Record bids for CCTV airtime (2)

Apart from the dominance of liquor makers, other notable bidders came from the food and beverage sectors, as well as e-commerce giants.

"The records bid today suggested that entrepreneurs are full of hope for the country's economy in 2013, it is also a positive answer to the economic rebound underway," said Li Guangdou, an advertising expert who is also a brand consultant to CCTV.

According to Li, CCTV's advertising revenue has been growing faster than the nation's GDP for the past 18 years since the auction started, at an average 16 to 17 percent annually, but the high growth faces increasing pressure this year.

In the first half of 2012, revenue in the domestic advertising market only grew 4.2 percent, and television advertising was up 4.7 percent. Both growth rates were slower than the economic expansion, which fell to a three-year low of 7.8 percent during the same period.

He Haiming, vice-director of CCTV's advertising operations and management center, said most companies have cut their advertising expenditure this year as their budgets were squeezed by the gloomy economic situation.

"As for CCTV, this has been the busiest year in my career of more than a decade, in terms of working overtime and visiting clients," He said.

Compared with the previous year's auction, this year has less advertising resources because of the absence of major sport events, and regulations to reduce advertising time during broadcasting, He said.

Meanwhile, national television faces increasing competition from local television channels, such as Zhejiang Satellite TV, which drew 1.04 billion yuan in advertising revenue for its hit show, Voice of China, for next year.