| I Want My CCTV | |||||||||||||||||
| by Jared Madsen | |||||||||||||||||
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Television is making its way into more and more homes and has turned into one of the cheapest forms of "entertainment." People are devoting larger portions of their day to this form of visual entertainment, and less of their time to intellectual pursuits. Television offers an easy alternative to reality for people who want to escape into the glamour of illusion after a long day of work. The Chinese people hold an attraction towards television because it is a relatively new product and it is also easily accessible to families. Since televisions coming of age in China, eight national stations have been created, as well as multitudes of local stations. The television industry in China is definitely unlike the industry in America. The stations are all run by the government which limits the business� freedom to produce the style of shows they want. Many of the shows on Chinese television now are dubbed from more progressed TV industries, such as Japanese, American, and Taiwanese. It is unfortunate the most recent enterprise in China is not allowed to be used to its full potential. Though the TV can be used negatively, it also carries many positive applications. It is an industry that can create many more jobs, it can inform the masses in ways other forms of media can not, and it gives performing arts a larger audience. Since the government has decided to take on the role of CEO of all television stations, it has unwittingly put itself in a hard place. The profit, which is to be divided to all eight stations, is only 3 billion yuan. On a comparative scale this puts those eight national stations at a ranking of one local station, if that, in the US. Though the government is in a good position to regulate what is shown on TV, it is not in a good position to stimulate the growth of this industry. If private ownership of the stations existed, competition would invigorate the monotonous monstrosity that the TV industry has become. Then again, if private ownership of these stations occurred the government would have to make regulations concerning programming. As of right now there are no set-in-stone rules for stations to follow. There used to be strict codes for stations to observe, but with the development of the industry and the opening of China�s airwaves to other countries TV programming, led to the breaking down of most of these codes. Basically, no one really knows what they can or can not do. This keeps the TV stations on their guard and it keeps the programming very basic. Those who do experiment with their shows run the risk of being censored and a possible cancellation. It used to be if one�s show was canceled, they would be forced out of the entertainment industry. As it is now, if one�s show is canceled, there is still a possibility of attaining another show, or at least working within the industry. The television venture in China is slowly progressing. What could be a multi-billion dollar industry, is still in single digits. Though the censorship is not as harsh as before, it is still prevalent in the programming. This discourages many creative ideas which would enhance the value of the TV shows and give meaning to what so many people watch every day. Television, or media in general, holds the power of persuasion, as well as being an outlet for creative expression. To overlook these two facts, is to misuse the product. The Chinese government should look at the instruction manual one more time, because their forgetting how to use the television properly. | |||||||||||||||||
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