Never mind that the auction is a regular feature on CCTV's calendar, the broadcaster refuses to leave anything to chance.
After all, the devil is in the details. More so at an auction, which - with the heady atmosphere that frantic bidding usually engenders - is rife with opportunities for things going seriously wrong. Something as minor as a mis-timed scratch on the mind as bidders wonder what CCTV was thinking about when it raised the base price by 10 per cent and they could well find themselves the proud owner of a series of 7.5 second time slots.
For that privilege, they'll have to cough up several million dollars.
So before bidders start flexing their wrists, before the adrenaline starts pumping, before mistakes are made, CCTV has got its own full-proof way to limit the potential for errors. It's holding a dress rehearsal on November 17, a day before the big event.
Diary can't help wondering how this will go - actual bidders getting together to run through a script, raising their hands at agreed pricing levels. Yes, we are talking about China, one-time home to central planning, but surely an auction rehearsal is taking things a little too far back in time.
