Observers said the regulation could cut into the revenue of broadcasters without necessarily improving the standards of programmes.
"Super Girl" was one of China's highest rated reality talent search shows for the past six years. It was also profitable - reportedly earning US$95 million of advertising revenue at its peak for Hunan TV.
But more conservative critics have called the program "vulgar" and "immoral", and the government shut it down in September, saying it violated rules for over-running. That was the start of what is now seen as a crackdown on reality entertainment programmes.
Under a new regulation by China's State Administration of Radio, Film and TV, all 34 satellite TV stations can only show 90 minutes of reality programmes everyday, between 7.30pm and 10.00pm, also known as primetime. Other types of programmes allowed during that timeslot are news or a show that promotes traditional or socialist core values.
The new ruling is widely seen as part of bigger plans by the Chinese government for socially cohesive reforms at a time of fast-paced economic development, which has been accused of promoting individualism.
Li Danlin, director of the Media Law & Policy Centre at the Communication University of China, said: "As the ruling party, the Communist Party of China emerged from a harsh era of revolutionary war and has always seen the role of the media as a strong influence on the political and military struggle."
But therein lies the conflict between the aims of the government and the commercial TV stations. With channels watched by 95 per cent of China's 1.3 billion population, the country's 34 provincial satellite broadcasters are mainly profit-driven.
In order to draw advertising dollars, they have, in recent years, been pushing for edgier programmes, most of them reality-based.
Experts said capping the airtime of this genre will only hurt profits. Instead, more needs to be done to improve the quality of programmes.
Ms Li said: "We can build a more extensive and representative review mechanism to look into such programs. The government, media and audience have different perspectives. With such a mechanism, there will be a channel for television stations to appeal, should a programme be fined or banned."
For now, TV stations are playing by the rules, and watching what they put on television.
-CNA/ac
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