Play TV, you have no choice

Author: Southern Television Editing Group
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: In the evening, the golden time of television. At this moment, the viewers in Guangdong are sitting in front of their TV sets, waiting for the moment of hearty laughter. Among them, of course, are the millions of migrant workers sitting or standing in front of TV screens in small shops on the streets of cities and towns in the Pearl River Delta and Guangzhou. After a day's hard work, what better pastime is there than watching TV, which is easier and more convenient? Over the years, the television market in Guangdong has already shown a three-way division. Hong Kong, local, and foreign channels each dominate their respective spheres. It is estimated that more than half of the local audience enjoys watching Hong Kong's Jade TV and Hong Kong TVB. The next top local channel is the Pearl River Channel of Guangdong Television, followed by the second tier, which includes Guangzhou Television's Channel 34 and the Film and Television Channel of the former provincial cable TV network. All domestic channels, including provincial satellite stations, have little viewership in Guangdong. Around 2002, several foreign channels were officially approved to land in Guangdong, including Hong Kong's Phoenix TV Chinese Channel, Hong Kong's ATV World, Star TV, which was tailor-made for mainland China by, and Huanyu Television, which had been rebranded after being acquired by AOL-Time Warner, as well as MTV from Viacom. At this very moment, a young provincial television station emerged in the southern sky. P17