TVB’s new drama regains popularity, benefiting from Greater Bay Area strategy

Illustration: Liu Xiangya/Global Times

 

Photo: Courtesy of Youku TV

 A recent drama series produced by Hong Kong TV studio TVB, The Queen of News, has captured the attention of audiences in both the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, many of whom are calling it the best Hong Kong series in recent years. 

This popularity is the result of Hong Kong region's film and TV industry actively taking part in China's Greater Bay Area strategy and sharing the dividends of the country's fast cultural development. New Hong Kong films and TV series are finding more fans as they draw upon China's rich cultural heritage and integration with multiple streaming platforms through various forms of cooperation. 

Starring Charmaine Sheh, Kenneth Ma, Selena Lee and Samantha Ko, the 26-episode drama airing on TV stations and Chinese streaming site Youku, centers on the challenges faced by journalists, their dedication to uncover the truth, and the conflicts that arise in their personal and professional lives in and out of their news reporting office.

The series has gained popularity among audiences with its intense plot, storytelling and various characters, hitting various trending lists on China's social media platforms. 

Topics related to the series have been listed on social media platform Sina Weibo 735 times and occupied the top spot on Douyin, Chinese version of TikTok, from time to time. On Chinese media rating site Douban, the series' score has gone from 7.9/10 to 8.2/10 in four days from nearly 40,000 reviews from audiences. 

TVB is a name card for Hong Kong's cultural industry as many TV series it has produced accompanied viewers born during the 1970s and 1980s during their youth. However, with the development of the times, the influence of TVB's works has shown a downward trend, due to comprehensive reasons such as repetitious themes, cliché plots, and solidification of creative models.  

Working with mainland streaming sites is a key move for TVB to seek breakthroughs. In terms of content, mainland video platforms pay more attention to what audiences want to watch. As audiences' aesthetic tastes and viewing habits have undergone profound changes, users have become a force that cannot be ignored in mainland film and TV production.

"Dramas about professionals such as lawyers, policemen and journalists, who are the middle class, are a genre that Hong Kong's TV industry, especially TVB, is good at," Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Administration, told the Global Times. 

"The success of The Queen of News lies in not only its vivid depiction of common people in today's fast-pace society and the happiness, anger, sorrow and joy they share, but also the mature models and big data that these fast-developing streaming giants have access to."

Behind these "New Hong Kong TV series" hits, it is good to see that the Hong Kong film and TV industry is sharing the dividends of the cultural development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In order to promote Hong Kong's pop culture, central government support for Hong Kong to develop into an East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange was highlighted in the National 14th Five-year Plan. Favorable policies have encouraged Hong Kong film creators to actively integrate into the mainland industry. For instance, films The Battle at Lake Changjin and Operation Red Sea are all fruits of the co-production mechanism between the mainland and Hong Kong. 

As the film and TV industry becomes more integrated, the co-production mechanism has expanded from movies to TV series and variety shows. Take TVB as an example. Since entering the mainland market in 2022, it has made significant progress in dramas, variety shows, e-commerce and other aspects. 

The mainland's advanced marketing concepts, vast landscapes for filming, and rich creative materials provide a steady stream of development opportunities for the Hong Kong film and TV industry. On the other side, Hong Kong's mature industrialized film and TV production system and unique artist training model have also injected new vitality into the mainland film and TV industry.

Deepening exchanges and cooperation and realizing complementary advantages will surely accelerate the recovery of the film and TV industries in both regions. More and more high-quality masterpieces are shining on the screen, which will greatly benefit audiences.