Recently, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) has actively advanced the "dual governance" work, effectively achieving the three major governance goals of "watching live TV as soon as it is turned on, significant reduction in the cost of TV service packages, and noticeable increase in consumer transparency." This initiative has completely solved the long-standing issues of subscription chaos and complex operations faced by TV users, greatly enhancing the viewing experience for the audience.

Since August 2023, the NRTA has initiated governance work aimed at addressing the "Matryoshka" pricing and complex operations in multiple domains such as cable TV, IPTV, and Internet TV. The results of these efforts were presented at the 20th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair. After months of unremitting efforts, not only has there been a marked reduction in the number of fee packages and their costs, but also a free "Revisiting Classics" content channel has been launched, effectively attracting large-screen TV users to return, injecting new vitality into the development of the TV industry.

Especially in terms of convenience of TV operation, the Broadcasting Television Science Research Institute has introduced an innovative plug-in micro set-top box that is only the size of a regular mobile phone, effectively solving problems such as numerous wiring, poor visuals, and complex operations due to the separation of the set-top box from the TV. Liu Jianguo, the director of the institute, has stated that while the plug-in micro set-top box is aimed at commercial use in the scale market, the cost will be strictly controlled to ensure that its production cost remains similar to that of current set-top boxes.

The achievements of the "dual governance" work are evident. The on-site working group has greatly simplified the billing items in the governance of "Matryoshka" pricing, readjusted the charging standards, and optimized the billing process. For example, 158 organizations were rectified, involving up to 556 million terminal devices, and the number of fee packages for cable TV, IPTV, and Internet TV was reduced from 2,766 to 701, a decrease of over 70%. At the same time, by enriching the free content of TV programs, the cost of viewership was further reduced. According to statistics, by the end of 2023, cable TV homepages in 33 provinces nationwide had launched a "Revisiting Classics" section, attracting the attention of over 40 million users.

In solving the complexity of TV operations, the working group combined measures such as default full-screen live broadcast on startup, ensuring the interactive homepage live broadcast window occupies more than 40%, highlighting the news section, and reducing startup time to less than 35 seconds, effectively easing the difficulty of watching TV on cable TV, IPTV, and other platforms, significantly enhancing user experience.

Through continuous efforts and adjustments, the domestic startup live broadcast service has become more standardized and optimized. Statistical data shows that there are currently over 94.495 million cable TV users and about 192 million IPTV users in China who can immediately enjoy live broadcast services upon starting their TVs. Moreover, comprehensive coverage has been basically achieved on terminal devices that meet the respective upgrade criteria.

With the improvement of TV interfaces, viewers can more conveniently find programs of interest. With the help of clear interfaces, key positions such as navigation columns and homepage program recommendation slots are clearly marked with whether they require a fee, allowing users to understand the cost of a program before clicking to enter it.

"Dual management work" has successfully achieved the goals of "watching live broadcasts upon startup, reducing package fees by 50%, and enhancing transparency in consumption." What direction will the development take next? To ensure the consolidation of the first-phase regulatory results, the State Administration of Radio and Television will further standardize TV big screen business. The working group has formulated relevant industry norms, and the Academy of Broadcasting Science is developing an automated monitoring system to ensure long-term governance effectiveness.

Regarding the automated monitoring system, experts pointed out that the system will deploy collection robots in internet TV to supervise the package fee settings of various operating platforms, ensuring that compliant packages can be recorded in the system. At the same time, the system will also remotely monitor the operational pages of cable television to prevent confusion.

In terms of alleviating the complexity of TV operations, the Academy of Broadcasting Science, which is responsible for leading the project, has created a solution with the development of plug-in micro set-top boxes, expected to achieve the integration of TV and set-top boxes in the future. The plug-in micro set-top box is only about the size of a typical smartphone and weighs as light as 22 grams. It can be connected directly to the HDMI interface of the TV, hidden behind the TV, and powered via USB. The set-top box, with its simple and elegant appearance, significantly enhances the aesthetic layout of households.

From a practicality standpoint, the micro set-top box supports a unified IP interface, ensuring compatibility with all cable TV and IPTV networks nationwide. The uniformity of hardware configuration and operating system software allows it to load all existing services of cable TV and IPTV. Additionally, the micro set-top box supports 4K ultra-HD services and is compatible with proprietary audio and video standards like AVS2, HDR vivid, and Audio vivid. Paired with a new "infrared, Bluetooth, twinkling three-mode" remote control, users can control both the TV set and the set-top box with one remote, greatly simplifying the operation process.

Experts revealed that the research and development work for the plug-in set-top box and the new remote control has been going on since the second half of last year, involving multiple parties such as manufacturers and operators, with the final technical solution confirmed and a development team of over a hundred people. These efforts are aimed at solving the compatibility issues of cable TV and IPTV and ensuring a smooth transition between old and new set-top boxes.

With the continuous development of technology, the miniaturization trend of plug-in micro set-top boxes presents a greater challenge to their heat dissipation capability. After relentless efforts, the technical development team has overcome the problems of temperature rise and stability after numerous versions.

Liu Jianguo revealed that the current plan is to finalize the final design version of the plug-in micro set-top box by the end of this month. At that time, it will pilot on a small scale with 7 operators, each selecting 35 friendly users to conduct tests and collect valuable feedback to further optimize and improve the technology.

"We hope to commercialize the product on a large scale in the near future," said Liu Jianguo. Regarding the final market price of the product, he mentioned that controlling manufacturing costs has always been a major issue in the development process, aiming not to increase the burden on consumers. He expects that, after achieving mass production, the cost of the plug-in micro set-top box will be similar to that of current market set-top boxes.

In the exchange with Yicai, Liu Jianguo emphasized that the ultimate goal of set-top box research and development is to perfectly integrate the television and the set-top box, and integration is the direction of innovation. To achieve this ambitious goal, there will be challenges in technical issues and coordination among multiple parties. The problems currently faced in the market are not only technical, but also involve the business models and economic interests of TV manufacturers, operators, and broadcast control platforms, among others.

Despite facing an endless stream of problems and challenges, Liu Jianguo optimistically noted that the "dual regulation" work has achieved initial results. He confidently predicts that in the subsequent phases of the work, the path for the integrated development of TVs and set-top boxes will gradually be explored by enterprises and the market.