Government stipulation marks Tuesday as the deadline of registration for foreign titles to be streamed online by Chinese video streaming websites. Unlicensed foreign movies and TV series will thereby be removed from the cyberspace and will no longer be streamed.
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) said in a circular released Sept. 2014 that video streaming sites must apply for publication licenses for foreign films and TV series imported from other countries.
SAPPRFT said: "Without a publication license, no overseas films or TV series are allowed to stream online." SAPPRFT added that unregistered films will be removed by Wednesday.
Chinese TV stations seldom invest in broadcasting popular foreign series citing supervision barriers, budget, and biased programming agenda as reasons.
With local TV channels ignoring foreign films, video streaming websites stepped in, becoming chief providers of foreign films and TV series streamed for Chinese audiences.
SAPPRFT requires Chinese video streaming sites to register their shows and get online audio and video program distribution license in order to stream their products via the Internet. For foreign shows and films, special publication licenses must be obtained prior to streaming.
China, as the world's biggest market, has been the target of foreign shows and films. With the entire Chinese population hungry for imported shows, video streaming sites have been proliferating, offering Chinese fans foreign movies and TV series.
With local TV stations limiting their programs to domestically made shows, video streaming sites almost have no competition for their products and have been dominating China's niche foreign shows audience.