Migrant workers watch the Spring Festival gala in a shelter in Jiangsu province in 2009. [Photo by Ri Yue / For China Daily]

This is a far cry from the show's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s. Then it was almost the only show that could bring three generations of families to sit in front of the television.

From its inaugural show, the gala targeted all demographic groups and ethnicities and the format has remained more or less the same.

The show also tends to feature the same small group of celebrities every year. Zhao Benshan, a comedian who has portrayed a witty farmer every year since 1990, is regarded as one of the main attractions of the show.

"If the organizers don't follow audience tastes, even Zhao Benshan will loose his fans," Huang said.

"Each act of the gala is screened thoroughly months before New Year's Eve. If acts are not good enough they do not appear," said Chen, who stopped performing, due to copyright issues, on the gala after his last show in 1998 with his long-time partner Zhu. The gala launched many careers but some stars have turned down invitations to appear, preferring instead to do their own variety show.

Chen was invited to perform at the 2012 CCTV gala, but declined.

"I don't want my work to be re-edited by others. I also think that xiao pin should be changed into another form because the time is so different and what the viewers want to see is different," he said.

Mainland pop diva Na Ying said "no" to the gala because she didn't want her song's lyrics to be changed. "CCTV wanted me to change the English lyrics to Chinese but it will change the song's style," she said.

In the past few years, organizers tried to woo the younger generation by featuring more pop artists and even little-known entertainers. Last year's gala featured a Hebei girl who used to sing under a pedestrian tunnel near a downtown Beijing shopping mall, and a duo of migrant workers. Stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan are also featured in the gala to attract more audiences.

My Midnight Moment, a book by Zhu Jun, who hosted the gala for 15 years, shines a light on the event.

"If we compare the gala to a banquet, then I am one of the hosts, taking care of the order and atmosphere and making customers comfortable," he said. "It is still a habit for most Chinese people on that special night.

"The audience complain about cliche lines given by the hosts and the advertisements during the show," he said in the book. "But it's just a variety show. I believe that the critics are out of step with the audience."