Chinese online video site LeTV (Leshi) (300104.SZ) recently launched a service allowing users to pay RMB 5 to view all episodes of a television drama, and has for the first time ever moved to put episodes of TV dramas online before their television broadcast dates. The move goes against many of the TV drama industry's profit paths.
Spokespeople for satellite TV companies in Jiangsu, Shenzhen, and other areas have said that a move by video sites to put episodes online before they air will heavily affect TV station ratings. Zhang Zheng, director of the Shenzhen Media Group's center for program sales and acquisitions, said that the company had purchased first-broadcast rights to the series "Ye Gezi," at a cost of more than 20 times what LeTV paid for rights to the series. With the launch of its new RMB 5 service, LeTV is now effectively the first broadcaster of the series, Zhang said, but none of its earnings will be shared with television stations or the producers of the series. "It's unfair to the stations," Zhang said.
LeTV also affects audiovisual companies producing DVDs of the series in question, as LeTV will draw away viewers and create an opening for pirate video sites and disc makers.
After meeting with fierce resistance from the producers of the series, LeTV removed all episodes of "Ye Gezi" from its platform on June 5. Other popular series, including "Jin Tailang de Xingfu Shenghuo" and "Ye Luo Chang'an," are still available for full viewing in the site's RMB 5 section.