New Year gala to be broadcast around the world
Print Edition
CHINA says its annual Lunar New Year gala TV show is set to go international.
China Central Television says it’s making rights available to foreign broadcasters for the first time, and plans to promote the February 18 show on social media.
CCTV says its annual hours-long Spring Festival Eve Gala is the world’s longest-running and most-watched variety show. But the staple of holiday celebrations since the 1980s has also been widely mocked for cheesy performances and stilted staging.
This year’s show will be broadcast in several languages, including English, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese and German, under agreements with 24 foreign media outlets, said Ma Runsheng, general manager of CHNPEC, the CCTV-owned agency which deals with its copyright.
Ma said greatest hits from past shows — including the best moments of traditional Chinese opera — will be encapsulated to promote the gala on YouTube, Google Plus and Twitter, all of which are blocked in China.
“Our purpose is to make our gala available to more overseas Chinese and overseas foreign viewers who love Chinese culture and want to learn about Chinese culture through this festive celebration,” Ma told reporters yesterday.
This year’s theme is “Family Harmony Yields Success.”
The gala is already broadcast live on multiple TV channels and on some Chinese websites.
Last year, more than 700 million people watched the show live or a replay a week later on CCTV or other channels, and 110 million people watched it online, according to Zheng Weidong, deputy managing director of CSM Media Research, which pulls together ratings.
The New Year’s Eve Gala show first started in 1983 and it later developed into a major annual viewing event in the country.
Today, many of the nation’s younger viewers choose to watch something else online.
Last year, to try to increase its appeal, organizers hired acclaimed film director Feng Xiaogang to direct the show, but he reportedly complained that he didn’t have the “freedom” to do what he wanted, and many critics gave the eventual production the thumbs-down.
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