Netflix just might be taking “House of Cards” and “Orange is the new black” to China for good, as they are currently very close to signing a billion-dollar deal with Chinese online video market companies. Obviously, this made Netflix share explode to a whopping $600 a pop.
Netflix is in talks with several Chinese companies at the moment, including Wasu Media Holding Co., one of the biggest and brightest in the local business and the partnership between these two can prove nothing but lavishly fruitful.
It appears that after they close the China deal, Netflix is looking to go even further from there. If this keeps up, the company will most definitely take over the world. The world of online streaming that is. And there is even a timeline on that bold plan, because Netflix is looking to achieve global domination by 2016.
However, Netflix expects to have some rather tumultuous adventures in China, because this market, no matter how extensive, comes with some very strict censorship rules, that considerably differ to those anywhere else in the world.
Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer was in Cannes this Friday, attending the local film festival. When asked about this particular issue, he said “There are a lot of operating constraints in China that are different to anywhere else. We don’t have any operating partners anywhere else in the world, so that would be a new skill for us too.”
At the moment, Chinese broadcasters are not allowed to show episodes from American series until the season has ended in the US, because the Chinese rules clearly state that any motion picture broadcasted must be verified prior to it airing on local television channels or online streaming websites.
All video content will be assessed for content that might be overly sexual and/or violent and also for anything that might be offensive to the Communist Party. Evidently, this takes up a lot of time and considerable resources.
But the partnership with Netflix could bring the entire Chinese nation up to date with amazing shows like “Mad Men” or “The Simpsons” far faster. Furthermore, it would give the possibility of streaming all-time American favorites like “Friends” or “3rd Rock from the Sun”, and even introduce them to fresh new additions like “Peaky Blinders”.
Even if it comes with huge head-scratchers, Netflix’s journey in China stands to make the $5,9 billion richer and therefore it is worth all of their troubles and efforts. An official affiliation has yet to be announced, but there are significant chances that it will hit the media sooner rather than later.
Image Source: travelchinacheaper
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.