Top broadcast watchdog denies TV restrictions

Recent news that the top broadcasting watchdog issued new guidelines restricting the making of six genres of TV serials was denied by a senior official from the watchdog group, Beijing Times reports Wednesday.

"Recently media reported that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) issued six restrictions on TV serials. How can it be possible in terms of sentiment and reason? It's impossible for SARFT to issue such guidelines," said Wang Weiping, the deputy director-general of the Department of Teleplay Administration at SARFT, during a TV serials conference on Aug 10.

SARFT aims "to control quantity and improve quality" on the administration of TV serials, Wang added.

According to previous media reports, the new guidelines ban remakes of foreign serials and serials based on online games. The guidelines also require that revolution-themed TV series clearly distinguish between friend and foe, and that serials in a modern setting cut down on excessive displays of family conflicts. Serials adapted from online novels are also "not encouraged".

The information was first released on a micro blog published by Zhongguo Juben Wang (the China Script website), which said that the news was first heard at a national TV serial conference.

An anonymous official from the administration confirmed the information to Beijing News on Thursday, saying the new guidelines became effective a few days before.

That same day, more than 900,000 micro-bloggers discussed the topic on Weibo. Many TV series fans worried that they would have nothing interesting to watch on TV after the move.