A Chinese TV drama in Norwegian? Don't bet against it

The American political thriller House of Cards has been a hit all over the world. The Danish drama Borgen has been broadcast in dozens of countries. The Turkish TV series Forbidden Love has been dubbed in several languages. The South Korean show Running Man has taken audiences by storm.

But there’s one name missing here – China's. In 2017, content producers in the country spent around $11 billion on television shows, making China the second-highest spender after the United States. And some of these shows have viewers not in millions but many times over that. Story of Yanxi Palace broke all records on its debut with 530 million views and it went on to achieve a record 13 billion views. Similarly, Legend of Fuyao scooped up 14 billion views in just 50 days. Forget TV producers; even the biggest Hollywood directors would do anything for such jaw-dropping numbers.

But surprisingly, these same super-hit shows struggle to capture international viewers. Although Story of Yanxi Palace was broadcast in more than 70 nations and Legend of Fuyao was also broadcast globally, viewership for Chinese shows is largely confined to Chinese speakers. On the other hand, Borgen, a Danish-language political thriller, became a hit in the United Kingdom and was praised by both critics and audiences in the US.

So what's holding back Chinese shows? Some claim Chinese TV dramas run for far too long. But the facts do not back this argument. House of Cards ran for 73 episodes with each episode an hour long. The Bridge, a Scandinavian thriller, had 60 episodes in total with each episode an hour long. In comparison, Story of Yanxi Palace ran for 70 episodes of 45 minutes each. Meanwhile, Forbidden Love had 79 episodes with each episode 90 minutes long, clearly outpacing all others.

Therefore, it's not the length, but the whole package that counts. With billion-plus viewership, it's understandable that content makers in the country have focused more on Chinese audiences. But as producers look at Netflix, Amazon and other streaming services, the picture is set to become interesting. Chinese producers can not only tailor their shows that are likely to resonate with global audiences, but also use these services to tap markets around the world.

Second, choose the right target. The US is a difficult market to crack, even for English-speaking countries, while Asia, Europe and Africa are comparatively easier. These regions should be the focus of content makers. And producers have achieved success in these areas. For instance, Story of Yanxi Palace was well received in Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. Empresses in the Palace likewise created waves in many Asian nations, including Japan.

Third is actually the most important factor of all: the story. If the story is intriguing enough then length, language and everything else becomes secondary. As always, content is key. Wong Kar-wai makes movies in Chinese and his films don’t follow the usual path, but they are loved all over the world simply because watching them is such an experience that language or length cease to matter.

Fourth, the audience for subtitled or dubbed shows will always remain limited. Therefore, producers should eschew large-scale productions and instead focus on creating the same impact on a lighter budget. There are many directors who make critically and commercially successful movies and TV shows on limited budgets. It’s better to create five good shows than sink all the money on one lavish set.

So can China pull it off? There’\'s no reason why it can't. Did anybody imagine that one day Chinese would sell phones that Americans buy or that Hollywood would tailor its movies for the Chinese market? If the world has learned something in the past four decades, it is not to underestimate the Chinese.

The author is a journalist with more than 18 years experience in media.