Details of the deal involving Alibaba, Hunan TV and DMG have already been released. (Photo : Reuters)
Alibaba, China's leading e-commerce giant, is set to launch its video subscription venture, Tmall Box Office (TBO), in two months' time, Reuters reported on Sunday.
Alibaba's Digital Entertainment Business president Liu Chunning revealed during a press conference in Shanghai that he eyes to craft an innovative family entertainment experience.
Liu further remarked that Alibaba's "goal is to become like Netflix in the U.S., HBO in the U.S."
In contrast with the paradigm utilized by the current market leader, Youku Tudou, Liu wants subscriptions be required for around 90 percent of the content that will be available in the platform.
Liu sees pay-per-view mechanism and monthly subscriptions as payment options.
Video subscription venture is regarded as a new battleground for Chinese media market players. China-based companies are currently vying to have an increased share of the online video market, which is now valued at $1.09 billion.
Last week, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun reiterated his view on the firm's digital entertainment portal, adding that Xiaomi is continually investing a significant amount to this venture.
In a latest estimate, Xiaomi has vowed to pour in $1 billion for this emerging platform. Furthermore, the startup also had partnerships with over 80 percent of the top content-producing sites in the country.
Apart from Xiaomi, top-three video producer LeTV is also a dominant force in the emerging media battleground. The firm operates in the same way as Alibaba, as it makes a foray into the smartphone market on top of its series of LeTV-branded smart televisions.
Through its motion picture subsidiary, Le Vision Pictures, LeTV is also investing huge sums to further deepen its ties between American and Chinese film and television producers.
However, notably unseen in these recent market happenings is a move from the market leader Youku Tudou. The firm currently dominates in terms of unique monthly visitors reaching over 500 million.
