iQiyi inked a deal with Lionsgate for a subscription to the last installment of "The Hunger Games" trilogy movie adaptation. (Photo : Lionsgate)
In a bid to boost its paid subscription offering, the Chinese online video service iQiyi announced that it will either produce or purchase 40 new shows next year.
According to the firm, half of its annual budget will be dedicated to the content ramp-up. Nonetheless, the search giant Baidu subsidiary did not disclose what kind of Hollywood and local content will be included.
In recent years, the streaming video market in the country has seen rapid growth. Various platforms have also unveiled subscription services allowing netizens to browse premium libraries of licensed shows.
Last week, iQiyi inked a deal with Lionsgate for a number of hit tiles, such as the last installment of “Hunger Games,” the upcoming “Divergent” sequel, and the action thriller “Deepwater Horizon.”
In addition to the content-boosting endeavor, iQiyi also announced that it will have Chinese stars Angelababy, Huang Bo and Yang Yang as its subscription business ambassadors.
"We are confident that subscription revenue will become a major revenue source for iQiyi, and we will continue to invest to provide the best premium content and user experience for our paid subscribers," iQiyi Senior Vice President Xianghua Yang stated.
The Chinese video service firm has also begun producing in-house content over the past year. The “Notes of Tomb Raiders,” an original TV series, has already garnered 2.4 billion views over the summer.
The company revealed that it has 500 million monthly users and around 5 million paid subscription customers. Of its library of more than 6,000 films and TV shows, 2,500 are major Hollywood titles.
