Chinese television bosses are replacing the country's equivalent of Pop Idol with programmes about housework and morally improving topics, after officials ordered them to scrap the talent show.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), the broadcasting watchdog, had previously imposed a cap on how much screen time such programmes could take up, saying that it was concerned about their impact on young viewers.

The latest run of the hugely popular Super Girl contest finished on Friday. A spokesman for Hunan Satellite Television said it would not show any TV talent shows with mass participation next year because it had been accused of breaking time limits.

"Hunan Satellite Television obeys the state watchdog's decision and will not hold similar talent shows next year," said Li Hao.

"Instead, the channel will air programmes that promote moral ethics and public safety, and provide practical information for housework."

The show's heyday was in the middle of the last decade, when up to 400 million viewers tuned in for the final and voted for their favourite contestants via text messaging and phone polls.

But in 2007, SARFT decreed that talent shows could not be shown in prime time – between 7.30pm and 10.30pm – or screened for more than two hours a day. It also banned text voting – with some suggesting officials were concerned that the democratic method of choosing the winner was a bad influence.

"I don't think the content is really the important thing; it's not that different from what goes on elsewhere," said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei.com, which follows Chinese media.

"I think it's more about clamping down on the uppity provincial station – making sure they don't have a runaway hit that puts [state broadcaster] CCTV to shame.

"I think CCTV is very wary when any provincial station has a breakaway hit and SARFT and CCTV are very close."

Hunan TV has a reputation as the boldest and most innovative of China's broadcasters. It has often found success by picking up western formats and adapting them to suit a Chinese audience, launching versions of Strictly Come Dancing and Top Gear, among other hits.

China is particularly strict in its controls on broadcast media and SARFT's decisions can be startling to outsiders. Earlier this year an official from the watchdog denounced time travel dramas for their "frivolous" approach to history.