Online TV programs boom amid control concerns

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Chinese people have been watching television shows exclusively on the Internet for the past five years, but it is only now that the industry is consolidating, according to Shang Na, chief of the video section of Sohu.com.

China has about 450 million online video viewers, nearly 80 percent of its total Internet-connected population. The number is expected to reach 700 million by 2016, according to the China-based marketing consultancy agency iResearch.

Online TV shows can be watched on any device at any time as long as there is an Internet connection.

Absolutely Unexpected, a series produced by Youku.com, has been viewed about 500 million times since it premiered in 2013 and Diors Man, another show by Sohu.com, registered around 1 million views.

"The era of online TV has arrived. The next step for video services is distributing original content," Shang says. He spoke at a recent forum in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Liu Heping, a scriptwriter and deputy head of the scriptwriter working committee for China Radio and Television Association, says, "Television has to make way for online video".

Liu plans to produce his own online TV show based on the life of Zeng Guofan, a top military commander from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Video websites such as Youku, Sina and Sohu, also show dramas and comedies from the United States, South Korea and Europe.

The industry, however, is facing tough controls.

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