"Jade Solid Gold"’s low ratings are not due to the royalties dispute?

TVB’s music program "Jade Solid Gold" is breaking records – lowest rating records that is. With overall ratings of only 10 points, how much of this is due to the ban on artists from the Big 4 record companies? As a result of the royalties dispute with TVB, majority of the Big 4 record companies’ artists have appeared on ATV’s and i-Cable’s music programs, however it doesn’t seem like this helped those stations’ ratings at all.

The real reason for the dismal ratings – which everyone is well aware of deep down – is because fewer and fewer people (specifically HK audiences) are concerned about the local music industry anymore.

In reality, ‘countdown’ programs similar to "Jade Solid Gold" are also put on by local radio stations every week – it is unclear how many people tune in to listen to the radio station music countdowns every week and very few people actually talk about it – so it seems that the only ones concerned are the record companies and the singers themselves.

Music programs and the music industry itself are very closely intertwined – when the music industry is lively and bustling and a singer’s popularity soars, music programs benefit from increased audience viewership (or more audiences tuning in for radio programs). With the industry in a slump, "Jade Solid Gold"’s drop in ratings won’t just be a ‘one-time occurrence’ – it will just be a matter of time before the ratings drop past the ‘dire straits’ level.

Indeed, for a powerhouse station like TVB – who is used to seeing high ratings due to its dominance – 10 points in ratings is definitely scary. If this continues, there is a high probability that "Jade Solid Gold" will be moved from TVB’s ‘golden hour’ timeslot. With its experience, TVB knows how to play the ratings game – it’s not a difficult task for them at all, so their variety show department heads most likely already know what next steps they need to take. Since TVB’s other variety shows have good ratings, it makes sense that if they reduce the amount of music-related material and increase the ones with higher ratings, then more audiences may tune in. It seems obvious….

TVB’s ban on the Big 4 record companies’ artists has resulted in the same artists (mostly their own contracted singers and those from EEG – with whom they have a close relationship) appearing on "Jade Solid Gold" week after week. True, this has weakened "JSG"’s power and standing in the music industry, but to be honest, it does not have a huge impact on the ratings. Most audiences who watch TV programs usually do so for leisure and for the entertainment factor – other outside ‘factors’ could influence why some audiences don’t watch, but are less common.

To give an example: even with the ‘plagiarism controversy’ surrounding TVB’s currently airing series "Mysteries of Love", not only have the ratings not been effected at all, more and more audiences are tuning in to watch, pushing the ratings to 31 points just in the last week. This proves that most audiences are not effected by issues of originality or negative criticism related to shows they want to watch.

With "JSG", the biggest problem contributing to the low ratings is that the content of the show is not attractive to most audiences. Honestly, having some artists go up on stage and sing live week after week only ‘entertains’ a small fraction of the audience – primarily the fans of that particular artist. In comparisons, having ordinary people compete and ‘out-sing’ each other – as they do in "The Voice" -- is much more attractive to audiences.

The fact that audiences want to watch a singing competition more than a music program demonstrates how disappointed most people are with the current state of the HK music industry.

In watching a singing competition, at least there are professional judges present who will give constructive criticism when someone sings poorly. With "JSG" however, when an artist goes on the show and sings poorly, the ‘fans’ down below will still “wave their banners and scream loudly” – so how compelled will audiences be to watch then? Perhaps they should have judges go on "JSG" and start ‘critiquing’?

Source: MingPao
Translation: llwy12 @ AsianFanatics