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Tech in Asia

Chris Luo

The battle for online viewers in China heated up again on Tuesday with Tencent’s announcement of a tie-up with HBO. The deal will see a number of shows from the American subscription channel, such as hit fantasy series Game of Thrones and media drama The Newsroom, streamed in China. They will be available soon on the Tencent Video site.
However, all the violence, nudity, and sex scenes that have made 'Game of Thrones' compelling will make it tough to edit for approval in China. It will likely involve a number of cuts.
A Tencent representative declined to comment on the record about this issue.
When the first season of Game of Thrones was broadcast by state broadcaster CCTV, which bought the rights, in April, many outspoken fans called it an edited “mess”.
Gritty gangster show Boardwalk Empire and crime drama True Detective will also be available.
As with most of the licensed TV shows on China’s most popular video sites – such as Youku, iQiyi, PPTV and Tencent Video – the shows will be free of charge, but will include pre-roll advertising (several-second spots which play before the content loads).
Tencent Video also has a premium package that viewers can purchase to eliminate the ads.
Tencent’s announcement is the latest of many such deals for licensed content among China’s leading video sites.
Although pirated TV series like these have been available on various video streaming sites for years as online piracy is rampant, Chinese regulators have lately stepped up efforts to clamp down on unauthorised foreign TV dramas and movies on the internet.  
In September, China’s media regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, issued a notice requiring video-streaming sites to get licenses to stream overseas TV series. The new requirement comes into force in April next year.
In addition, over the past week, two popular websites known to produce and distribute unauthorised Chinese subtitles to pirated videos were closed after over a decade of operations amid increasing pressure from authorities.
Under the state media authority’s regulations, the imported TV series will be heavily censored to remove sex scenes, violence, or political themes. China has long censored imported Western TV series and movies. 
Many US and British series have proved to be smash hits with China’s young online viewers in recent years, particularly Prison Break, Sherlock, and The Big Bang Theory.

	Some content in this article originally appeared in Tech in Asia and was edited and republished with permission.


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