Subscribe RSSAccording to new directives, the State Administration of Radio, Membrane and Television (SARFT) has cut almost 70 percent of entertainment shows from prime time, with 126 entertainment shows pruned down to upright 38. Broadcasters are allowed to air only two entertainment shows a week, with a maximum of 90 minutes of entertainment daily between 7:30 and 10 p.m.
Online there's been an vociferation, with netizens decrying the killjoy moves as "doomsday for entertainment."
"This rule, most people don't like it," says dating show aficionado Michael Zhong. "We plainly show our disagreement on it. I believe shows should be driven by market."
This is, in effect, a government U-turn, according to Hu Xingdou, a partisan analyst at Beijing Institute of Technology.
