AI Dramas Break Into China’s Top 10 Prime Time Ratings

Chinese Regional Broadcasters Air 20-Episode Historical Drama "Peach Blossom Pool Chronicles"
Production Cost Per Episode Just One-Tenth That of Live-Action Dramas
"A Cost-Effective Attempt" vs. "All the Faces Look the Same"

Chinese regional broadcasters are drawing attention for airing dramas produced with artificial intelligence (AI) during prime time, with some analysts suggesting this could serve as a way out of ongoing management difficulties.

The historical drama "Tohwatamgi (桃花潭記)" has been broadcast on Anhui Satellite TV in China since the 22nd of last month. The entire production process was created using AI. Official website of the production company

On August 6, Yonhap News cited the state-run Economic Daily, noting, "Some regional broadcasters are attracting widespread attention by airing AI-generated dramas during evening hours. While this may appear to be a minor programming adjustment, it in fact marks the beginning of 'AI + video' content entering the mainstream media."

The Economic Daily described the current situation faced by regional broadcasters as a predicament with no easy way out. Due to years of financial difficulties, these broadcasters cannot afford the rights to popular dramas that fetch tens of millions of yuan (ranging from several billion to 10 billion won), and rerunning older series has failed to improve ratings. The newspaper pointed out, "It is this situation that has created an opening for short-form AI dramas."

The advantages of AI-produced dramas include shorter production cycles, controllable costs, and no need for massive crews or casting expensive stars. In fact, the reported production cost per episode is about one-tenth that of a live-action drama. From the perspective of regional broadcasters, the Economic Daily judged these attempts to be "highly cost-effective."

The drama referenced is "Peach Blossom Pool Chronicles (도화담기)," a historical series that Anhui Satellite TV began airing nightly at 9:50 p.m. from July 22. Consisting of 20 episodes, each roughly 10 minutes long, this is the first drama on a provincial Chinese satellite broadcaster to be entirely produced and aired using AI. The phrase "AI Production" appears at the beginning of each episode, and the credits include "AIGC (AI-generated content) Director."

The ratings were not unfavorable. Although the first episode achieved only a 0.0349% viewership, by July 25 the rating had climbed to 0.1067%, placing it in the national top 10 for its time slot, surpassing several long-running live-action dramas.

Other broadcasters are also moving quickly. Zhejiang Satellite TV aired the AI short drama "Chinese Legends: White Snake" this February, achieving the second-highest national viewership in its time slot, while Dragon TV and Guangdong Satellite TV have also entered the AI drama business. Of the nearly 128,000 micro-short dramas released in China during the first quarter of this year, over 95% were reportedly produced using AI.

However, as this new AI-driven format emerges via traditional broadcasting channels, audience responses have been divided. Chinese media outlet Xinjingbao reported that many viewers commented, "Every face in the drama looks the same," and "It's obvious at a glance that it's AI." Viewers also noted issues such as choppy editing, rigid facial expressions, and poor synchronization of audio and visuals. On social networking sites like Weibo, users posted reactions such as "It's too ahead of its time," "Real actors are better," and "Are directors and actors going to lose their jobs in the future?"

The Economic Daily emphasized future challenges, stating, "AI dramas must improve quality and address risk factors such as copyright," and "It is essential to define clear boundaries of authority and responsibility at each step of the AI-generation process." It added, "The advancement of AI video technology and expansion across media are broadening the boundaries between content creation and dissemination. When broadcasters truly combine channel characteristics with content supply and recognize the instrumental value of AI while safeguarding the humanistic essence of content, the industry will achieve stability and sustainable growth."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.