Reception Analysis Of Chinese Taiwanese Audiences On Mainland Variety Shows

Chinese Mainland variety shows have gained increasing popularity in Chinese Taiwan since 2013.Understanding how and why Chinese Taiwanese audiences watch Mainland variety shows is of great significance for cross-strait cultural communication.Therefore,this study took the post-90 s filial Chinese Taiwanese audiences and parental Taiwanese audiences as the research objects.Methods of text analysis and focus group were applied to explore the trend and textual characteristics of the Chinese Mainland variety shows that are popular in Chinese Taiwan and reception practices as well as reception reasons of filial and parental Chinese Taiwanese audiences on Mainland variety shows.To figure out the trend and textual characteristics of Chinese Mainland variety shows in Chinese Taiwan,the study analyzed the types and data of popular Mainland variety shows in Chinese Taiwan,and found that in terms of the trend these Mainland variety shows are mainly life-oriented and entertaining types such as singing and games.Moreover,these Mainland variety shows have changed from local reproduction of foreign variety shows to original Mainland variety shows.In terms of the textual characteristics,the study applied the method of text analysis and found that in these popular Mainland variety shows,cross-strait pop culture elements formed the main content of these shows,traditional culture elements became the creative material for these shows,customs and scenery elements featured in these shows,and multiple values were the deep connotation of these shows.To understand the generational differences in the reception practices on Chinese Mainland variety shows among Chinese Taiwanese audiences,this study conducted the method of focus group to explore the behaviors,scenes and motives of watching Mainland variety shows among parental and filial Taiwanese audiences.The study found that the two generations showed intergenerational differences in media usage habits and media literacy.Despite that the Internet has changed the reception practices of Taiwanese audiences,it has yet to disrupt the family tradition of watching TV shows together,which suggests the integration of the function of TV in families and family values in Chinese society.In addition,the discussions about Mainland variety shows between parental and filial Chinese Taiwanese audiences,particularly the reverse cultural feeding on Mainland variety shows from filial audiences to parental audiences,may give rise to a different type of intimate relationship.To analyze the reasons why Chinese Mainland variety shows attract audiences,transcription of the focus group discussions were coded on the basis of the multi-layered nature of culture,and six themes including language,types of variety shows,character,custom and scenery,traditional culture and values were identified.The above-mentioned themes were then analyzed with cultural proximity as the main theory and cultural difference as the supplementary theory.It is found out that parental audiences are mostly attracted by the proximities of languages,types of variety shows,characters,traditional culture elements and values,as well as differences of customs and scenery.However,what highly attract filial audiences are limited to the proximities of characters and values,the differences of languages,customs and scenery.The proximities of types of variety shows and traditional culture elements only appeal to filial audiences under some specific conditions,whereas languages have little influence on filial audiences.To sum up,cultural proximity and cultural difference are the main reasons that attract Chinese Taiwanese audiences to accept mainland variety shows.However,cultural proximity plays a more important role in the reception of parental Chinese Taiwanese audiences,while cultural difference plays a more important role in the reception of filial Chinese Taiwanese audiences,which might be caused by the differences between parental and filial Chinese Taiwanese audiences in mastery of languages and identities,media literacy,and differences in educational and political conditions at different times and so on.Moreover,the study revealed that the proximity and identity of the core layer of culture and of the local culture are relatively essential for reception of Taiwanese audiences.Cultural proximity and cultural difference should be viewed from dynamic and multiple perspectives.