Scaling the Great Wall: Landing on-air in China proves difficult for foreign prodcos

When China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television announced in April 2004 that close to 60 of its provincial-level TV stations must each launch a channel catering to children by the end of 2006, there was much rejoicing in the international kids market. It's anticipated that these new channels will require 60,000 new minutes of kids programming, and with Chinese production companies only able to produce 20,000 of these, foreign producers quickly lined up to fill that 40,000-minute gap. But 10 months down the road, no straightforward blueprint for selling into China has emerged. In fact, Western producers looking to entertain the country's 300 million kids might have an easier time scaling the Great Wall than finding a broadcast berth.