Popular Chinese Drama Series Gets Netflix Release Deal

Netflix has signed a deal with Youku, China’s leading video hosting and streaming platform under the Alibaba Group, to exclusively stream Youku’s popular drama series ‘Day and Night’ (白夜追凶） in more than 190 countries and regions around the world. This deal makes ‘Day and Night’ the first Chinese internet drama series to be widely streamed overseas. Debuted in August this year, ‘Day and Night’ has generated more than four billion views so far in China. Netflix has been eying the Chinese market for a long time, yet hasn’t been able to launch its service in China due to the country’s regulatory environment for foreign digital service providers. As an alternative, Netflix tries to engage the Chinese audience through content partnerships with Chinese companies. Before signing this deal with Youku, Netflix had signed a licensing deal with Chinese streaming platform iQiyi to show upcoming Netflix series on iQiyi. Read more on Mtime

Year-end Wrap-up: Top Chinese Video Platforms’ Anime Content Strategies

In this article, WeChat media account “D-entertainment” summarizes the top Chinese video platforms’ anime content strategies in 2017. Similar to the situation in 2016, Tencent Video doesn’t seem to be very interested in Japanese anime. Rather, the company prefers to produce its own animated films. Among the 38 domestic animations released by Tencent Video in 2017, 18 of them are Tencent’s original content. Youku, iQiyi and Bilibili are much more interested in Japanese animations, and more than 90 percent of the animations imported by these three companies are from Japan. iQiyi has a preference for exclusive rights to popular Japanese productions while Bilibili prefers lighthearted content. Read more on D-entertainment

Recommended Reading By chinafilminsider Headlines from China: Key Trends in China’s Anime Sector By chinafilminsider

State-owned Video Platform Mango TV to Reconsolidate Assets for Future IPO

Chinese internet video platform Mango TV’s proposal for assets consolidation has been approved by the country’s media regulators, according to an announcement made by the President of Hunan TV, a provincial satellite TV station that owns Mango TV. According to the announcement, Mango TV has started making profits this year. Although Mango TV’s scale is not comparable with that of top Chinese video platforms, such as Tencent Video, Youku, and iQiyi, Mango TV is the largest state-owned video platform in China. Through assets consolidation and IPO, the company hopes to expand itself and enhance its profitability. Read more on TMT Post

November China Box Office Reaches New Record High of $435 M

According to Mtime’s box office data, China’s November box office revenues have reached 2.89 billion yuan ($435 million), setting a new record for China’s November box office. As of November 30, China has amassed a total of 50.7 billion yuan ($7.66 billion) at the box office. On November 30, ‘Coco‘ continues to lead the competition with daily box office revenue of 23.7 million yuan ($3.6 million), setting to overtake ‘Finding Nemo 2’ as the highest-grossing Pixar movie in China. Behind ‘Coco’ is ‘Justice League,’ making 10.3 million yuan($1.6 million) yesterday. Its total China box office is expected to exceed 600 million yuan ($90.7 million) today. John Woo’s ‘Manhunt‘ made 5.4 million yuan ($0.8 million) yesterday, ranking No. 3 on the daily list. None of the domestic releases made more than 100 million yuan ($15.1 million) in November. Read more on Mtime