TV celebrities including Chinese actress Michelle Ye, singer Shang Wenjie ,Korean pop star Nana (pictured), Chinese actresses Mo Xiaoqi and Alyssa Chia design clothes in a reality show. They will model their designs in runway shows to win orders from shop owners at tmall.com, where the designs will hit the shelves immediately after each episode is aired. Photos Provided to China Daily

Winners announced in global contest

Bringing it back home

As a step in that direction, Jiangsu and Tianjin TV have started to solicit programming ideas from the public. Entries to Jiangsu have a chance to not only be made into a real show but also win an award worth about 1 million yuan.

While State-owned TV stations still have managerial limitations and are less tolerant of failure, Dragon TV's Bao Xiaoqun tells Beijing-based Netease News, they choose to tap market potential by working with independent companies, which are more flexible and better at taking risks.

In mature markets, such as the United Kingdom, the processes of making programs and broadcasting them were separated back in the 1980s. In China, private companies were given the rights to TV program production in 2004.

A growing number of independent companies have been quick to gain recognition among broadcasters and audiences since 2012, when Canxing Productions successfully made the Voice of China for Zhejiang TV.

But for these independent houses, a highly risky financial scheme seems to be also deterring them from embarking on new paths.

According to Peng Kan from format broker Legend Media, in some cases, a production company is given a certain budget that includes their profit, to make a show. But TV stations often request many changes once the production begins, forcing the independent makers to use up their potential profit margins.

Production companies are also often required to sign a contract promising a certain audience rating, says Li of Blue Flame. Failing to succeed the ratings chart means "the company ends up losing business", he says. "It's too early to call New Dress a success. We still have risks ahead."