American TV enters China's mainstream

A scene from the popular US TV series The Big Bang Theory on the CBS Television Network. Robert Voets / CBS / Getty Images

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Television series from the United States have topped the most-watched list and licensed providers in China are calling the trend "an opening era". Xu Junqian explores the scene in Shanghai.

Caroline Channing was in town. Leonard Hofstadter debuted in the capital. Vampire Stefan Salvatore was in the spotlight in Shanghai.

These names, or fictional characters, from US TV series like 2 Broke Girls and The Big Bang Theory, may not ring a bell for everyone. But in China, their visits in 2013 caused traffic jams, large crowds and high-pitched screams at airports, hotels or wherever they appeared. They created such a stir that couch potatoes have hailed the visits "the heyday of US TV in China".

But behind the scenes, the organizers and licensed providers of US TV series in China believe it's just the beginning, or in their words, "an opening era", despite the fact the world's largest television audience has been watching imported US TV series for more than three decades, almost as long as TV sets have been in the country.

In 1980, one year after China and the US established diplomatic relations, two series-Man from Atlantis and Garrison's Gorillas-were introduced and broadcast nationwide by the State-owned China Central Television station. (The first production line of color TV sets in China was installed in Tianjin in October, 1980..

"We define 'opening era' as a time when a certain thing becomes a trend," said Zhang Chaoyang, better known as Charles Zhang, the founder and chairman of Sohu. Inc, one of China's biggest Web portal owners and video site operators, at a news conference in December.

In September 2012, the Beijing-based site took the initiative to buy the license of 31 of the most popular US TV series, including Gossip Girl, Modern Family and Nikita, so that Chinese audiences can watch the shows at "almost the same time as their US counterparts".

Since then, the site has been introducing a substantial number of overseas-produced TV shows. Statistics from Sohu showed that to date there are about 200 American TV series on the site.

"In the past, the viewers of US TV series may have accounted for less than 10 percent of the domestic shows, but now, shows like The Big Bang Theory have been on the most-watched top list," Zhang says.