Formats, cultural security and China’s going out policy

This article looks at the role of format television in the People’s Republic of China. It juxtaposes two key ideas: the ‘one format policy’ and the One Child Policy. Both are government restrictions intended to kerb reproduction. Formats provide a means for the reproduction of programming ideas, tha...

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Main Authors: Keane, Michael, Zhang, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Intellect 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50695
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author Keane, Michael
Zhang, J.
author_facet Keane, Michael
Zhang, J.
author_sort Keane, Michael
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This article looks at the role of format television in the People’s Republic of China. It juxtaposes two key ideas: the ‘one format policy’ and the One Child Policy. Both are government restrictions intended to kerb reproduction. Formats provide a means for the reproduction of programming ideas, that is, they are generative. When formats ‘fit’ cultural understandings they can be remarkably successful, as with family oriented formats. Yet there is something unusual about China: in comparison to many international markets, China offers a unique demographic – those people born after 1978. The article examines a formatted programme called Where Are We Going, Dad? , introduced into China from South Korea, which illustrates a subgenre known as the ‘parent-child caring’ (qinzi) format. The article shows how this genre has capitalised on the interest in the health and future well-being of the One Child in China, as well as spinning off its own formatted offspring.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:45:17Z
publishDate 2017
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-506952017-09-13T15:37:03Z Formats, cultural security and China’s going out policy Keane, Michael Zhang, J. This article looks at the role of format television in the People’s Republic of China. It juxtaposes two key ideas: the ‘one format policy’ and the One Child Policy. Both are government restrictions intended to kerb reproduction. Formats provide a means for the reproduction of programming ideas, that is, they are generative. When formats ‘fit’ cultural understandings they can be remarkably successful, as with family oriented formats. Yet there is something unusual about China: in comparison to many international markets, China offers a unique demographic – those people born after 1978. The article examines a formatted programme called Where Are We Going, Dad? , introduced into China from South Korea, which illustrates a subgenre known as the ‘parent-child caring’ (qinzi) format. The article shows how this genre has capitalised on the interest in the health and future well-being of the One Child in China, as well as spinning off its own formatted offspring. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50695 10.1177/0163443716663641 Intellect restricted
spellingShingle Keane, Michael
Zhang, J.
Formats, cultural security and China’s going out policy
title Formats, cultural security and China’s going out policy
title_full Formats, cultural security and China’s going out policy
title_fullStr Formats, cultural security and China’s going out policy
title_full_unstemmed Formats, cultural security and China’s going out policy
title_short Formats, cultural security and China’s going out policy
title_sort formats, cultural security and china’s going out policy
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50695