A vague directive last month for domestic TV stations not to focus solely on “entertainment” inspired the Financial Times to dig deeper.

Last week the paper spoke to China’s most successful commercial TV station, Hunan Broadcasting System, which said it was reworking its programming to comply with new regulations.

“We must raise the quality of our programmes and make them in a way that they’re acceptable to the government, the market and the audience,” Ouyang Changlin, the director of the HBS, told the Financial Times at the end of May.

The State Administration for Radio, Film and Television told TV stations last month that programmes should be measured on “quality, responsibility and values” rather than commercial success.

The question is: whose values?

China often masks political censorship campaigns with crackdowns against violence and vulgarity.

Most commentators agree that censorship appears to be growing stricter ahead of a leadership transition in 2012 and after the internet-fuelled demonstrations in North Africa and the Middle East earlier this year.

The paper also suggests the television order could be part of a national campaign to get people in the spirit ahead of the Communist Party’s 90th anniversary in early July.

Chongqing TV has launched full-on “red” programming where it’s in with Mao and out with advertising.

“The government may like ‘red’ programmes, but if nobody watches your programme, that’s good for nothing,” Ouyang told the Financial Times.