Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wai’s debut television drama series “Blossoms Shanghai” directed and produced by himself, has been a huge hit in mainland China. However, since it started airing on TVB’s Jade Channel in Hong Kong every Monday to Friday at 9:30 pm from June 3, the viewership has been at the bottom of the annual rankings in Hong Kong.
Born in Shanghai, director Wong Kar Wai spent 10 years creating the 30-episode Chinese drama “Blooming Flowers,” which has garnered tremendous popularity since its premiere in China in January. The drama has generated over 11.5 billion reads on Weibo and 19.1 billion views on Douyin. The star-studded cast, led by Shanghai-born actors such as Hu Ge, Tiffany Tang, Ma Yili, and Zheng Kai, has been a point of focus. Hu Ge recently won the Best Actor award at the Magnolia Awards for his performance in “Blossoms Shanghai” Apart from the Best Actor award, the drama also claimed accolades for Best TV Series, Best Cinematography, Best Art Design, and Best Adapted Screenplay, stealing the spotlight.
According to a report by mainland media outlet “First Financial,” TVB’s General Manager Deric Wan revealed in mid-June that “Blooming Flowers” is the most expensive foreign drama acquisition in TVB history. Wan stated, “It must be the most expensive; Wong Kar Wai’s work must be the most expensive, needless to say. But this production has attracted attention worldwide, so it’s only right for Hong Kong to broadcast it. As the largest media company in Hong Kong, it is worth spending more money to acquire it.”
The report mentioned that due to director Wong Kar Wai’s suggestion, TVB initially planned to air the original Shanghainese version of the series but faced rejection from local regulatory authorities. As a result, they adopted a bilingual broadcast mode in Mandarin and Shanghainese, marking an unprecedented move for TVB.
However, disappointingly, “Blossoms Shanghai” has not met expectations in terms of viewership in Hong Kong. Over the past week, its viewership has remained around 10 points, only about half of the average viewership of TVB’s in-house productions.
Data shows that in 2023, the highest-rated drama on Jade Channel was “News Queen,” with weekly average ratings ranging from 24.4 to 25.2 points, averaging 25.2 points. On the other hand, the lowest-rated drama was “Ms. Forensic JD,” with an average of 18.7 points per week.
Comparative data indicates that Wong Kar Wai’s “Blossoms Shanghai” has fallen below the lowest-rated drama on Jade Channel in 2023. Compared to “News Queen,” the current viewership of “Blossoms Shanghai” has dropped by almost half, leading some to describe it as creating “another miracle for TVB: the highest price, the lowest ratings.”
In response to debates among fans of the main cast of “Blossoms Shanghai” questioning how many more viewership points the series can gain on Jade Channel since it has already aired in mainland China, some have compared it to the highly acclaimed drama “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.”
“The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,” another drama that premiered in mainland China and was a foreign acquisition by TVB, achieved average ratings of 19.5 points, significantly higher than the 10-point viewership of “Blooming Flowers.”
Some Hong Kong viewers have questioned TVB’s decision to broadcast a Mandarin-language production, highlighting that as a Cantonese TV channel, it may not be suitable for their audience. One Hong Kong netizen commented, “For the sake of Wong Kar Wai and Hu Ge, I watched this drama early on. I found the first episode hard to continue, but after the second episode, I realized it’s actually quite good. It is set in 1990s Shanghai, with authentic Shanghai elements. While the Shanghainese version is more authentic, I feel that even the Mandarin version lacks essence, and airing it on Jade Channel is truly inappropriate.”
Similarly, mainland netizens have remarked, “For the sake of art, TVB made a bold attempt—a decision not to dub in Cantonese but to use Mandarin and Shanghainese in the original soundtrack. This move is akin to serving Hong Kong viewers a hotpot without any ‘dipping sauce’; fresh ingredients, but lacking that familiar taste, leaving it somewhat lacking in appeal.”
Some viewers expressed, “The deep-rooted love of Cantonese dramas among Hong Kong viewers is undeniable. To them, Cantonese is not just a language but a thread of emotions, a cultural label.”