China Central Television (CCTV) will formally launch a national Internet television station using the domain name of CNTV.cn next week. Industry insiders say the launch of the national Internet television station will have impact on the entire online video market.
On 13 November, CCTV.com announced that its 2 online video products, xiyou.cctv.com and bugu.cctv.com, have been put into trial operation. Xiyou.cctv.com serves as a community where users can share their uploaded videos and communicate with each other. Bugu.cctv.com provides video services including live online broadcasts, video on demand, and 7×24 replays. Reporters learned that user registration has already started on the two sites.
The National Internet television station is positioned to be a global, multilingual and multi-terminal platform. Based on video and audio interaction, it is characterized by both the Internet and a television station.
As more and more people opt to watch television online, youku.com, tudou.com and other video networks quickly became popular. Many television stations also started to join the competition. Apart from CCTV, Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group also launched an Internet television station – smgbb.cn, and Hunan Provincial Broadcasting and Television Bureau rebranded its new media business hunantv.com as tv.hunantv.com.
Industry insiders hold the view that CCTV has removed many obstacles through a series of measures before it launches the national Internet television station. In the recent crackdown on unhealthy content, a large number of websites that provide video downloading services were shut down. The move, which is still underway, comes after CCTV claimed 6-digit damages from sohu.com that also provided online video business for copyright infringement and illegal broadcasting.
Traditional television media’s entry into the online video market with television stations integrated with Internet will definitely influence the current video websites.
(Source: People’s Daily Online)
