China bans commercials during TV dramas
IANS [ Mon, Nov 28, 2011 ]
- Beijing, Nov 28 (IANS) China has barred the airing of commercials during TV dramas effective Jan 1 next year.
China's top broadcasting watchdog, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), ordered the national ban on all TV stations airing commercials during TV dramas, reported China Daily.
TV stations have been directed to rearrange their programmes to delete all commercials set to air during TV dramas or face stern punishment.
East China's Jiangsu Television and North China's Tianjin Television said they will follow the ban order, while China Central Television (CCTV), Beijing Television and Shanghai's Dragon Television said they had not yet received any notice, said Beijing News.
Sina.com conducted a survey that showed majority of the people favoured a ban.
About 85 percent of nearly 10,000 respondents said TV commercials were annoying.
Some observed there were so many commercials that sometimes it's like fragmented TV dramas inserted into a non-stop relay of different advertisements.
SARFT last month banned sex-related commercials on radio and TV.