The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT)
published a timetable last June, hoping for at least 30 million
digital cable TV subscribers by the end of 2005. It also planned to
convert all municipalities, cities in the east and most provincial
capitals in the central and western regions to digital broadcasting
by that time.
But the situation is not developing as the administration
anticipated.
"The situation has been changing rapidly over the past year, so
we have to adjust the timetable and will release a new one soon,"
said an official surnamed Liu.
Many cities have found it difficult to attract subscribers, with
the number reaching just 20,000 in cities such as Shanghai,
Shenzhen and Beijing.
"The problem lies in the digital cable providers of these
cities, who were trying to promote digital cable TV in China in the
same way it is done in other countries. But this does not conform
with China's reality," said Wang Xiaojie, a senior SARFT
official.
In most places, digital cable providers attract subscribers by
offering programming that differs from that offered by free
channels. Subscribers have to pay around 1,000 yuan (US$120) to buy
a special decoder in order to watch the programs on a normal
television.
"But the reality in China is that people are accustomed to
enjoying free television, and Chinese digital cable providers are
forbidden to broadcast pornography like some foreign digital cable
operators do to attract subscribers," Wang said.
The official cited Foshan, in south China's Guangdong
Province, as an example.
Foshan started promoting digital cable three years ago, with
overseas TV programs being the major attraction. Only 6,000
subscribers signed up in the city.
"When the digital cable provider in Foshan finally shut down the
service because no more users were subscribing, only one person
called asking why. The rest had either already stopped subscribing,
or did not even care," Wang said.
To encourage more people to opt for digital TV, the city has
decided to give subscribers free decoders.
"Hundreds of people line up every day to get the free decoder in
Foshan, and the number of digital cable users has at least
quadrupled," she said.
The official stated that Beijing, Taiyuan (Shanxi
Province), and Dalian (Liaoning
Province) will also adopt this method in the near future.
In a related development, SARFT has recently issued digital TV
licenses to four companies to break China Central Television's
monopoly on digital television.
(China Daily August 16, 2004)