Source: nddaily.com Translated by: psycho 0805 Stephen Chan Responded To Claims About TVB Having No Improvement Maintaining Strengths And Working Hard To Come Up With New Products Doubt 1 - Unchanged Model, Being A Stick-in-the-Mud Response - "I don't complete agree, but I understand their viewpoints." As for the criticism voices from the outside world, Stephen Chan admitted, "I don't completely agree, but I understand their viewpoints. Actually TVB productions, no matter whether it's dramas or non-drama productions, the changes can be very huge, and there can be many new tries. If we want to maintain the high ratings, we must come up with new genres. Because the audience will get bored, if you don't change. For example, The Legend of Pu Song Ling, which will be released next year, narrates on the stories from Liao Zhai. We've never done this before." Doubt 2 - In order to maintain ratings, only care about being stable? Response - "For a commercial television station, our programs need to consider the balance between the commercial value and artistic value." TVB just held its 2010 Sales Presentation last week. They announced most of the dramas and cast for next year's dramas. The reporter discovered that for those heavily-promoted dramas in the sales presentation clips, most of them are the originally hit dramas, thus lacking in the new ideas. "For a commercial television station, our programs need to consider the balance between the commercial value and artistic value." Stephen Chan said that under the consideration and pre-condition for the commerical value, TVB will have creative plans every year. "We set an annual target to have at least 1 to 2 special new attempts. Even if the ratings is low, it's still acceptable. For example, the new drama, Quarantined 7-Day Relationships, for next year is an example. Because it uses current affairs background as its foundation. We aren't sure if the audience will accept it, but I believe it's worth a try." "Like police/crime dramas, family dramas etc have always been our strengths. While maintaing that standard, we will work hard to invent new products too. For example, we've a drama that has completed filming, but it wasn't introduced in the sales presentation - Chau Heung Angers Tong Bak Fu. We use a comedy style to handle this drama, adding on some fighting aspects. This has not been tried before, and it's also quite a different theme." Doubt 3 - Being confined and limited, mostly for the housewives? Response - "That's the impression by most people. Have to use the figures to talk." Among all the negative feedback on TVB dramas, there's quite an interesting point. Some netizens have criticized TVB for trying to fit into the housewives' tastes. As for this, Stephen Chan seemed a little displeased, "No! Our ratings report is divided into age, gender etc, very detailed collation. The so-called 'housewives' is just the feeling and impression of the common people. With the figures as evidence, we do have highly-educated audience watching our dramas, for example our themes on property and business management, they'll watch those. Another example is Beyond The Realm Of Conscience. The ratings can hit 36 points, must be most people are watching it, if not the ratings won't be so high." "When watching TV, other than being entertained, the audience can also obtain information. This is one of our targets." During the interview process, Stephen Chan repeatedly emphasized on this sentence, "It's important on whether the audience has gained something. Although we're a commercialized TV station, we still need to bear on a certain degree of social responsibility. For example, The Beauty of Game which is about to air. It's about youngsters taking drugs. It's a new try. Thus for this new attempt, even if the ratings isn't high, it's okay. Because this is a very important social problem. We need to educate people too."
