New | ‘Ni hao, y’all’: US talk show Ellen DeGeneres becomes first of its kind to debut in China

The Ellen DeGeneres Show will start being broadcast on the mainland, becoming the first American daytime chat show to air in the country of nearly 1.4 billion people.

The eleventh season of Ellen can now be video-streamed on demand on Sohu.com, 48 hours after it airs in the United States.

DeGeneres greeted her new audience with a “Ni hao, y’all” after announcing the deal on her show, adding that she wanted to learn more Chinese.

“It’s basically the same show, but it’ll have subtitles and it will be called the Happy Lady Dance Hour,” joked the 55-year-old comedian, who will also host the Oscars next month.

Watch: US talk show host Ellen DeGeneres says ‘Ni hao, y’all' to Chinese audience

Online commenters were excited about the news and some noted DeGeneres’ pronunciation of “ni hao” sounded more like meow or the word for “to pee”.