Beijing – As part of an ongoing effort to offer its hundreds of millions of users unique entertainment, Youku Tudou Inc., China’s Internet television company, recently announced on June 16 the release of more than 20 programmes and drama series produced by its in-house production unit.
The unique content will be released throughout the second half of 2014 and will include reality shows, talk shows and drama series. Youku Tudou has made it of strategic importance to increase investment to in-house production. With 500 million users on both PC and mobile, Youku Tudou attracts more than 70 percent of Chinese online video viewers, according to recently released data from China Internet Network Information Center, or CNNIC.
The rollout of the new programming began earlier in June with the release of the Internet reality show Searching Divas, which garnered more than 10 million views and 10,000 comments within the first two days of its debut on June 6. The show, modelled after the popular Korean reality show Running Man, features contestants who compete against each other to complete challenging tasks and missions. Winners are able to meet their favourite Chinese celebrities.
Other releases include four talk shows, including Logical Thinking, a show featuring readings and discussions, and Macroview, a programme focusing on financial issues. Celebrity hosts include Liang Dong, a former TV personality, and Yuan Tengfei, a history teacher famous for his sometimes controversial, yet entertaining, lectures. The decision to bolster talk show programming was based on the extreme popularity of online talk shows Morning Call and Logical Thinking, which were released on Youku in 2013.
Other programming includes the release of Tiny Times, a drama series based on the box office hit film that centred on young, upwardly mobile Chinese and their lives in modern-day China. The Tiny Times drama series will premier on Youku in July and later have possible syndication on TV. Midnight Taxi, a Tudou original drama series co-produced by the award-winning Japanese director of Shinya Shokudo, will also be released.
The in-house production of unique, original content enables Youku Tudou to better serve and understand the entertainment needs of viewers. Such content will be integrated with other features, including social media platforms and e-commerce optimisation created for Youku Tudou’s online and mobile video platforms.
“Our customised content in the emerging online entertainment industry is vitally important to Youku Tudou’s continued leadership in the Internet television space,” Zhu Xiangyang, Youku Tudou chief content officer, said. “To create a multi-screen, entertainment ecosystem is one of our most important strategic initiatives.”
“Youku is integrating unique content with animation, games, live interactive features and other services to create a holistic offline to online entertainment experience for our viewers,” Youku.com president Wei Ming said. “Via traditional television programming combined with the Internet, we are continuing to promote an entirely new industry chain that will redefine China’s online entertainment space.”
Youku Tudou has been a pioneer in in-house productions since it began to create its own unique content in 2009. Iconic web programmes produced by the company include Hip Hop Quartets, Old Boys, On the Road and Surprise.
