, said commercials had made up nearly 300 minutes a day of Cable TV's output in the past, which 'is hard for a vast audience to accept'.

A teacher at the Sichuan Fine Art Institute said he noticed the change because he had to watch for the sake of his job. 'Our school asks all the staff to follow programmes on Chongqing Cable TV, as you will see news of important meetings and documents issued by the municipal government,' he said.