Our Own Ownership

As previously discussed in my posts, Tudou.com is increasing in size, wealth, video-consumers, and maybe most importantly, content. With mergers like Tudou-China Mobile, an expanding broadband width, and addition of advertiser platforms, the next endeavor Tudou will embark on is becoming "the Content King" of Chinese video uploading sites. Anita Huang, the VP of community and marketing at Tudou said, "[w]e will still work with the mainstream entertainment provider partners to buy their content and work on revenue sharing models with our partners, but we are expanding our footage to more co-production and joint-funding productions with other entertainment partners" (Media.asia).


Tudou has begun producing original content including a TMZ reminiscent entertainment news show and a “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” reminiscent reality show it co-produced with Noki. As just mentioned, Tudou has partnered up with another media giant, Nokia [a telecommunications, Internet, and computer software company based in Finland] for production purposes. "The Nokia show cost some $500,000 in US dollars to produce and thirty million [viewers] tuned in for the six live shows, where contestants could use friends or search engines on their Nokia N97s to help get the answers" (TechCrunch.com).


Tudou-Nokia exemplifies blatant product placement, advertisement, and profitability along with strategic marketing, and a foundation for creating Tudou in house productions. By creating their own content, Tudou will increase their credibility in the online video-uploading world and stream revenues into their own pockets from advertisers who decide to purchase ad space during their shows = Our Own Ownership...

"Hello, this is Tudou calling, may I speak with China Mobile please?"

Youtube.com isn't the only one partnering up with media giants! As we mentioned in class, it is becoming increasingly popular for online media giants to partner up with each other in hopes of attracting more users, making their services more convenient, and adding unique features to their sites. An example of this is Facebook using email to update and alert Facebook users, and the sites we're simultaneously using now, Blogger.com and Gmail. This "partnering" strategy seems to be smart and profitable for both parties involved as it increases user presence and usually adds features to both sites. Tudou has recently taken this route as it partnered up with China Mobile which is one of the largest cell phone services in China.


According to ShanghaiDaily.com, "Tudou has signed with China Mobile to launch video content on handset[s] for more than 700 million Chinese mobile phone users." This combination is genius, as it not only allows Chinese China Mobile cellphone users, and Chinese Tudou video users to easily access Tudou's video uploading features on their mobile devices, but also, with the "video" feature on many cell phones (that allows cell phone users to record video footage at any moment) to instantaneously upload video footage, therefore increasing the video uploading and viewing traffic on Tudou. This will have a beneficial impact on Tudou's website user presence and profitability of their advertising space. A simple, yet effective conversation...

Tudou.com: $ubdomain$

Upon further exploration of Tudou.com I discovered something it has that it's American counter-part Youtube.com does not explicitly offer; multiple models of $ubdomain$. While Youtube is moving in this direction with its Youtube.com/movies that allows users to watch select full length movies (from what I gauge to be older and unpopular films) categorized by genre and their Youtube.com/music that allows users to watch full length music videos categorized by genre that have been uploaded by other users (predominately music companies themselves), it has not mastered subdomains as creatively as Tudou. Tudou not only offers content of specific topics on their website, but goes as far as to allow each topic, such as gender, sports, music, education, cartoons, video games, "channels," and high-definition footage its own subdomain website page. This allows advertisers to narrow their advertisements to a more specific area of the vast video uploading site, while also reaching a broad enough audience to effectively reach targeted groups. This new super categorization reflects a similar dilemma that TV advertisers face: whether to purchase ad time on more specific and narrowed T.V network shows or on shows that attract more diverse and fragmented audiences. O what tudou what tudou : )

IntEnablEvision cont...

In a previous blog I wrote about Internet-Enabled T.V. in China and it's increasing potential for growth in China. According to iSuppli.com," [s]ales of Internet-connected TVs in China will reach 500,000 this year and grow to about 14 million by 2013, technology consultancy" (Pcworld.com). However, this new medium poses a serious threat because it is combining two media that currently operate according to two different "social etiquette." While the Internet is bombarded with piracy that can go undetected and resurface in various ways, television does not leave room for copyright issues and operates "by the book."

