China TV Drama Advert Ban: Brands to Re-Think Ad Strategies

Dec 06

Advertising during TV dramas interrupts plot flow and visual continuity, according to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), China’s broadcasting regulator.

The SARFT, China’s version of Crown Castle in Australia and the US, and TDF Group in France, feels so strongly about bowing to audience wishes, it has placed a nationwide ban on mid-TV drama ads as of 2012.

Current advertising laws in place since 2009 permit two 90-second ad breaks during the majority of 45-minute TV dramas, and prime time dramas are allowed a single, minute-long break.

SARFT: Busy with New Regulations

The SARFT has been busy of late; just last month they issued new regulations to limit the amount, duration and frequency of entertainment shows. They said television was an important propaganda tool which should be used to spread culture and guide and educate people. “Banning advertising during TV dramas would enhance the plot flow and viewing continuity for audiences, which echoes audiences’ wishes”, they added.

Advertising Strategy Review

Worried Professor Huang Shengmin, dean of the Communication University at China’s School of Advertising, said the changes may shave billions of Yuan from China’s television advertising market, worth 100 billion Yuan a year.

However, opinions are split and a re-think of advertising strategies will surely follow, with brand owners, we believe, likely to opt for alternatives such as product placement advertising during TV dramas.