Hunan s TV Soldiers Go Global: Understanding the Cultural Roots and Implications Behind Hunan TV World Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Donald Anthony Newman, B.A. Chinese Flagship Program The Ohio State University 2010 Thesis Committee: Jianqi Wang (Advisor) Galal Walker
Copyright by Donald Anthony Newman 2010
Abstract In China s increasingly competitive yet still highly regulated television industry, Hunan TV from the inland and traditionally agrarian Hunan Province has emerged as Chinese television s greatest underdog success story. Armed with few resources but a seemingly endless supply of big ideas, Hunan TV s rapid development over the last decade is responsible for an array of industry breakthroughs (to name a few, pioneering the art of branding television media products, establishing the importance of ratings as the main index of a media organization s competitiveness, and being the first Chinese television station to create business partnerships with Taiwanese television stations) and continues to push the limits of television broadcasting in China. After a hugely successful preliminary five-year run on the international Chinese satellite television package Great Wall Network in the North American and other markets, Hunan TV took another giant leap into unmarked territory on May 20, 2009, when Hunan TV World officially began broadcasting its signal to Hong Kong and became the first Chinese television station to enter a foreign market as an independent media entity, boasting an unprecedented private-business-run- (and not directly government-run-) business model. ii
This paper explores the how behind Hunan TV s success and what it means for Hunan TV World s prospects in the unforgiving global market. Using the story behind Hunan TV World s development, I hope to show that rooted underneath these phenomena lies a unique local cultural environment that allows Hunan to transcend its monetary constraints and drives Hunan TV and Hunan TV World s success. iii
Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank everyone at The Ohio State University Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Chinese Flagship Program for guiding me through all seven years of my Chinese study. I would like to especially thank Dr. Galal Walker and my advisor, Dr. Jianqi Wang, for their direction and meticulous editing to this thesis. I would also like to thank all my coaches that helped me to prepare for the Chinese Bridge Competition in 2008, especially the tireless Huanzhen Zhao. I d like to also acknowledge Dr. Xiaobin Jian, director of Chinese Flagship s Qingdao Center, for facilitating my internship at Hunan TV. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone at Hunan TV and Hunan TV World for welcoming me into their organization for six months in 2009. Without their cooperation and patience, this thesis would not have been possible. I would like to especially thank Li Na and Liu Yi, who were kind enough to find time in their busy schedules to be interviewed for the purposes of this thesis. iv
Vita June 2003 Cleveland Benedictine High School Sept. 2005-July 2006..Studied Chinese at Beijing Language and Culture University March 2007...B.A. Chinese, The Ohio State University Sept. 2008-Dec. 2008..Studied Chinese at Nanjing University, Nanjing, China Jan. 2009-July 2009..Intern at Hunan TV World, Hunan, China December 2009..Studied Chinese Media at Communications University of China Fields of Study Major Field: East Asian Languages and Literatures v
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