Chinese authorities to investigate fraudulent viewership practices

The National Radio and Television Administration announced on Sunday that it was launching an investigation into fake audience ratings within the TV industry, a day after Chinese director Guo Jingyu wrote a post on Sina Weibo accusing industry insiders of manipulating TV dramas’ viewership numbers.

Guo claimed that the release date of his latest work Mother’s Life, which is currently airing on Beijing Satellite Television, was delayed on another provincial television channel because his team refused to “buy viewership numbers” from a representative of a company that promised it could guarantee increased ratings for the show.

“He called me stupid and said if I had approached him earlier, the drama would have aired already. He gave me a price of 900,000 yuan ($131,000) per episode and still couldn’t guarantee that the drama would reach the top two slots on the charts,” Guo wrote.

“80 episodes, that is 72 million yuan for good viewership figures.”

The director’s post sparked hot debate on Chinese social media platforms, where netizens and a number of entertainment industry workers voiced their support for Guo.

“Support the director’s act to bring justice to the industry!” wrote Chinese director Lu Chuan, who reposted Guo’s article and added his own similar experience within the industry.

Under Guo’s post, Chinese director Chen Sicheng also contributed his own story: “My Great Expectations also encountered the same problem; the company told us this was an ‘unspoken rule’ of the industry.”