BEIJING—China is set to impose a limit on the number of foreign television shows that Chinese online video-streaming services can offer, according to people familiar with the new policy, in its latest effort to control foreign-media content.
Regulators as soon as Thursday could require that foreign TV shows eventually make up no more than 30% of TV content on Chinese video-streaming sites, the people said. Currently, foreign shows make up more than half of the TV content of popular video sites such as those run by Youku Tudou Inc. and Sohu.com Inc., according to a report by a publication under China's broadcast regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.
Representatives for the two companies declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the agency. It wasn't clear whether the 30% referred to the number of titles of TV shows or the number of episodes. (The report saying foreign shows make up more than half of the TV content on popular video sites measured the number of titles.)
China keeps a tight grip on what its state-run broadcasters can transmit via cable or satellite, and foreign programming makes up only a small part of it. But until recently regulators put fewer restrictions on Internet companies that stream movies and TV shows to Chinese mobile phones, tablets, computers and set-top boxes.
That has made a wide range of foreign shows available to Chinese viewers, including "The Big Bang Theory," "2 Broke Girls" and "House of Cards" from the U.S.; "Sherlock" and "Downton Abbey" from the U.K. and the hit "My Love From the Star" from South Korea. "The Big Bang Theory," which until recently was streamed by Sohu.com, drew more than 120 million views a month, according to the company.
But regulators have taken an increasing interest in video-streaming, say executives at the companies. "The regulator has been collecting data about episodes of different online programs from major video sites for quite a while," said an executive with one domestic video site. "The agency has done quite a lot of homework for this policy."
In April, the state regulator pulled four hit U.S. series—"The Big Bang Theory," "The Good Wife," "NCIS," and "The Practice"—from domestic video sites.
Authorities haven't given a reason for those moves. But they come as Chinese leaders try to tighten regulation of information circulating via chat apps and on Internet sites. As well, China is seeking to build its own culture of television, movies and animation to counter what it sees as the soft-power influence of the U.S. In a government report released in March, Chinese government planners called on officials to "quicken development of public cultural undertakings including the press and publishing, radio and television, and literature and art as well as the culture industry."
Executives among Chinese video companies said the new limits could have a positive impact on the companies by cooling the bidding for licensing foreign TV shows. Video-streaming sites paid a total of 4.2 billion yuan ($683 million) last year to license foreign and domestic programming, according to research firm EntGroup, up from 3.2 billion yuan the year before and compared with 300 million yuan in 2007.
An executive at a Chinese broadcasting company said producers of South Korean TV programs—which are extremely popular in China—were asking for prices of about $200,000 to $300,000 per episode of hit shows.
"For the foreign content production and distribution companies, they might not be able to ask for unreasonably high price in the future as some of them are doing now," the executive said.
Many of the Chinese companies have been developing their own content as a way to reduce licensing costs.