Recent regulations released by China's State of Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) raised numerous concerns over the future of foreign television shows being aired in China.
Many Chinese viewers are worried whether they would still be able to watch and enjoy the shows. On the other hand, producers of the foreign shows, concerned to lose the Chinese market, are worried whether they would still be able to air their shows in China.
On April 28, four foreign shows--namely, "The Practice," "Good Wife," "NCIS" and "The Big Bang Theory"--that have a huge following in China were abruptly taken off the cyberspace. Sohu TV, where the shows were previously streamed, put a message saying, "Sorry, that content is no longer available due to related policies." Disappointed fans of the said shows can only speculate about the reasons behind the abrupt removal of the sensational shows.
Law Assistant Center at Wuhan University on May 16 posted a response from SAPPRFT stating the reasons for the shows' removal.
SAPPRFT said that the shows have no broadcast rights and some contain contents that violate Article 16 of the Provisions for the Administration of Internet Audio-Visual Program Services.
A few days after the pull-out of the shows, China Central Television, in an interview with the Beijing News, admitted that plans are being made to air "The Big Bang Theory" on Chinese TV, dubbed with Chinese audio. They are apparently working on translating the first season. They also admitted that some parts of the show are going to be "edited."
New regulations released by the SAPPRFT requires the shows to be censored before broadcasting. This simply means that a regulatory board would review the entire season and remove parts of the contents that are in violation with Chinese rules before finally being allowed to stream online.
Also, proper broadcasting licenses would be required before foreign content providers can stream their media for Chinese Internet users.