Tan Fei: American Drama Off the Shelves, Chinese Drama Needs Improvement

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 28 April 2014
by Tan Fei (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jing Littlejohn. Edited by Bora Mici.
Recently, many American drama fans in China were surprised to find out that a few American dramas, including "The Big Bang Theory," were taken down from many video websites. The video pages stated, "Due to related policy, the video is not available to watch." So far, there are four American dramas that have been taken off the shelves: "The Big Bang Theory," "The Good Wife," "NCIS" and "The Practice." The blocking of the first two shows had a relatively large impact because they have a large base of hardcore fans in China.

To many people who have paid attention to Chinese television markets, this is not surprising news. Several months ago, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television of China (SARFT) announced the strengthening of the examination of network audition programs for network dramas and microfilms among others. Except for domestic dramas, all American and British dramas purchased by major video websites are facing examination. According to the announcement mentioned above, American and British dramas purchased by video websites shall be "examined before broadcast" in the future. Meanwhile, programs passing examination must report to the local television broadcasting administration at the province level and keep a record. According to Internet Audio-Visual Program Service Regulations, anyone committing a violation will be subject to a television broadcasting administration warning, ordered correction and fine.

Currently, American dramas have the highest production costs and the largest influence in the world. Since their introduction in China, American dramas have gained many followers, especially in urban areas. However, without examination from Chinese film censors, large-scale, bloody and violent scenes of American dramas appear in Chinese video websites without any cutting. Regulatory authorities have mostly ignored this issue in the past. With many video websites’ increased purchase of American dramas in the past two years, parts of scenes in American dramas have had an increasingly prominent impact on teenagers. Therefore, increasing supervision becomes the inevitable choice of regulatory authorities. According to the analysis of foreign media, the introduction of such a policy will impact 80 percent of American dramas, and there will be more American dramas being taken off the shelf.

Except for regulating contents and "cleaning" videos, the authorities introducing such a policy have deeper concerns. A while ago, many people from the domestic film and TV industry had the same complaint: Films and TV programs made in China have to face strict censorship; however, the examining of foreign films or dramas on the Internet is not enforced. This creates an unfair advantage in favor of foreign productions, making it difficult for domestic productions to compete. Films and TV programs made in China lose at the starting line. Because of the absence of a classification system in the Chinese film and TV industry, such varied censorship will have a large impact on the performance of domestic films and TV programs in the market. Many insiders suggest that foreign films and TV programs should be censored following the same standards.

Based on the above facts, regulatory authorities are wielding knives upon American dramas, not only to protect the physical and mental health of teenagers, but also to protect the still weak domestic film and TV industry in China — especially domestic dramas, which increasingly show weakness in the face of competition from American dramas. Apparently, this policy from SARFT is not related to the "one drama can only be broadcast by up to two channels" policy, which was announced not long ago and is going to be implemented in 2015. However, they followed the same strain, and both are ways of adjusting trends of the film and TV industry and assisting domestic films by using policy leverage. The media guessed that the major crisis American dramas suffered offered an opportunity to Korean and Japanese dramas. In the future, video websites are going to purchase more Korean dramas, but the author thinks the excessive spread of foreign films and TV programs will decline once those productions are subjected to regulations and controls from regulatory authorities.


近日,不少美剧迷惊讶地发现:《生活大爆炸》等多部美剧纷纷在众多视频网站下架,下架页面上显示为“因为政策原因无法提供观看”。据了解,目前下架的美剧包括4部,分别是《生活大爆炸》、《傲骨贤妻》、《海军罪案调查处》和《律师本色》。其中影响比较大的是前两部,它们在国内拥有众多铁杆拥趸。
  对关注国内影视市场的人士来说,这消息其实不太让人意外。早在上个月,广电总局就发布关于强化网络剧、微电影等网络视听节目内容审核的通知,除了网站自制剧和国产剧集,各大网站争相购买的美剧、英剧也将面临审查。根据上述通知,今后网站购买的美剧、英剧必须“先审后播”,通过审核的节目须报所在地省级广电影视行政部门备案。对于违规播出的单位,广电影视行政部门将依据《互联网视听节目服务管理规定》予以警告、责令改正、罚款等处罚。
  美剧是目前世界上平均制作成本最高,也拥有最大影响力的剧种。自进入中国以来,获得了许多观众特别是城市观众的喜爱。但由于美剧没有面对中国影视审查机构的审查,里面一些大尺度、血腥、暴力情节也就一刀不剪地呈现在中国的视频网站。监管部门过去相对较为忽略这一现象,随着近两年诸多视频网站加大购剧力度,美剧部分情节对青少年的影响日益凸显。因此,加大监管力度,成为监管部门的一个必然选择。据国外媒体分析,政策出台会让80%的美剧受影响,还会有不少美剧面临下架。
  除了内容监管,“净化”视频外,主管部门出台此政策有更深层次的考虑。前段时间不少国内的影视业者传出了相同的抱怨:国产影视剧要面临严格的审查,但与此同时,互联网上的外国电影或电视剧在审查方面基本是一片空白,这就让两方面临并不公平的竞争,国产影视剧因此输在了起跑线上,鉴于中国影视目前依然未出台分级制度,这种审查上的宽窄不一,将在很大程度上影响国产影视剧的市场表现。不少业内人士就此建议:对在国内播出的境外影视剧用相同的审查标准审查。
  从以上事实看出,监管部门挥向美剧的砍刀,除了为青少年身心健康着想外,更深层的原因在于保护国内依旧羸弱的影视工业,特别是面对美剧的竞争日益显出弱势的国产剧。表面看,广电总局此政策跟前不久刚宣布2015年开始将实行的“一剧两星”没什么联系,其内在却一脉相承,都是用政策杠杆调整影视剧市场走向,扶持国产影视作品。有媒体猜测,美剧的巨大危机可能就是韩剧、日剧等的机会,今后,视频网站收购韩剧力度将会加大。但笔者认为,随着监管部门“不再缺位”的监管、调控,外国影视作品过分泛滥的局面将会改变。
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