From rural backwater to ideas factory

Driven by ideas

Zhang said innovation and creativity have always been key to HBS' development. "We live for new ideas or die," he said.

The broadcaster enjoyed overnight success with Super Girls, a talent show featuring female singers that first aired in 2004. It was the first such show in the Chinese mainland and shot a batch of grassroots stars to fame, including Li Yuchun, who won the first series.

"We produced the nation's first current affairs show, Focus, in 1983, which even attracted a group of producers and reporters from China Central Television to learn from us," Zhang said. "Innovation has been engraved in our DNA since the establishment of the broadcaster to help us stand out and impress the audience."

HBS also keeps channeling new ideas to reinvigorate established hits such as Happy Camp, a variety show that debuted on July 7, 1997.

The show, broadcast every Saturday, features celebrities and stars from home and abroad and is hosted by the "Happy Family"－He Jiong, Xie Na, Li Weijia, Du Haitao and Wu Xin.

It has remained in production for 21 years thanks to its high viewership and consistent rewriting of ratings records. The show now reaches an audience of tens of millions in China and overseas, according to HBS.

Producer Liu Wei, who has been in charge of Happy Camp for 16 years, said, "The show has a tradition that we offer no remuneration to the guests or celebrities."

He said the reason for the variety show's high viewership and its appeal to celebrity guests was that it presented its audience with different, novel things in an interesting way and brought happiness to viewers.

"We've combined scientific knowledge with games and have included traditional Chinese culture, such as intangible cultural heritage like paper cutting, in the games," he said.

"It's a show for all age groups. No matter if they're 5 or nearly 60, they can feel the love we stream in a funny way. It's hard to maintain the vigor and keep coming up with new ideas; in fact it's a challenge. But we've made it in the past 20 years, and it will be even better in the future."

Zhang said making a successful show requires craftsmanship and originality.

"We endeavor to make a batch of quality programs committed to originality and positivity that show the values and culture of modern times," he said. "I think one show, The Sound, is a good example."

The Sound, broadcast every Saturday night, is an HBS variety show in which actors, actresses and voice actors embellish clips from movies, cartoons and sports shows by dubbing their own dialogue onto them.

Launched on Jan 26 and with its final episode airing on March 17, the show was China's top-rating one for 11 weeks and also attracted 1.4 billion views online.

The Sound was one of nine original Chinese programs introduced at the International Market for Content Development and Distribution in Cannes, France, on April 7. Another was CCTV's National Treasure, which tells the stories behind cultural relics.

Luo Xi, director of HBS' research and development center, said, "The Sound helped attract attention to original shows by Hunan Broadcasting System from around the world."

HBS set up the center in late 2016 and launched a plan in July last year to help generate more original programs. Over 600 proposals for new programs have been received and are now being scrutinized