Scenes from "Leiwen Tianxia".[Photo: globaltime.cn]
To the surprise of fans, Yes, I Do, a teen drama series produced by tudou.com, one of China's largest video websites, was broadcast this month on two satellite networks. A self-produced online series, Yes, I Do was previously only available on Tudou's website. Its appearance on both Shenzhen and Anhui Television Stations, airing on March 12 and 17, respectively, has generated inquiry about whether this will usher in a new trend of made-for-Internet dramas feeding mainstream television stations their self-produced programs.
According to Wang Xiangyun, COO of tudou.com, the average production cost of each episode of Yes, I Do averages between 500,000 ($79,150) to 600,000 yuan, equivalent to the cost of an ordinary made-for-TV show.
"Through product placements and selling copyrights to television stations and other channels, these made-for-Internet shows can be profitable," she said.
Initial ventures
While Tudou's successful venture onto leading television stations has generated excitement among similar domestic video websites, this is not the first time a web series made the jump. In 2010, Leiwen Tianxia, a news commentary program produced by video website joy.cn, was picked up for broadcast by Henan Television Station. The show was cancelled half a year later, due to control policies on news programs and other reasons.
"It was the first time that a self-produced website show was bought by television stations," said Zheng Xigui, CEO of joy.cn. It broke a one-sided relation ship in which video websites were always buying expensive copyrights to programs and dramas from television stations.
With video websites scrambling to buy TV shows, not only has the cost of copyright royalties increased, but so have heavy financial burdens. In 2011, leading video website youku.com revealed that the company spent 243 million yuan in buying copyrights and licensing, amounting to 27 percent of its total revenue. In 2011, tudou.com paid 168 million yuan to buy copyrights, 32.9 percent of its net revenue. Aside from the high purchasing cost of copyrights, domestic video websites haven't been able to offer paid service like their foreign peers and instead rely solely on advertisements for income.
American video websites like Hulu and Netflix have a profitable model based on a paid subscription service. Hulu has 1.5 million paid subscribers while Netflix has 23.53 million. Between high licensing costs and limited income sources, domestic video websites are looking for ways to break new, profitable grounds.
Mutual benefits
"In the last two years, no more than 20 programs or shows have been bought off websites by TV stations," Zheng told the Global Times. "For video websites and television stations, the mutual benefits for such ventures are obvious."
"The diversity of programs and plays produced by video websites can enhance their competitiveness in the industry, and the successful sales of those programs to television stations will not only expand their income sources, but also improve the website's popularity," said Li Fangting, an IT analyst at CIConsulting, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.
Meanwhile, for television stations, audience rating may increase, due to the range in programs offered by the websites. The cost in producing programs would be reduced, Li told the Global Times.
"Video websites have some advantages over television stations in producing original programs," said Gao Jin, head of the program production department at the video website iqiyi.com.
"On a website-produced show, we usually only require 30 people to produce a program that would require 300 people on a television station," Gao said.
Yes, I Do has now been running on Shenzhen Television Station for a week. Mei Hong, vice president of the station, said the intention to cooperate with Tudou began when the show was still shooting.
"Yes, I Do fits the style of Shenzhen Television Station, which focuses on youth, fashion and energy. Shows produced by websites are not synonymous with shoddy products. If they are well-made, it saves our network time and money," Mei said.
After purchasing the copyrights from the video websites, TV stations only need to forward the material to related government departments for examination, where the program is cut or adjusted accordingly. This spares the effort of supervising an entire production process.
Mei revealed that they pay about 500,000 yuan per episode of Yes, I Do, considered a moderate price in the current television drama market.
Room for improvements
Although this budding relationship seems promising for video websites, there are still holes.
"The depth of the cooperation between television stations and video websites is still in development," said Gao Jin. "This venture can be expanded further into the area of program production, releasing and advertising."
"To attain a profitable model for both parties, details need to be sorted out. We need more support from government policies and more experience in the distribution of commercial interests between websites and television stations," she said.
"There are also some risks," Li Fangting said. "As more websites are hoping to follow suit, the content of programs may become homogeneous, lowering the quality of programs and compromising the quality of video websites."
"The government should offer more policy support in clearing possible legal disputes in commercial distribution," Li said.