Headlines from China: More Money to be Burned by Chinese Video Platforms in 2018?

More Money to be Burned by Chinese Video Platforms in 2018?

The 4th quarter of 2017 sees Chinese online streaming platforms announcing ambitious plans one after another. On October 24, Youku announced 58 new drama series and 37 variety shows. A week later, iQiyi announced 233 upcoming projects. Then at the beginning of November, Mango TV claimed to be the first profitable Chinese video platform while Tencent Video claimed to have over 43 million paid users. This year from January to July, the total number of streaming app users is 642 million, a slight decrease compared to the number from the same period last year, which indicates that the room for acquiring new users through low membership prices is getting smaller. Video platforms start to invest more in creating original content in order to grow audience and increase revenue. As the online streaming sector has been seeing growth in advertising revenue and number of paid users, the leading platforms backed by giant tech companies, such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, seem to be willing to burn more money in 2018 to conquer the market. Read more on chinanews.com

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China Will Soon Become the World’s Largest Film Market Says Chris Dodd

In this exclusive interview with Mtime, Chris Dodd, former CEO of Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA), talks about MPAA’s global expansion, copyright protection, and his opinions on China co-productions. According to Dodd, over 70 percent of the Big Six’s income is from overseas. Moving forward, it’s imperative for Hollywood studios to tell diverse stories for a global audience. In addition, he foresees China becoming the world’s largest film market within a year or two. In addition to the growth of box office numbers, Dodd also stresses the improvement of quality of Chinese films as well the growth of the filmmaking talent pool in China. Todd attributes the growth of China box office partially to co-productions. According to a third-party data provider, 54 percent of China’s box office revenue in 2016 was generated by co-produced films. In addition to co-producing films, Dodd also sees more collaborations between China and Hollywood in film education and cultural exchange. Read more on Mtime

Maoyan Receives 1 Billion Yuan Financing from Tencent

Recently, Chinese online ticketing firm Maoyan officially announced that the company had received 1 billion yuan ($150.6 million) financing from Tencent. The current market evaluation of Maoyan has exceeded 20 billion yuan ($3 billion). Maoyan plans to use the funds to expand in fourth tier cities in China. Currently, Maoyan’s market share in first-tier cities is relatively high, yet its market share in fourth tier cities falls far behind its competitor Tao Piaopiao.  Read more on Ent Group.

‘Paddington 2’ Set for December 8 China Release

British animated comedy film ‘Paddington 2’ has been scheduled to open across China on December 8, according to a recent official announcement. ‘Paddington,’ the first installment of the Paddington series, was released in China in 2015 and grossed 1 billion yuan ($150.6 million). ‘Paddington 2’ has opened in British theaters on November 10, and will start its theatrical run in the U.S. in January 2018. As of now, the film has an average rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Read more on Mtime

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