Hunan Television
Mengniu Milk Group reportedly paid ¥14 million to Hunan Television for rights to sponsor the show's broadcast outside Hunan province beginning with the 2005 season. According to one of China's leading thinktanks, the 2005 contest was estimated to have drawn in a total of ¥766 million (US$95.75 million). Indirect business impact of the competition was estimated at several billion yuan.