The Decline in Standards at CCTV

If you watch the video below you’ll see a veteran presenter of CCTV 1’s flagship 7pm news broadcast involuntarily letting out a small burp while reading the news on Monday evening. The rapid spread of the trivial footage across the web is testament to both the eagle-eyes of the media-watching public and also their new found ability to shine a light on embarassing mistakes by uploading clips to various video sharing sites. Zhang Hongmin's burp is the latest in a long line of gaffes from CCTV presenters and below we’ve gathered together clips and images of some recent on-air bloopers that have led many to bemoan the decline in standards over at CCTV.

Nov 3: One of CCTV's main news anchors let out a small burp while reading the evening news. Although the program director switched to a news clip, sharp-eyed netizens had already spotted the burp and were busy uploading it to video sharing sites around the country. Zhang later apologized, saying that it was unintentional and he hoped that viewers would understand.

Oct 7: One of China's best known and most pompous news commentators appeared on the CCTV 1+1 program to discuss the sorry state of Chinese football. The video of Bai Yansong’s appearance has been doing the rounds of the country’s video-sharing sites last month and netizens suspect that the rather incoherent and heavy-tongued commentator might have had a drink too many before appearing on the show.

Apr 17: Out favorite news presenter Wen Jing was caught yawning on CCTV's Morning News program (朝闻天下 Chaowen Tianxia). The newsreader later apologised and put it down to misunderstanding the program director's signal as indicating that they were off air.

Mar 20: It actually was the program director’s mistake to broadcast He Hongmei adding make-up during the evening news broadcast. For more details, see our earlier post here.

Dec 2007: The host of Economic News on CCTV 2 froze when the autocue on the camera stopped rolling during the screening of their evening news. She continued to stare at the screen without talking for about 30 seconds.

Dec 2007: The deputy head of CCTV’s sports center and main sports anchor Zhang Bin was publicly humiliated by his wife, Hu Ziwei, also a well-known presenter at BTV, during a broadcast marking CCTV 5’s relaunch as the “Olympic Channel.” Hu climbed onto the stage where Zhang was presenting, and despite CCTV workers trying to pull her off, gave a heated narrative concerning Zhang’s “improper relations with another woman.” She also said that if China didn’t reassess its value system then the country could not become a great power. More details here.

Aug 2007: Duan Xuan, the host of a show on CCTV 5, was caught with his pants down when sharp-eyed viewers caught a glimpse of his knee sticking out from behind the news desk

Feb and May 2008: Though not really indicative of a sign of the decline in standards of the national broadcaster and more of a commentary on the interests of the people watching all these videos, CCTV anchors came under the spotlight earlier this year for a series of "incidents" involving erect nipples. At least one host (Tu Jingwei) was rumored to have been removed from hosting CCTV 6's nightly movie report due to the scandal surrounding the clip.

Feb 2007: What's come to be known as the "Black Three Minutes" occurred during the biggest night of Chinese TV - the annual Spring Festival Gala. Right before the midnight countdown, the five famous hosts flubbed their lines and interrupted each in a rare display of discord that actually seemed to amuse the audience more than any of the acts. The hosts were said to be furious with each other and apparently a huge fight took place back stage after the ordeal was over.

Jun 2006: Huang Jianxiang became a celebrity author and commentator after shouting himself hoarse during CCTV's broadcast of the 2006 World Cup match between Italy-Australia. The commentator was castigated online for the blatant pro-Italy bias in his rant. For more on the incident, see Danwei or Shanghaiist.

Links and Sources
Youku: 张宏民《新闻联播》中打嗝
The Beijinger: CCTV sport anchor resigns after wife exposes his adultery on air
Ynet.com: 央视主持人节目中打哈欠
The Beijinger: Video of the Week – CCTV News anchor caught putting on makeup during broadcast
The China Machete: The bimbo sidelined by her own nipple
Sohu: Nipplegate
Sina: Host zones out during broadcast after losing autocue