Kids Cry out for Cartoons

Certain cartoons have cult status among young people.

World media giant Viacom and the Shanghai Media Group have co-founded China’s first joint venture TV production company specializing in children’s programs. According to media circles, the demand for animated cartoons on the Chinese market is huge. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television now requires one-third of provincial- and deputy-provincial-level TV stations to establish children’s channels by the end of this year, a further one-third within 2005 and the rest by the end of 2006. Channels will then televise 30,000 hours of animated cartoons per year, which translates into 5,000 minutes of cartoons per day, or, at a conservative estimate, 100 minutes per channel per day. The current annual output of animated cartoons in China is less than 30,000 minutes, unsurprising in view of some TV stations having to pay an incredible 1,000 yuan per minute for the cartoons they televise.