Forum hears: Right Format gives Competitive Edge

Although many Chinese TV producers profess that content is king, it\'s a lot more difficult to create than to talk about.

Industry representatives tackled the content challenge at yesterday\'s Magnolia Forum in discussion on the topic "Oriental Creation - Dialogue between TV Format and Chinese Contemporary Entertainment Industry" at the 17th Shanghai TV Festival.

Renowned TV content suppliers, prestigious scholars, advertising marketers, and executives of new media research institutes discussed their preferences for distinctive Chinese entertainment TV formats and the criteria used to select or create a format.

Yang Wenhong, vice president of Shanghai Media Group, emphasized the importance of format in today\'s TV. The group\'s Dragon TV last year bought the format of hit reality series "Britain\'s Got Talent" and the authorized Chinese version has proved to be one of the most popular entertainment shows in the country.

The success of "China\'s Got Talent" has prompted Shanghai Media Group to introduce more international TV format shows to the city.

It recently launched the Chinese version of popular Dutch show "Sing It" whose rights have been sold to more than 10 countries. The format involves touching human stories being revealed as ordinary people choose pop songs to sing their hearts out.

"The purchase of TV formats has become a competitive new strategy among stations nationwide, but not all popular Western formats are appropriate for Chinese audience," Yang said. "We always put a high premium on the program\'s values and look for a format that is inspiring, positive and heartwarming."

Arjen van Mierlo, CEO of Endemol Asia, said the company produced about 10,000 hours of original content a year. Endemol format shows telecast in mainland China including Jiangsu Satellite TV\'s "First and Last" , "Marriage Ref" and Hunan Satellite TV\'s "1 vs. 100."

"The testing and pilot phase is very important for us to see how the show works," van Mierlo added. "China\'s TV industry is developing very fast and the market is getting more mature. We\'re willing to create shows with local teams and introduce popular Chinese TV formats to the world."

The forum also discussed TV industry global trends, how to achieve innovative TV content, marketing and distribution through brand management, and the rising role of new media platforms.