Introducing the CCI Guide to Streaming Platforms in China

Featuring key players, best practices, case studies, and expectations for 2020.

While the U.S. market has just started to experience its “streaming wars,” China has long offered a more diversified ecosystem for online video content, with no single service yet coming close to attaining a market share comparable to Netflix’s 87% in the U.S. 

Netflix doesn’t operate in China. Instead, the bulk of the domestic market is split between iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video, known collectively as aiyouteng (爱优腾), which are respectively controlled by the country’s “big three” internet companies: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (aka “BAT”).

Just a few years ago, it was relatively easy to differentiate between the services and their specific content emphases. While all had some original programming, much of their appeal came from licensed content.

Nowadays, content strategies are converging as these platforms move away from spending on imports and invest more in original productions. Meanwhile, established platforms face intense competition from nimbler upstarts like Bilibili and Xigua Video.

China Strategies, Global Implications

For companies interested in tapping the soaring demand for streaming video in China, it is important to understand the relative advantages each platform offers, as these can help drive decisions on potential placement, sponsorship and integration opportunities. 

The CCI Guide to Streaming Platforms in China highlights the strengths and weaknesses of seven leading platforms while providing current and post-coronavirus market context and practical case studies. Our goal is to illustrate why these platforms are successful in China and how best practices may be applied globally.

For two weeks only, the CCI Guide to Streaming Platforms in China will be free for Content Commerce Insider newsletters subscribers.