Local television stations across China have recently been bombarding their viewers with numerous drama series, in the hope of upping their ratings.

But the exact opposite scenario has unfolded.

On Monday, media research firm AGB Nielsen China told a forum of television station managers that the ratings for primetime TV drama series in the first part of this year had dropped 10 per cent year-on-year.

Some producers revealed to the media at the same forum that a staggering 12,000 episodes of TV drama had been produced last year, although just 5,000 had the chance of a primetime airing.

The rest may have to fill other parts of the TV schedule, and their popularity and economic returns may be in question.

Worse still, TV drama productions worth a combined investment of 400 million yuan (US$50 million) are gathering dust in the library of national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), according to Ma Ke, general manager of Jindun (Golden Shield) Film and Television Co, a major producer of TV movies and drama series.

There seems to be little hope of these dramas getting an airing in the foreseeable future.

TV bosses are worried about ratings and producers are frustrated by over-production.

But they only have themselves to blame for their failures and the current glut of TV drama. The precious ratings will only be boosted if these managers and producers pay a little more attention to the quality of what they are churning out.

Viewers now have well over 40 channels to choose from. They will only watch something if they find it truly intriguing.

However, over the past few years, TV viewers have been subjected to many productions based on similar themes shenanigans at imperial courts, battles or corruption.

China has hundreds of millions of TV viewers, but as individuals, each has their own tastes, which also change over time or according to their different mood.

This recent drop in ratings clearly shows that viewers are getting fed up with the failure of producers and directors to shake off their herd mentality.

When a few series, such as tales of the imperial Qing Dynasty court or of a kung fu master, prove successful, other copycat productions surely follow.

It would be interesting to know how many of the dramas gathering dust in the CCTV library share the same themes.

Blindly following such trends is sadly not limited to TV drama productions. This malaise also affects China's film industry.

Ever since Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) won four Oscars in 2001, leading film directors on the Chinese mainland have all tried their hands at creating kung fu scenes.

It's surprising just how similar the trailers are for films such as "Hero" (2002), Zhang Yimou's "House of Flying Daggers" (2004), "The Promise" (2005) by Chen Kaige, and "The Banquet" (2006) by Feng Xiaogang.

Leading film directors such as Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang may still be able to entice curious film fans, but more obscure TV producers and directors do not have the same allure and so their productions may not even see the light of day.

AGB Nielsen China's TV ratings figures show that thrillers enjoy bigger audiences. But hopefully, we won't see too many of these in the coming years.

Email: lixing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/22/2006 page4)