TV dramas go online, copyright prices soar
By Zhang Zhao (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-11-30

In 2006, the online copyright for 80 episodes of the blockbuster TV drama My Own Swordsman sold for a modest 100,000 yuan ($15,720).

Just five years later, the price paid by Internet portal Sohu for rights to another hit television series - New Princess Pearl, which has nearly 100 episodes - soared to 30 million yuan.

Then there's the deal by Qiyi, a video website run by China's largest search engine Baidu, to pay 1.5 million yuan for the rights to each episode of another TV drama.

The average copyright price for one online episode is about 500,000 yuan today, but the figure for a hit drama can reach more than 1 million yuan, about the same as broadcast rights.

"Six years ago, you could buy (the online copyright for) 1,000 movies with 300,000 yuan, but now you can only buy one episode of a TV drama," said Han Xuemin, vice-president of the video sharing website Joy.cn.

One of the major reasons for skyrocketing copyright prices is the increasing number of TV viewers who are turning their eyes to their computer screens for entertainment.

Professor Fan Zhizhong from the Zhejiang University's School of Media and International Culture said it is "purely market behavior" for video websites to spend large amounts on TV dramas.

"Advanced Internet technology has made it possible to watch TV dramas online, while at the same time the government is paying increasing attention to fighting piracy, which has encouraged websites to purchase copyrights," Fan said.

'Invisible hand'

He said the true value of a TV drama's online copyright might be decided by the "invisible hand" of various deals.

After a video website buys the exclusive copyright for a TV drama, it often resells it to a number of other websites to recover its investment.

"Such a distribution strategy allows a company to profit from the price difference," said Gao Fei, vice-president of the video website LeTV.com. "It's like buying houses. The earlier you buy a house, the more you can earn" by resale.

Growing online viewer numbers and the pursuit of copyrighted content have led to increasingly fierce competition. People who use the Internet to watch TV dramas have the choice between watching for free with ads or paying to see high-quality video.

Online viewers have noticed the difference in recent years as more advertising is added to each episode - before it begins and after it ends, or even in the middle.

"TV stations need audience ratings to attract more advertising, and so do websites. The long, popular TV dramas are without doubt a perfect attraction," said Fan.

But some websites also offer paid content.

"Some viewers are sensitive to price," Gao said. "But others have higher requirements for quality and don't like wasting time watching ads. So they are willing to pay for a better experience."

China Daily

(China Daily 11/30/2011 page17)



Preventing a patent authorization

Are we able to stop our rivals from obtaining authorization of a patent application that we regard as having substantial defects during the substantive examination, given the fact that the rival companies hane already published their patent applications?

The protection of design on printed flat works

How can a party use hedging to prepare for the risk of infringing?

Can an expired patent be applied again?

What is the difference between a non-compete obligation and trade secret confidentiality obligation?

主站蜘蛛池模板: 日本强好片久久久久久AAA | 成年大片免费视频| 亚洲va久久久噜噜噜久久狠狠| a级特黄的片子| 欧美丰满大乳大屁股流白浆| 免费观看性欧美一级| 激情网站免费看| 好爽好紧好大的免费视频国产| 久久99精品国产99久久6| 水蜜桃亚洲一二三四在线| 国产午夜一级鲁丝片| AV片在线观看免费| 日本亚洲天堂网| 亚洲av永久无码精品水牛影视| 欧美精品亚洲精品日韩专区va| 健身私教干了好几次| 精品午夜福利在线观看| 国产真实乱子伦精品视手机观看| 99久久国产综合精品五月天喷水 | 欧美激情一区二区久久久| 人妻有码中文字幕| 韩国男男腐啪GV肉视频| 国产精品亚韩精品无码a在线| 三级4级做a爰60分钟| 欧美人妻精品一区二区三区| 午夜欧美精品久久久久久久| 西西人体www44rt大胆高清| 国内精品视频一区二区三区八戒| 久久99视频精品| 最近中文字幕高清中文字幕电影二 | 亚洲乱人伦在线| 欧美亚洲国产精品久久| 亚洲国产成AV人天堂无码| 福利视频导航网| 午夜国产大片免费观看| 老司机午夜在线视频免费| 国产第一福利影院| 1000部免费啪啪十八未年禁止观看| 影音先锋在线免费观看| 中文字幕亚洲综合久久综合| 无人视频免费观看免费视频 |