CCTV gets rights to TV show banned online
Print Edition
STATE broadcaster China Central Television said yesterday it had acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights for “The Big Bang Theory,” one of four US TV shows banned from online Chinese video sites at the weekend.
CCTV told Reuters it had acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights for the popular series, but did not specify whether or not the licence was only for TV.
A media and translation agency said it was subtitling “The Big Bang Theory” for CCTV.
An employee surnamed Li at Beijing-based CBM told The Associated Press they were translating the show and would return it to CCTV with subtitles in Chinese.
Meanwhile, the boss of one of the video sites said he believed the sudden banning of the four shows did not represent a wider trend, though he said it was unclear why these shows had been targeted.
The government’s broadcast regulator issued a surprise order on Saturday to online streaming companies to stop showing sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” political and legal drama “The Good Wife,” crime drama “NCIS” and legal drama “The Practice.” The first two are particularly popular with the young online audience.
Searches on Youku Tudou, Sohu and Tencent, which provided the shows, produced messages that the content was temporarily unavailable.
“Give me back Sheldon,” referring to the socially inept physicist on “The Big Bang Theory,” was a popular refrain among China’s social media users angry at the show’s disappearance.
“I believe it’s a stand-alone event and it does not represent the policy trend or change toward American TV shows,” Charles Zhang, Soho CEO and founder, said yesterday.
Nasdaq-listed Sohu, the first Chinese online video site to license American TV shows, had rights to show two of the programs.
Zhang said he had no explanation for the order and no comment on the possible reason. He said he didn’t know if the ban would be temporary or permanent.
Zhang said he didn’t know about the translation for CCTV, and said Sohu had exclusive online rights to the show in China’s mainland.
The removal of the shows followed a directive from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television last month that tightened the process for broadcasting television programs and short films online. Programs and films lacking licenses are not permitted to be shown online, according to the directive.
Penalties include a warning and a fine and, in serious cases, a 5-year ban on operations and investment in online programming, the directive says.
But there are no specific regulations governing overseas TV programs licensed by Chinese websites, said a person working at an online video site, adding that regulation was expected at some point but with a minor impact on the industry.
China’s online video market was worth 12.8 billion yuan (US$2.05 billion) in 2013, according to Chinese data firm iResearch, a value that is expected to almost triple by 2017.
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