In Henan Province, in central China, millions of people have been tuning in every week to watch an extraordinary talk show called Interviews Before Execution, in which a reporter interviews murderers condemned to death. Legal TV Channel, the station in central China's Henan province that produced and broadcast the show for the last five years, confirmed to ABC News it has been abruptly canceled due to "internal problems" and will not be seen again. In clips found online (many of which were taken down this week) Ding interviews a child-killer and a man who stabbed his ex-wife in front of her parents. Both the BBC and PBS International own the rights to a documentary film, "Dead Men Talking," produced by a film company in China which goes behind the scenes for an up close look at how the show is made. In China, 55 crimes carry the death penalty, from murder, treason and armed rebellion to bribery and smuggling. Requests for an interview with the host of "Interviews Before Execution" Ding Yu, were denied.
– Hit Chinese TV program Interviews Before Execution has been abruptly canceled—after five years on the air and just about a week of attention from the West. The show, which reached 40 million viewers every Saturday night, featured glamorous host Ding Yu speaking to condemned criminals days, hours, or even just minutes before their execution. Officials at China's Legal TV say the show, which just started popping up in Western press for the first time in advance of a BBC documentary on the show that aired last night, has been axed because of "internal problems," ABC reports. Some 55 crimes carry the death penalty in China, but Interviews focused only on murderers. In an interview with the BBC, Ding denied that the program was exploitative. "Some viewers may consider it cruel to ask a criminal to do an interview when they are about to be executed. On the contrary, they want to be heard," she said. "Some criminals I interviewed told me: 'I'm really very glad. I said so many things in my heart to you at this time. In prison, there was never a person I was willing to talk to about past events.'"