Reality cheque

A new reality singing contest show called The Voice of China has become an instant hit among Chinese audiences since its premiere on Zhejiang TV on July 13.

The show has brought a huge bump in ratings for the TV channel. So far, nine episodes have been aired, and they have been watched by as much as 4 percent of the TV audience.

"A rating of above 1 percent means the show is popular," said a salesperson surnamed Gu from Zhejiang TV. Gu said that top shows on other TV networks only draw around 3 percent of the audience.

As the show gained in popularity, the network's advertising fees also soared. Zhejiang TV has been able to sell 15-second slots for as much as 500,000 yuan ($78,750), according to Chen Zhiqiang, a sales agent for the company. When the show was first premiered on the network, the price was only 150,000 yuan.

At present, a 15-second advertisement slot for Happy Camp, another popular entertainment show on Hunan TV, only costs around 180,000 yuan.

Format trading

The Voice of China is adapted from a popular Dutch reality show, The Voice of Holland, which was aired in the country in 2010.

The show consists of three phases. The first is a "blind" audition, in which four judges, who are all famous singers, choose contestants for the show.

They can't see the performers, and only turn around after they have finished singing and after the judges have decided whether to select them as contestants for the show. The chosen contestants are then mentored by their respective coaches.

In the second phase, coaches will have their team members compete against each other in pairs, by singing the same song together.

In the third stage, the remaining contestants compete against each other in performances that are broadcast live, and the coaches and audience decide together who will win the contest.

The Chinese version of The Voice has copied every detail of the original format. The judges are famous mainland singers Yang Kun, Na Ying and Liu Huan, as well as Taiwan singer Harlem Yu.

The show was introduced to China by IPCN, a London-based company that was founded in 2007 by Rebecca Yang, a Chinese producer, and Mick Desmond, the former CEO of British TV network ITV.

The company was granted the license to launch the show in China from the copyright owner, Dutch firm Talpa Distribution. And Zhejiang TV has agreed to put on the show for three years.

"Format licensing has formed a mature industrial chain in foreign countries, so we wanted to introduce the new business model to China, as China's demand for quality international program content is still growing," Xu Yang, managing director of IPCN, told the Global Times.

As well as The Voice of China, IPCN has so far introduced 20 other TV formats to Chinese TV networks, including China's Got Talent, which was aired on Shanghai Media Group's Dragon TV in 2010, and Dating in the Dark, which was aired on Guangdong TV in 2011.

Copycats lose ground

Before The Voice of China was first shown on Zhejiang TV, there were several copycat versions of the singing competition aired on Chinese TV networks, which angered the copyright owner, Talpa Distribution.

In July, the company issued legal letters to the shows, saying that they had "blatantly imitated the idea of the blind audition, and have seriously infringed on Talpa's copyrights."

The prevalence of copycat shows has become a headache for companies involved in format trading. In 2006, Beijing-based Shixi Media was planning to cooperate with Zhejiang TV to introduce the Chinese version of Strictly Come Dancing, the license for which is owned by BBC Worldwide.

But several days before it launched the program, Dragon TV also announced a similar dancing show. Zhejiang TV then dropped the program with Shixi Media, and Shixi Media also lost its sponsors to Dragon TV.

"Chinese TV networks only realized the importance of format and copyright two years ago. Before that, Chinese entertainment was mainly dominated by copycat shows," said Liu Xichen, CEO of Shixi Media.

Licensed TV shows usually come with a "format bible," which records each detail of the original TV program, such as lighting, theatrical design, stage setting and even standards for choosing the contestants.

The Voice of China has directly copied the stage setting of the original show. For example, the chairs for the four judges are the same as the show in Holland, and media reports said that each of them cost as much as 800,000 yuan.

Xu said that both IPCN and Talpa had sent professionals to offer advice and help in producing the show.

"The secret for The Voice of China's success lies in the fact that it has strictly followed the original format - this is the key to the success of a show," said Liu.

"The copycat shows can only duplicate the appearance of a show. But they do not know the essence of the backstage production process or the business model," said Xu.

Nascent market

Industry insiders said that as the competition among TV networks intensifies, the demand for successful TV formats is also expected to grow.

"Since most TV formats have been proved successful in other markets, they offer the chance for domestic TV networks to achieve good ratings with lower costs and risk. It's also easier to convince investors with a mature TV format," Luo Qing, a professor at Communication University of China, told the Global Times.

Xu from IPCN said that in 2011, the world's TV format transaction volume topped $10 billion, but in China the market has only just started. And so far, there are only several companies in the market, including IPCN and Shixi Media.

The market is potentially highly lucrative. As the licensers of The Voice in China, IPCN and Talpa will share profits with Zhejiang TV for every penny generated by the show, including for advertisements, video product distribution, and even income from ring tone downloads.

The growing trend of format importing has to some extent demonstrated the lack of innovation in China's television industry. But on the other hand, importing foreign formats can also help Chinese TV producers gain advanced expertise, Luo noted.

Liu from Shixi Media said that the company is also planning to export top Chinese TV formats to other countries. "But it still needs at least three years before the Chinese TV industry can produce mature TV formats," he said.