Licensing Fees for Online Broadcast of Chinese TV Series Soar
Beijing Morning Post, 6/22/11
An industry source present at the 14th Annual Shanghai International Film Festival revealed today that costs for online video sites to rebroadcast popular television series have soared to RMB 500,000 to 600,000 per episode. At least five major TV series sold online broadcast rights for RMB 20 mln.
It is rumored in the industry that Chinese Internet firm Sohu's (Nasdaq: SOHU) Sohu Video bought the rights to all 97 episodes of Hunan Satellite's "Princess Pearl" (Huan Zhu Gege) for RMB 30 mln, one of several popular TV programs that sold the rights for more than RMB 20 mln, alongside "Qing Cheng Xue" (purchased by Youku (NYSE: YOKU)), "The Emperor's Harem" (LeTV (300104.SZ)), and "Beauties of the Emperor" (PPStream).
When contacted, Sohu declined to comment on the price of the deal, saying only that it had acquired exclusive rights to the new remake of "Princess Pearl."
Keywords: content Internet television online video LeTV PPStream Youku Sohu 300104.SZ YOKU Leshi pricing broadcasting rights