CHINESE SATCASTERS FINED FOR BROADCASTING INFOMERCIALS

China’s State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, which oversees all media, has ruled that two satellite television broadcasters violated rules that took effect on Jan. 1 barring long-form infomercials. Under the new rules, infomercials may not run longer than three minutes, may not be aired more than once per hour, and the same ad may not be aired more than three times per day. But, according to the Xinhua wire service, Sichuan Satellite Television and Xinjiang Corps continued to air long ads, running over 20 minutes “despite repeated criticism and orders to correct mistakes.” The punishment: Sichuan may not air commercials of any kind for seven days and Xinjiang for 15 days. Xinhua noted that the rules were put into effect “after viewers complained about infomercials being exaggerated or having false content.”