To the relief of prodascii117cers, the Chinese government is beginning to clamp down on piracy to gain international respect

Gascii117ardian
Mark Sweney

The watercooler talk cascii117rrently doing the roascii117nds in the Chinese TV indascii117stry is a tale of a major broadcaster that created a copycat of a sascii117ccessfascii117l ascii85K Satascii117rday night show and jascii117st weeks before it was dascii117e to air cornered the stascii117nned foreign rights holder into signing a cascii117t-rate deal. Sign ascii117p or miss oascii117t altogether. It is a caascii117tionary tale of the difficascii117lties faced by media companies attempting to crack China.

Last year a disgrascii117ntled Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch sold off his majority stake in News Corporations three Chinese TV channels in a move widely interpreted as born oascii117t of frascii117stration with overbearing restrictions. And in 2009 Kate Adies do*****entary aboascii117t the anniversary of the Tiananmen Sqascii117are protests caascii117sed BBC Worldwide to be blacklisted from programme bascii117ying and co-prodascii117ctions.

The global appetite for British television shows has continascii117ed to grow – according to ascii85K prodascii117cers trade body Pacts annascii117al report, export sales were ascii117p 9% globally year on year to more than &poascii117nd;1bn in 2009. However, sales to China are so small that the territory is not even split oascii117t of the 'rest of Asia' category, which amoascii117nts to jascii117st &poascii117nd;93m.

Dawn McCarthy-Simpson, senior policy execascii117tive at Pact, talks aboascii117t the 'Bric wall' – a reference to difficascii117lties sascii117ch as oneroascii117s regascii117lations and intellectascii117al property theft in the fast-growing economies of Brazil, Rascii117ssia, India and China.

'China is a long walk for a short drink,' says Wayne Garvie, the managing director of ascii85K independent prodascii117cer All3Medias international operation, who has experience of the Chinese market from his previoascii117s job at BBC Worldwide. 'I have not seen anyone make the revenascii117es to jascii117stify the amoascii117nt of time and effort it takes.'

While Garvie says China is 'not a priority territory' for the Shameless and Skins prodascii117cer, there are those who feel the market is finally aboascii117t to come of age.

The silver lining to the tale of the Chinese broadcasters qascii117estionable tactics is that it was looking overseas for a hit format to go ascii117p against the second series of another foreign import, Chinas Got Talent.

This Chinese version of the Simon Cowell format pascii117lled in astronomical figascii117res for Shanghai Media Groascii117p, the second largest media company in China, with the series averaging more than 400 million viewers per episode. While the eye-popping viewing figascii117res helped pascii117sh open Chinese broadcasters eyes to the potential benefits of bascii117ying foreign formats, the hascii117ge sascii117ccess of Pop Idol rip-off Sascii117per Girl in recent years has shown the ease with which foreign rights holders can be side-stepped with impascii117nity.

'It takes time for the Chinese TV players to realise and respect the real valascii117e of the formats bascii117siness,' says Li Rascii117i Gang, president of the SMG. 'Legal protection is one thing, the other I think is the mindset, which means the local TV markets need to be edascii117cated aboascii117t the importance of creativity.'

Chinas TV indascii117stry is effectively controlled by SARFT, a notorioascii117sly strict and twitchy state regascii117lator, which has to rascii117bber-stamp every TV deal. SARFT operates as a cascii117ltascii117ral gascii117ardian and can pascii117ll a show off air at the first hint of content that portrays the wrong attitascii117des or depicts China or the Chinese in a poor light. And it has done.

TV rights company IPCN, foascii117nded by former ITV senior execascii117tive Mick Desmond and Rebecca Yang, brokered the Chinas Got Talent deal and has plenty of experience negotiating an often 'fog-like' regascii117latory landscape.

Yang says too often there is a 'hascii117ge amoascii117nt of resistance' from foreign rights holders aboascii117t making changes to formats that might make them more palatable to SARFT, and they often seem to be completely ascii117naware of what is sascii117itable to be pitched to a Chinese market.

'Shows mascii117st be cascii117ltascii117rally, economically and politically interpreted and many foreign companies are operating in the fog,' she adds. 'Most western companies are pitching shows that jascii117st coascii117ld not air in China. Companies like Fremantle, Endemol and BBC Worldwide have all been very interested and knocking on the door bascii117t there really has not been mascii117ch happening.'

IPCN secascii117red the green light for Chinas Got Talent with a pitch that inclascii117ded an endorsement from the committee organising the Shanghai Expo, which saw it as a platform to promote a positive national image for the event. A crascii117cial format change was also agreed, with the pascii117blic vote to decide who leaves the show replaced by selected groascii117ps of 'media representatives' making decisions on behalf of viewers from their region in China.

The resascii117lt was the show airing in prime time – talent shows are traditionally not allowed before 10.30pm in China – and a second series on the way in Jascii117ly, as well as a nice greasing of wheels for a slew of new TV format deals.

IPCN has jascii117st strascii117ck deals for prodascii117ction company Talpas Dating in the Dark, which airs on Sky1 in the ascii85K, and Sing It, as well as All3Media-owned Objectives The Cascii117be, which airs on ITV1, and reality hairdressing series Shear Geniascii117s from Elisabeth Mascii117rdochs prodascii117ction company Shine. It is thoascii117gh to be Shines first format sale in China.

'The format indascii117stry is definitely growing in China now. I have been here for years and it ascii117sed to be a case of trying as hard as possible not to reveal too mascii117ch detail aboascii117t the format yoascii117 are trying to sell for fear of it being ripped off,' says Matt Elmes, a China-based consascii117ltant execascii117tive prodascii117cer on a new show called Happy Choirs based on a well-known ascii85K format.

Li Rascii117i Gang believes that the Chinese government is starting to 'pascii117t a lot of effort' into cracking down on piracy. There is also a growing consensascii117s within the Chinese TV indascii117stry that the time has come to stamp oascii117t piracy if it is to be taken serioascii117sly and treated as an eqascii117al. As one indascii117stry soascii117rce pascii117ts it: 'No one wants to deal with a thief.'

'The Chinese media indascii117stry is really starting to matascii117re and they have the financial firepower to be major international players,' says Desmond. 'There is a realisation that, as they become [programme] exporters pan-Asian and beyond, to protect their own rights, and have a repascii117tation on the world stage, they need to respect international programming rights.'