China wants to expand a ban on foreign TV shows during the evening prime-time hours, according to the latest proposal by the country's media censor. Since 2004, China has banned foreign TV movies and serials during the peak 7-10pm viewing hours.
Now the National Radio and Television Administration is considering banning programming all foreign programmes during this peak period. The rules will apply to free-to-air and paid channels, as well as streaming sites. The censors speak of
ideological reasoning but maybe its also to do with China's trade war with Donald Trump. As China's TV gets ever more censored, many people now use streaming sites like iQiyi and Mango TV for their kicks and they are increasingly willing to pay
for it. While these sites offer hit western shows such as Game of Thrones, they have also adopted a similar strategy to Netflix by producing their own content. But as they gain popularity they may also gain more attention from the censors.
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