Changing the channel

With his ethos of embracing new talent and technology, Lyu Huanbin has helped turn a provincial broadcaster into one of China's top producers of hit shows, Xu Fan reports.

When Lyu Huanbin graduated from Hunan Normal University in the late 1980s, he turned down the college's offer to stay on as a teacher, but instead took up a job as a journalist with Hunan Television.

"I wanted more people to see my work. A teacher's words are only heard by a few dozen students, but a television program can reach an audience of hundreds of thousands," says Lyu, the director of Hunan Broadcasting System, one of China's most popular provincial broadcasters.