China's TV media regulator Tuesday asked satellite TV channels to focus on their social responsibility.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) said in a statement that news reporting should be the major work of satellite TV channels instead of broadcasting TV dramas or movies.

"The management of satellite TV channels should be fully aware of their responsibility. They should abide by government rules concerning the broadcasting of TV dramas," the statement said.

In a circular made public on Monday, the SARFT capped the length of TV dramas at 45 percent of a channel's total program length.

In addition, except for weekends and national holidays, a channel could only broadcast a maximum six episodes of a TV drama every day and the maximum three episodes of a drama could be put on show during the prime hours from 7 p.m. to mid night.