Convergent Chinese Television Industries

An essential book for anyone seeking to understand the dynamics that drive the convergent Chinese television industry. Lin’s account moves fluently between the levels of historical, technological, political and personal determinants. The exemplary use of production studies provides a comprehensive view of both the complexity and the internal contradictions of the Chinese TV industry, demonstrating how canny producers work at the edges of what is possible. 

 —Professor John Ellis, Royal Holloway University of London 



Professor Lin makes a crucial contribution to our understanding with this book, bringing the rich expertise needed to appreciate the distinct dynamics of Chinese television industries and their incorporation of and negotiation with streaming video. This carefully researched book offers deep accounts of production practices informed by substantial field observations and interviews to bring new insight about major questions. 

— Professor Amanda D. Lotz, Queensland University of Technology, Digital Media Research Centre 

This book provides a rich description of the shifting production cultures in convergent Chinese television industries across strategic, programming and individual levels. Dr. Lin argues that the current moment of Chinese television is an ideological, cultural and financial paradox in which China’s one-party ideology clashes with consumer-oriented capitalism and technological advancements. Drawing upon in-depth ethnography of production cultures across Chinese broadcast and digital streaming sectors, this book illuminates how Chinese producers have placed their aspirations for creative freedoms within edge ball practices. Nuanced and timely, Convergent Chinese Television Industries unveils a complex picture of an industry undergoing dramatic transformations. 




Lisa Linis a television producer and university professor specialising in factual and documentary production in the UK, Singapore and China. Her producing credits include I Wouldn’t Go in There (National Geographic, 2015), G-Force (Hummingbird Music, 2017), The Truth about Fake News (Channel News Asia, 2018), Frontline Medics Diaries (Channel 4, 2020). Dr. Lin holds a PhD in Media and Communications from Royal Holloway, University of London.