24's return fuels hope for China's TV fans

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Diehard Chinese fans of 24, the American TV series on security agent Jack Bauer's attempts to negate violent plots against his country, are celebrating the start of a new season.

The ninth and latest season titled 24: Live Another Day returned to the small screen on May 5 in the United States.

China's leading video portal, Youku, hosted the promotional campaign "24 Hours for 24",where about 200 fans watched all of Season 8 in three theaters in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The screening lasted for about 24 hours, starting at 5 pm on May 5. Fans then watched the first episode of Season 9.

All episodes of the thriller, produced by Fox network, are now available on Youku.com.

The rejoicing over 24 comes a few days after Chinese video websites stopped streamingfour popular American TV shows, including The Big Bang Theory and The Good Wife.

Officials of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, China's regulator of the industry, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Some Chinese netizens had speculated that the content of the shows hadn't been properly censored earlier.

But a staff member at Youku disagrees.

"Video streaming sites, including Youku, have their own teams to examine content before streaming and it is helped by certain search technologies,” the staff member said on condition of anonymity.

"So far, we haven't received any further orders to tighten content control."

About the broadcaster:

Anne Ruisi is an editor at China Daily online with more than 30 years of experience as a newspaper editor and reporter. She has worked at newspapers in the U.S., including The Birmingham News in Alabama and City Newspaper of Rochester, N.Y.