Wowkie Zhang strikes a "frozen" pose on the TV show Tian Tian Xiang Shang. The pose later became so hot that many netizens liked to imitate it on the internet. [Photo/IC]

However, being a successful variety entertainer, to them, is not the answer that's good for all. A seemingly prosperous variety show market is not as good as the public may think.

First of all, China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the country's top media watchdog, released the Views on Further Strengthening Reality TV Show Regulation in July 2015.

According to the announcement, China's TV shows must not mislead the audience by over-consuming celebrities. The highlight of a program should center on the daily life of ordinary people rather than the personal lives of celebrities. Also, celebrities should set an example by passing more positive energy to the audience rather than create several new buzzwords or clichés.

Secondly, intensive show participation frequency and similarly humorous styles lead to convergent characters among variety entertainers, rendering the audience a sense of humor fatigue. Familiar behaviors, similar laughing points and overused interaction expressions may lose more and more of the audience as time goes by, resulting in a drop in TV viewer ratings.

Last but not least, most of the highly rated shows are introduced from other countries, the Republic of Korea in particular. Chinese variety shows are good at learning success from others but lack originality and innovation. In response to the phenomena, many TV producers have shifted their eyes to talented grassroots performers. They hope to maintain a TV show's popularity by bringing more new faces to the screen. Therefore, variety entertainment will lower their exposure rate accordingly.

The question of whether to be a variety entertainer or not is not one that has a perfect answer.

Honestly, becoming a variety entertainer is a golden opportunity for more people to know about you. A wise variety entertainer should take advantage of this chance to upgrade his or her performance to prepare against a downward career slide.

Related

Top 10 popular China TV shows in the first half of 2016

Filmmakers eye wider viewership with engaging content