China is home to one of the biggest television markets in the world. Chinese television programs regularly garner over 75 million viewers, roughly ten times the viewers that a successful program manages in the US. With all of this opportunity in Chinese television, why haven’t Hollywood companies been able to tap this large market and license their shows out to top Chinese networks? One reason is that Chinese viewers would rather watch a homegrown, Chinese-language television show than a foreign-made American show. According to Jason Goldberg, top executive at one of Hollywood’s biggest production companies, “The trend you are seeing is toward local language, local production,” he adds. “They take pride in their own storytelling and don’t want a great deal of content coming from other parts of the world.” Another reason is that foreign K-dramas currently dominate the Chinese primetime landscape leaving American shows with no gaps in the market to exploit. These factors and other factors mean that Hollywood production studios cannot license all of their shows out to Chinese television networks and that only a select few of the many successful American shows can be shown on Chinese television. Many American production companies have been forced by these and other factors to make licensing deals with digital platforms like Chinese tech giant Youku to profit off of showing their television shows in China. However, these licensing deals yield much less money than what the studios would be making if they could license their shows with Chinese television networks.
Thankfully, one major Hollywood production company, STX Entertainment, has found a new and innovative way to bypass all of these issues and produce a hit Chinese show. STX’s secret: don’t license, produce. STX Entertainment, best known for its movie Bad Moms, has partnered with a Chinese production company known as XG Entertainment to produce a brand new, local-language, celebrity-oriented Chinese reality show called Number One Surprise. Number One Surprise has garnered 779 million viewers total and is the number one rated show on China’s second-most watched network, Hunan TV. The reason that Number One Surprise was a surprise hit was because STX Entertainment did not try to license out a preexisting show to Chinese audiences like most Hollywood companies do and instead tailored a specific show to satisfy the pulse of the Chinese television market. Moreover, STX’s partnering with a Chinese firm helped it to navigate complicated Chinese cultural norms and Chinese business practices which previously stopped many American media companies from succeeding in China.
STX’s surprise success means that other Hollywood media companies will soon try to emulate STX’s approach and will also try to partner with Chinese media companies to produce local/homegrown hit Chinese TV shows. The question is: Can lightning strike twice for Hollywood or has Hollywood’s luck in the Middle Kingdom run out? Only time will tell.
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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-cant-hollywood-crack-chinas-massive-tv-market-942751
Wow, I didn’t know that Chinese television programs amassed so many viewers, especially compared to ones in the US! I also thought that it was really cool that you added quotes in the article. Thanks for sharing!
I had no idea that Number One Surprise had 779 million views! It’s very interesting to see a Chinese variety show gaining so many views.
Nice! I didn’t know that an American company had already successfully produced a series in China! Great job!
I didn’t know that so many people watched chinese tv programs.
I like how you go into detail about the statistics of how many people watch television in China.
Interesting how Chinese attention could be a major deciding factor for whether Hollywood wants to make a certain movie.
I think it’s interesting how different countries interact in this way. I don’t watch TV but it’s pretty cool.
Informative article! I will definitely check out the variety show!
Nice it was really cool learning about Chinese shows and how much attention they have been gaining recently. STX seems like a good company that produces a lot of entertaining shows.
I can’t even imagine that China television gets that many views!