Television China s got viewers Despite government meddling and rampant piracy, commercial television is surging in the Middle kingdom Nov 18th 2010 ShanghaiI from the print edition LAST month Liu Wei, an armless pianist and singer, won the first series of "Chinas Got Talent. En route to victory, he defeated bellydancers comedians and a pig impersonator The talent show was a ratings triumph a third of all televisions in the Shanghai area tuned in for the final. But Yang Wenhong, vice-president of Shanghai Media Group, is just as leased that the Communist Partys media regulator praised the programme for conveying an uplifting message. In China, it is not enough merely to please the masse Chinas television business has deve loped largely in isolation from the rest of the world. Despite heroic efforts, particularly by rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, Western media firms have been unable to launch mainland channels. They have been restricted to Tv sets in Hong Kong and in expensive hotels, or reduced to selling the odd programme te domestic networks. But isolation does not mean chinese television i stagnating. On the contrary: it is progressing at a lunatic pace.Television China's got viewers Despite government meddling and rampant piracy, commercial television is surging in the Middle Kingdom Nov 18th 2010 | Shanghai | from the print edition LAST month Liu Wei, an armless pianist and singer, won the first series of “China’s Got Talent”. En route to victory, he defeated bellydancers, comedians and a pig impersonator. The talent show was a ratings triumph: a third of all televisions in the Shanghai area tuned in for the final. But Yang Wenhong, vice-president of Shanghai Media Group, is just as pleased that the Communist Party’s media regulator praised the programme for conveying an uplifting message. In China, it is not enough merely to please the masses. China’s television business has developed largely in isolation from the rest of the world. Despite heroic efforts, particularly by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, Western media firms have been unable to launch mainland channels. They have been restricted to TV sets in Hong Kong and in expensive hotels, or reduced to selling the odd programme to domestic networks. But isolation does not mean Chinese television is stagnating. On the contrary: it is progressing at a lunatic pace