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China Radio and Television
Radio and television expanded rapidly in the 1980s as important
means of mass communication and popular entertainment
(see Telecommunications
, ch. 8;
The Media
, ch. 10). By 1985 radio
reached 75 percent of the population through 167 radio stations,
215 million radios, and a vast wired loudspeaker system.
Television, growing at an even more rapid rate, reached two-thirds
of the population through more than 104 stations (up from 52 in
1984 and 44 in 1983); an estimated 85 percent of the urban
population had access to television. As radio and television
stations grew, the content of the programming changed drastically
from the political lectures and statistical lists of the previous
period. Typical radio listening included soap operas based on
popular novels and a variety of Chinese and foreign music. Most
television shows were entertainment, including feature films,
sports, drama, music, dance, and children's programming. In 1985 a
survey of a typical week of television programming made by the
Shanghai publication Wuxiandian Yu Dianshi (Journal of Radio
and Television) revealed that more than half of the programming
could be termed entertainment; education made up 24 percent of the
remainder of the programming and news 15 percent. A wide cross
section of international news was presented each evening. Most news
broadcasts were borrowed from foreign news organizations, and a
Chinese summary was dubbed over. China Central Television also
contracted with several foreign broadcasters for entertainment
programs. Between 1982 and 1985, six United States television
companies signed agreements to provide American programs to China.
Data as of July 1987
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