www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
Business / Technology

China's internet TV sites in $1b battle for foreign shows

(Agencies) Updated: 2014-11-18 08:03

China's big internet-TV companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on foreign TV shows and films in a battle to attract users and advertisers, but risk bumping up against regulators protecting the domestic TV and film industry.

In less than two years, Sohu.com Inc, Youku Tudou Inc, backed by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd, and Baidu Inc have spent $1 billion on TV series and movies, primarily from the United States, Britain and South Korea.

They say they will continue spending, although it could be some time before they turn a profit.

China's internet TV sites in $1b battle for foreign shows
Online goes out of the box 
China's internet TV sites in $1b battle for foreign shows
 'Big Bang Theory' will stream again in China

The key is differentiation; convincing China's 632 million internet users to keep coming back to a video streaming service because it has more of the best content. For online video firms, revenue comes from advertisers, and advertisers pay largely based on how many users the video sites have. Users go where the content is good.

"You see this dragged-out war of attrition where everybody's scrambling to buy the best content," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting. "This will ultimately narrow it down to the smallest handful of Goliaths, and then people start to make money."

But China's regulators have the freewheeling industry in their sights, and are pinning it down with new licensing and quota restrictions - helping the domestic TV and film industry develop with less competition from mature foreign media, analysts say.

It also means the state can use regulation to limit the amount of foreign programming and remove what it considers "harmful" content, such as pornography and obscenity, from the internet.

Paying?top dollar

Youku Tudou, nearly one-quarter owned by Alibaba, is way out in front with its foreign content, according to Youku.com, with 1,451 US, UK and Korean TV seasons. Sohu has 509 and Tencent Holdings Ltd 471.

Youku Tudou's video content costs rose 15 percent in January-September from a year earlier, while Baidu's content costs, mainly for the iQiyi.com video site, were more than 2.5-times higher. Sohu's commitments for video content purchases rose 42 percent.

The strategy is paying off.

"There's competition between traditional TV and online video platforms," said Forrester Research's Wang Xiaofeng. "For advertisers, they think online video is more cost effective, and young people spend more time online than watching TV ... It's a global trend, TV losing advertising budgets to online."

Technology firms are getting in on the act, too. Leading smartphone maker Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd said last week it will buy a stake in Youku Tudou.

Big Bang Theory tug-of war

In September, the General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said it must approve foreign content before it's aired, and set a 30 percent quota on the ratio of foreign to domestic media on streaming sites.

Sohu said that means it must either buy more domestic content, driving up the price, or buy less foreign media and risk losing traffic and advertising money.

In May, China's authorities ordered streaming services to take down popular US shows The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, NCIS and The Practice.

Soon afterwards, China's state broadcaster, China Central Television, began airing The Big Bang Theory, leading industry observers to speculate it was behind the edict.

Insulating the domestic film and TV industry from unimpeded competition while it develops has echoes of similar moves designed to help China's tech sector, said Marbridge's Natkin.

"The regulators say 'we can't permit this particular show', but in some cases the real reason is they want to protect and foster the growth of the domestic industry," he said.

 

Hot Topics

Editor's Picks
...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 97在线视频免费公开观看 | 91久久香蕉国产线看 | 一级毛片在线播放免费 | 最新在线精品国自拍视频 | 日本激情视频在线观看 | 成人欧美日韩视频一区 | 日韩午夜在线视频 | 青青操在线视频 | 国产一区二区在线不卡 | 亚洲国产韩国一区二区 | 国产精品国产亚洲精品不卡 | 国产精品免费观看视频播放 | 91久久久久久久 | 日韩免费毛片全部不收费 | 美毛片| 国产日韩欧美在线 | 亚洲乱码一二三四五六区 | 一区二区在线免费视频 | 日韩视频一区二区三区 | 国产精品日韩欧美在线第3页 | 日韩午夜在线观看 | 亚洲精品字幕一区二区三区 | 久久精品国产精品亚洲精品 | 一区二区日韩 | 美女张开腿让人桶 | 日韩特级 | 欧美黄色特级视频 | 欧美日本视频一区 | 午夜美女影院 | 国产精选91热在线观看 | 亚洲人成网址在线观看 | 亚洲人成网7777777国产 | 日韩亚洲天堂 | 中国一级做a爰片久久毛片 中日韩欧美一级毛片 | 在线一区二区三区 | 成人午夜 | 国产精品亚洲二线在线播放 | 91精品国产爱久久久久久 | 女让张开腿让男人桶视频 | 韩国免费播放一级毛片 | 午夜久久网 |