According to statistics from China Audiovisual Big Data (CVB), from January 1 to June 30, 2025, satellite channels nationwide broadcast 750 TV series, totaling 120,000 episodes, with a total broadcast time of 78,000 hours; 229 TV series were broadcast during prime time, and 55 were first broadcasts. Among the TV series broadcast in the first half of the year, more than 1,500 episodes had a viewership rate of over 2%, and more than 200 episodes had a viewership rate of over 3%, both higher than the same period last year.
TV dramas are flourishing with various themes, and excellent works have received enthusiastic responses
Reality-themed themes are a hot spot for ratings in the drama market.
"Six Sisters", which was aired on CCTV-1 on the sixth day of the Chinese New Year this year, received a warm response and showed super strong audience appeal as soon as it was broadcast. The show had a full-length audience rating of 4.349%, becoming the only CVB show with an average full-length rating of more than 4% and a single episode rating of more than 5% since records began in 2018, and was well received by the audience.
The reality-themed drama "Going North" that showcases the canal culture has outstanding ratings. The drama was broadcast on CCTV-1's prime time on March 3, with a full-length rating of 3.615%, ranking third in the ratings of TV dramas since CVB began statistics. During the premiere of the drama, the average daily ratings of CCTV1's prime time theater rose by 19.5% compared to the early stages of the show's broadcast, with a significant effect in boosting ratings.
The ratings for national security-themed dramas hit a new high.
The national security drama "Top Secret Contest" aired in April this year had a 3.743% audience rating and a 15.923% audience share, ranking second in the ratings and first in national security dramas since CVB released the ratings data. The plot of the drama is closely linked and full of tension. The ratings of the whole drama have been rising all the way. The ratings of the second half of the series increased by 14.6% compared with the first half, and the ratings of the last episode increased by 29.2% compared with the first episode. Another national security drama "Enemy" was rebroadcast on Dragon TV with a small volume of 16 episodes, and achieved a reach of 52.33 million people.
The broadcast volume of police and crime-related dramas has increased year-on-year, gaining popularity among the audience. In the first half of this year, 11 police and crime-related dramas premiered, an increase of 7 year-on-year, of which 6 TV dramas ranked in the top 20 of the prime-time TV drama ratings list in the first half of the year, delivering a brilliant report card.
"Station" is a light comedy that tells the story of stationed police officers who persevere in loneliness and achieve extraordinary things with ordinary means. The first broadcast had a viewership rating of 3.381%, and all 33 episodes ranked first in the ratings of various programs in the same period. The highest rating of a single episode reached 4.228%, an increase of 45.9% from the first episode. "Days of Criminal Police" reflects the daily work of grassroots criminal police. The ratings of the whole series were 1.713%, and the first broadcast round reached 450 million viewers.
In addition, "Yellow Bird" focuses on the work and life of anti-theft police, "In the Name of Law" focuses on typical cases of cracking down on gangsters and punishing judicial corruption, and "Borrowed Life" and "The Chess Player" have made new breakthroughs in suspense narrative and cinematic presentation, and both entered the top 20 prime-time TV dramas with outstanding ratings.
Urban dramas delve deeply into social issues and have achieved excellent ratings.
The premiere of "A Good Life" had a viewership rating of 2.300%, ranking second among all programs on satellite channels during the same period. Since its broadcast, it has sparked heated discussions among netizens about the plot. "180 Days Restart Plan", which focuses on the mother-daughter relationship and women's growth, adopts a dual-line time and space narrative. After the broadcast of the drama, the average reach of urban-themed dramas in prime time on Hunan Satellite TV increased by 20.2%.
Ancient legendary dramas have shown a high level of discussion. In the first half of this year, 12 costume dramas were premiered on national satellite TV channels.
The ratings of "Legend of the Canghai" ranked first in the costume dramas so far this year, and the first broadcast reached 640 million people; the ratings of "Guo Se Fang Hua" were 0.390%, ranking first in the ratings of local satellite TV prime-time TV dramas during the same period, and the first round of cumulative viewership reached 140 million people. The above two dramas received extremely high discussion when they were broadcast. In addition, "Nine Layers of Purple" and "Zhe Yao", which were broadcast online and then on TV, also received good ratings and ranked in the top ten costume dramas so far this year.
Film and television dramas have shown great potential in driving the development of the cultural tourism industry
In the first half of this year, the "film and television + cultural tourism" model continued to gain momentum, bringing growth vitality to the cultural tourism industries in many places.
"Station" has brought Sichuan Panzhihua's cultural tourism into the spotlight. The mottled railroad tracks, apricot-yellow police booths, and slogans full of age have become popular check-in spots; "Go North" has brought the ancient town of Kunshan in the south of the Yangtze River into the audience's field of vision. Among them, the old street of Bacheng has specially reproduced some scenes from the play, and combined with different themes to create check-in spots such as the opening of the "Canal Family" teahouse and the "Time Carp" cultural and creative shop. The weekend market is very lively.
The "Revisiting Classics" channel has gained wide attention and love from viewers
In order to further enrich the supply of high-quality content for large-screen TVs, the "Revisit Classics" channel was officially launched on February 1, 2024, and a large number of classics that carry the memory of the times returned to the public's view. As of June 30, 2025, the "Revisit Classics" channel (cable TV end) has accumulated 2.67 billion hours of viewership, and the broadcast programs have accumulated 11.4 billion viewership.
The TV series "Shanghai Family", "Crossing Guandong", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin" and other classic works broadcast by the channel are widely loved by the audience, reflecting the enduring artistic charm and audience appeal of Chinese classics. The hot broadcast of the "Revisiting Classics" channel has not only created a strong atmosphere of "watching and appreciating classics" in the whole society, but also provided impetus for stimulating the creative vitality of the industry.
The drama broadcast mode has been upgraded to help excellent dramas gain wider distribution
The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television continues to promote good works to enter good platforms and good time slots.
In the first half of this year, the online drama "The Chess Player" was premiered simultaneously on CCTV8 and online audio-visual platforms. After the premiere of CCTV, works such as "Six Sisters", "Northward" and "A Pretty Good Life" were successively broadcast on multiple provincial satellite TV stations; "True Heroes", "Endless End" and "In the Name of Beauty" and other dramas adopted the "multi-star broadcast" method, and were jointly premiered by two or three provincial satellite TV stations. The enrichment and upgrading of the drama broadcast mode further expanded the dissemination and influence of good works.
This article comes from the WeChat official account of the "National Radio and Television Administration", and the original title is "CVB Data Release: TV Drama Ratings Report in the First Half of 2025".
