Leading online video licensing deal with national broadcaster CCTV
to serve young, sports savvy audience in China
BEIJING, May 13 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- While the world’s football fans are tuning in and doing the final countdown toward the 19th 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa in June, Internet video websites in China are experiencing steaming competition over the video broadcasting rights to serve an audience of over 400-million(1) Chinese Internet users in the far eastern land. Tudou (http://www.tudou.com ), the leading online video website in China officially announced a 2010 FIFA World Cup online broadcasting deal with CCTV, being the first video site inking the deal. Tudou will be serving some of the most premium sports content to the largest global audience of young and savvy sports fans via the Internet.
2010 FIFA World Cup video content on Tudou will include all games, opening and closing ceremonies, as well as all official programming around FIFA produced by CCTV streaming on the Tudou.com platform. Adding to the official content, Tudou will also be sending a camera crew to South Africa to shoot the event experience on the ground and integrate with its trademark creative user-generated video productions.
One media analyst commented, given the tight control of China’s television market, CCTV network will be the only official carrier to broadcast the 2010 FIFA World Cup on TV. The Internet, however, goes much beyond the limit and offers a wider range of content distribution opportunities. Following Tudou, major portals such as Sohu, Sina, Tencent as well as video sites like Ku6 and Youku all have joined the wagon and announced licensing partnerships with CCTV. Chinese audiences accessing content with their PCs obviously have a wider range of choices versus sitting in front of television sets.
At the time of the previous 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Tudou was the first video site launched in China and barely passed its one-year anniversary. In the next four years, Tudou.com reached 210-million unique users per month(2) and is now fully recognized as a mainstream online media platform for the young Internet audience. The booming popularity of online video applications penetrates some over 80% of the Internet population every month and has driven advertising dollars toward Internet videos too. Currently, Tudou is in close dialogues with top Fortune 500 sports, soft drink and auto brands for Tudou 2010 FIFA World Cup online programming sponsorship.
Footnotes:
(1) CNNIC - China Internet Network Information Center, Apr 2010
(2) China iResearch, April 2010
About Tudou.com:
Tudou.com is the leading online video platform in China, where users can upload, view and share video clips. Tudou went live on April 15, 2005 and has grown into one of the world’s largest content delivery networks hosting 35 million videos, including amateur video-blogging and user-generated videos, professional content such as movie clips, TV series and music videos from our content partners, as well as made-for-Internet original programming produced by Tudou. Tudou has established extensive business relationships with over 2500 well-known content providers, content agents, traditional and new media, as well as mobile operators in the Asian region. With the brand slogan "Today’s TV Network, Tomorrow’s Tudou," the company’s vision is building a video destination where people can find what they want to see, share what they create, and connect with like-minded people. Tudou never stops working toward this vision since 2005.