The combination of the Internet and T.V as IntEnablEvision in China is now feeling the heat as television watchers are literally able to watch pirated media (TV shows, films, etc...) on television in the comfort of their own homes. There have been many lawsuits against the Internet-Enabled T.V manufacturer, Haier such as, "Chinese online video content provider NetMovie.com [that] plans to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against Haier and three other major Chinese vendors selling Internet TVs, Changhong, TCL and Hisense. Online film distributor Union Voole Technology has filed a separate suit against TCL, the company that manufactures these Internet-Enabled T.Vs because of piracy" (Pcworld.com). Because this media is so new, restrictions have yet to be determined and lawfully written, but it will be interesting to see what measures Chinese government takes to govern this unity...till ban do they part




Also, check out a video talking about a new IntEnablEvision-like product Sony has introduced

World Expo... Meet the Internet!

The World Expo 2010 will be hosted by Shanghai, China, and for the first time, accompanied by a complementary "online exposition." According to ExpoChina2010.com, in contrast to the official World Expo website that is informational, providing expo news updates, and ticket purchases, Expo Shanghai Online will enhance promotion and education functions... and provide more interactive exhibition and the "virtual tour guide." Because this is the first time any world exposition will be accompanied by an online exposition, it will provide endless avenues for online advertisement and international exposure through Chinese Internet. With the current world-wide economic state, many companies, especially media companies can use an event such as the world expo to help rejuvenate their organizations by making connections and tapping into new markets. With the increasing use of Chinese Internet and vast amounts of nations and outside visitors that will be entering China, the most interesting part will be seeing how online censorship affects the expo. Take a look at this online survey to see what type of questions Shanghai Expo planners are asking to get insight into how to make Expo Shanghai Online most "effective." Also, check out this Youtube clip introducing Expo Shanghai Online...

CHINESE INTERNET: Tudou.copyRight or copyWrong? cont...

Watch an interview with the founders of Tudou.com, and hear some of their responses to it's overwhelming numbers in compared to Youtube.com and to Tudou.com copyright issues.

CHINESE INTERNET: Saving Face by blocking Facebook

So I know I said that next we'd be further discussing Tudou.com's effectiveness in China, but there's another story I want to address first! My Chinese teacher from Shanghai, China had a rather "disturbing" status on her Facebook page saying that she apologized for not responding to all of her fellow facebook friends, but she has been unable to access her page because of Chinese governement's current restriction on Facebook access. I found this interesting because while I was studying abroad in Shanghai, China at East China Normal University (the same college that Yao Ming attended), I noticed that many of my fellow Chinese peers had Facebook pages and visited the website regularly to communicate with school friends in China, friends they met from other counties, like myself, who were studying abroad, and to join groups pro or anti a cause.


As noted above, two of the most powerful abilities for the Chinese Facebook users are international communication and voiced opinion. Both of these abilities are threatening to a strict and "dictative" Chinese government that acts as a doorkeeper between its citizens and the outside world. When controversial events take place, such as, the riots in the western region of Xinjiang, China and Olympics protest, Chinese government tends to tighten the reigns on social networking sites that they don't control, and that have potential to leak "confidential" Chinese happenings to the "outside" world. This is currently posing a problem for sites like Twitter and Facebook.

A point that I will bring back up, is the difference between international appeal and limited local appeal. Unlike other networking sites that only cater to a predominately one language speaking audience, Facebook has become a somewhat international website because it is an English (western) based site. The Chinese government restrictions have serious potential to cripple Facebook's future profits, as China is an unsaturated market looking for and craving Facebook's capabilities, games, applications, and interactive capabilities...Facebook has to stratgeize and find ways to succesfully maintain in the Chinese market, especially with competition from websites such as Zhanzuo.com...A comparison on these two sites coming soon...