China station admits New Year’s drone show was prerecorded

A Shanghai TV station has acknowledged that footage of a formation of 2,000 drones flying over the city broadcast on New Year’s Eve had actually been prerecorded days before

BEIJING — A Shanghai TV station has acknowledged that footage of a formation of 2,000 drones flying over the city broadcast on New Year’s Eve had actually been prerecorded days before.

The footage had been the highlight of Dragon TV’s holiday gala and presented as occurring live. News organizations including The Associated Press published the video.

However Shanghai residents said they had witnessed no such event, prompting the network to issue a statement saying the event was rehearsed and recorded on Dec. 26 and Dec. 27 because of safety concerns about the size of the crowd along the city’s famous riverfront Bund on New Year’s Eve.

“Due to the high crowd at the Bund on New Year’s Eve, watching the drone show may cause safety problems, so the rehearsal and recording time…