INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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The show must go on - reality show stars have found ways to adapt while still being
advised to stay at home
China has the world's largest livestreaming industry and Wuhan - the epicentre of the Covid-19
outbreak - was already something of a livestreaming hub
So when the new virus emerged, confining millions of people to their homes, the industry responded quickly, with new programming genres
emerging and a shift in the formats of popular TV reality shows
Audiences have been watching livestreams of both celebrities and ordinary people singing, cooking and exercising in their own homes
Programmes that usually feature live audiences have instead come to resemble video conferences - but have still proven an unusual hit
But despite these changing programming trends, vloggers - of which there are more than 524 million in China - still need to be extremely
cautious about what they post, especially within Wuhan
New online showsIn late January, livestreams of two hospitals being built in Wuhan proved unusually popular with online audiences
Recognising the appeal that unconventional livestreams have had among audiences while Chinese have been in self-quarantine, some new shows
quickly sprang up on online streaming services
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New online programmes like Games at Home have proven popular and helped homebound
Chinese see how others are keeping entertained
The Guangzhou Daily newspaper noted the rise of a new genre of "cloud reality
shows", where artists only needed a mobile phone or a computer and a good network to be part of a show
There has been no limit to the range of sub-genres
Since 8 February, an hour-long cookery programme called Eat Well has sprang up on the YouTube-like Youku, which takes viewers inside
different peoples' homes and shows a different person each day cooking a homemade meal
Similarly, in mid-February, the popular iQiyi website hosted a new "at home" reality shows
In Karaoke at Home, the format is simple: social media users send requests for singers to perform songs of their choice, from their own home
Games at Home shows different stars compete in certain challenges within their homes, like "who can do the most press-ups"
TV programmes quick to adaptThese new shows, along with Chinese government restrictions on people's movements as a result of the
coronavirus threw a spanner in the works for reality TV producers
Some 780 million people in China - more than half of the population - have experienced some form of lockdown since late January
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Talk show panelists on Day Day Up have used video conferencing to watch fellow
panelists sing along to tunes from Frozen
Coronavirus coverage has also been inescapable
In late January, China's top media regulator called on the revision of TV schedules to "reduce entertainment programming" and step up
special reports on the coronavirus
As viewing audiences have increasingly turned online, many linear TV programmes have swiftly adapted their formats to continue running,
even though their stars have needed to remain off-site
The popular reality show Singer normally shows performers in front of a live audience, with a panel of judges on a stage
However, on 21 February, viewers saw the judges and other contestants calling in from their homes
Popular talk show Day Day Up has similarly come to resemble a video conference, as guests have kept the show running by filming within their
The Sixth Tone news website adds that an upcoming show Street Dance of China has had to ask auditioning contestants to submit videos of
themselves dancing in their homes.Wuhan: livestreaming capitalNowhere has actually been better equipped to respond to this new trend, than
Before the outbreak of the coronavirus, the city was gaining a reputation as the place to be for Chinese livestreamers
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The annual Douyu Festival in Wuhan is normally a must for livestreamers - but
vloggers have found ways to adapt
The South China Morning Post newspaper noted in November 2019 that companies were
investing millions of dollars developing in the city, which was "eager to boost innovation and cultivate the next big technology unicorns"
So much so, that in December 2017, Wuhan built a livestreaming "village" with rooms for around 100 livestreaming hosts, complete with
"European style architecture"
Wuhan is home to some of China's largest live-streaming services including industry leader Douyu
And its rapidly developing industry meant that the provincial Hubei government actually set the precedent for livestreaming regulations
In February 2018, it set China's first standards for livestreaming platforms and hosts
It issued guidance on "content, account supervision, platform inspection and how hosts should dress", the official China Daily reported
Wuhan-based livestreamers, therefore, should be better equipped than anywhere else to know what the guidelines are on what people can say
But Chinese live streaming applications have a strict and extensive list of guidelines so that mainland-based users do not post content that
is deemed subversive towards the state.After Wuhan went into lockdown on 23 January, video diaries proved popular as residents began
detailing their daily lives in quarantine.But those that have challenged the government's lines on the coronavirus have seemingly been
Fang Bin and Chen Qiushi had both been posting livestreams and videos from Wuhan which questioned the government's reporting.Their videos
claiming to show "what is really happening" received thousands of views
In February, Chen told the TheIndianSubcontinent the censorship was "very strict and people's accounts are being closed down if they share
Shortly after, both he and Fang went quiet and haven't been heard from since
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Chen Qiushi is one of two Wuhan journalists who have gone missing
TheIndianSubcontinent Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world
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