(Yicai Global) June 15 -- Chinese broadcaster Mango Excellent Media, has soared to a market cap of more than CNY107.3 billion (USD15 billion) today thanks to the rising popularity of a new online variety show.

The Hunan province-based firm’s share price [SHE:300413] was up 7.1 percent at CNY60.40 (USD8.52) as of 1.25 p.m.

Mango TV began airing the new variety show on June 12 and its Weibo account followers are already nearing half a million. The first episode has received more than 280 million views to date.

The rise of the show will boost Mango’s membership revenue and the increase in traffic will be a boon for advertising income, said Xu Yibin, a researcher at Wanlian Securities.

The new show deviates from the common reality show model used by the likes of Tencent Video, Youku, and iQiyi, in which judges select from a group of young women to form a pop group. In Mango’s new take on the model, judges pick from 30 already-famous actresses, singers or dancers over the age of 30. The eldest is 52.

Xu believes with the program being the first of its kind, it could become an online phenomenon.

Mango earned CNY480 million (USD67.7 million) in net profit over the first quarter, up 14.8 percent as revenue jumped 9.7 percent to CNY2.7 billion (USD381 million). Xu forecasts annual profit could reach CNY1.6 billion for the full year and reach as much as CNY2.5 billion by 2022.

Editor: James Boynton