The season four premiere of Star China Media’s The Voice of China has topped ratings records in China.

Viewership data released by Star China Media put ratings at 5.418% and share at 16.597% across the 50 cities measured.

Star China Media said this was the top rating of any entertainment show premiere ever on Chinese television.

The performance of the new season may allay fears that singing shows have had their day in China, and that audiences have moved on to other non-studio-based genres.

The Voice of China returned to Zhejiang Satellite TV on Friday, 16 July.

The rating of the first episode of season four increased 28% over the final episode of season three, and it was also higher than the finale of season two.

The premiere’s rating is way above premieres of the first three series. Season one was 1.48%. Season two was 3.52%, and season three was 4.16%.

The primary audience is below 35 years old. This demographic represents 24% of the audience.

The Voice of China’s new season is also beating popular original production Where Are We Going Dad?, based on the Korean format.

Season three judges Na Ying and Wang Feng are back for season four, and season two’s Harlem Yu returns for season four. The new judge this season is Jay Chou.

Season four premiere coincided with the departure of vice president/chief representative, Vivian Yin, who has joined FremantleMedia as managing director for China, and the promotion of Iris Xia to deputy general manager, Star China Media.

Star China’s formats also include So You Think You Can Dance and China’s Got Talent, as well as home-grown format, Sing My Song, which is distributed globally by ITV Studios. Just before she left, Yin closed a deal for Korean format, Infinite Challenge, for China.