Spring Festival Gala sees viewership rise nearly 13% to 679m

This year’s Spring Festival Gala, a celebration     1     (annual) produced and broadcast by China Media Group (CMG), unfolded on the eve of the Chinese New Year on Friday evening. This occasion signifies a cherished time when Chinese people around the world gather with their     2     (family) to welcome the Chinese New Year, attracting 679 million viewers,     3     15.13 % increase from the previous year.

The gala was also broadcast in about 200 countries in 68 languages,     4     (receive) warm feedback.

This year, the gala, besides Beijing,     5     (have) four branch venues in Shenyang, Liaoning province, Xi’an, Shaanxi province, Changsha, Hunan province, and Kashgar in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Audience enjoyed a     6     (diverse) of local cultural elements from those places, such     7     folk musical instruments and folk dances.

    8     (support) by ultra-high-definition production, the gala was telecast on TV screens, public large screens, and mobile devices.

Since its inaugural (创始的) broadcast in 1983, the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala     9     (become) an integral part of celebrations in the country to usher (引领) in the Chinese New Year. A major entertainment during Lunar New Year’s Eve, the gala marks the joyous moment     10     families gather together to celebrate the upcoming year.

The popularity of Chinese video-sharing social networking service TikTok continues to grow among young people in the United States, especially teens and young adults.

The service lets users create and share short videos, many of     1     are within 15 seconds. The TikTok app offers a wide choice of sounds, brief parts of songs and special effects tools    2    (produce)a video. Videos often include popular songs from famous    3    (artist) and TikTok has even helped begin the careers of new music stars.

TikTok    4    (consider) a competitor to video-sharing app Snapchat, as well as Facebook’s Instagram service. Snapchat and Instagram also mainly interest young users with photos and videos centered     5     (large) on fashion, pop culture and humor.

Last year, TikTok was the     6     (two) most downloaded app from Apple and Google stores. Only WhatsApp was downloaded more.     7     was said that people have downloaded the TikTok app 1.65billion times.

While TikTok has continued to grow, some experts and parents have expressed concerns about videos     8     (appear) on TikTok that might be    9     (harm) to young users. For this reason, they urge parents to monitor what their children watch on TikTok and suggest that only those over 16 should have access     10     the service.