Celebrating 60 years of Shanghai Television

On October 1, 1958, Shanghai TV Station started operations at the Yong’an Building on Nanjing Road. It was China’s first regional TV station.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the city’s TV programs, Shanghai Media Group held a gala on Thursday, honoring outstanding TV industry workers and chronicling the development of local TV.

According to Wang Jianjun, an official with Shanghai Media Group, Shanghai TV station only had one channel and 30 or so employees in the early stages of its development. Now it has more than 15,000 employees and its total assets have reached 61.18 billion yuan (US$8.89 billion).

Since the station’s inauguration, a lot of influential TV programs of varied genres have been produced. 

“The first TV program aired by Shanghai TV Station 60 years ago was a news report on the National Day celebration, which made high-quality news programs deeply rooted in the gene and soul of us,” says Wang. “Today more than 19 hours of news programs are broadcast every day on the channels of Shanghai Media Group.”

In the early 1970s, the Chinese government decided to develop the colored TV. The country’s first colored TV program, about the light industry of that time, was broadcast by the station in August 1973.

In 1975, Shanghai TV Station moved to 651 Nanjing Road W, where a 210-meter-high TV tower had been newly constructed.

“Very few local families could afford a TV set in the late 1970s,” Xu Ziyan, a retired teacher, recalls. “Many people watched TV together at factories or lanes. And there were only several hours of TV programs a day.”

On January 28, 1979, the first TV commercial of Chinese mainland — one about a kind of herbal wine — was aired. It also started the TV commercial business on domestic TV stations.

Programs became more diverse and creative in the 1980s and 90s. The “Casio Family Singing Contest” turned out to be a variety show hit when it debuted in 1985. Its highest viewing rate reached 94.5 percent of the TV watching public. 

A lot of well-received variety shows, documentary programs and news talk shows emerged in Shanghai at that time. Among them were China’s first game show “Happy Big Turntable,” TV dating program “Date on Saturday” and a feature program “Documentary Editing Room.”

In the new era of the Internet, Shanghai Media Group integrated its multiple resources for innovation and new opportunities. Many of its programs targeted the growing number of young Netizens in China.

Some TV insiders talk about their own experiences and affinity with the industry.

Well-known news TV anchor Yin Hairong recalls that she used to receive a letter from a thankful person serving sentences. 

“He told me that my program reignited his hope and courage in life,” says Yin. “At that time I realized the importance and social responsibility of my profession.”

A TV technology and equipment exhibition was also presented on Thursday. The exhibition looks back on varied technological phases of Shanghai TV. It demonstrates how technologies progress and innovations re-frame the industry.

During the National Day holidays, a four-episode documentary series about the 60-year history of Shanghai TV will be aired on the local TV screen. 

The series provides an insight into the development of the local TV industry, from its early foundation to its structural reforms.

Some major events of the development of Shanghai TV

• October 25, 1958, TV series “Red Flames” was aired. The series is about the work and life of an outstanding young local worker Li Zhixiang.

• February 7, 1959, China’s first televised Spring Festival gala was presented by Shanghai TV Station. The gala featured performances of Kunqu Opera, Huaiju Opera, pingtan, drama and violin.

• July 4, 1981, the 26-episode Japanese TV series “Sugata Sanshiro” was aired on local screen. It was the first time Shanghai TV Station introduced and broadcast a foreign TV series.

• June 18, 1986, Shanghai TV Station broadcast the World Cup live for the first time.

• March 6, 1990, China’s first campus youth TV series “The Blossom Season of Age Sixteen” was aired. 

• May 1, 1995, Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower started operations.

• October 1, 1998, Shanghai Satellite TV was launched. Its name was changed to Dragon TV in 2003.