According to local media, Tudou’s founder Gary Wang and Youku’s founder Victor Koo announced the venture in order to both save on costs associated with licencing videos and stave off competition from other players looking to get into China’s growing online video sector.
"Almost all video websites are actively acquiring copyrighted contents in the past 12 months. As a result, premium content is in high demand and prices are going up," said Anita Huang, VP of Tudou’s product, user and business development. "Tudou and Youku are joining hands in exchanging selective programming that we acquired exclusive and distribution rights for respectively – meaning some hot programs or drama will only be available on both Tudou and Youku for a certain airing window."
Huang added that the companies look to share their resources with more than 80 per cent of China’s online video audience.
Youku and Tudou - both seen as the most established video sites in the market - are anticipating competition from companies including Baidu, which last month announced its plan to launch a video site, and Sohu, which has been at odds with Youku over copyright content.
The news is in line with these companies’ ongoing efforts to provide licenced content to Chinese audiences. Last month, Youku launched a copyright-monitoring platform - similar to systems used by sites like YouTube - in a self-described effort to police its video and set the tone for its competitors. At the time, the company said Youku implemented the system to more aptly identify and prevent users from uploading infringed video content. Similar technology is already used by European and American audio-video copyright holders but Youku’s platform allows for manual monitoring which vets for content “that's sensitive for other reasons”.
Months earlier in October, Tudou announced a plan to invest Rmb 100 million (US$14 million) to boost its legalised content library.
According to China Internet Network Information Center, China had 240 million online video viewers by the end of 2009.
The country currently claims more than 380 million internet users, the largest population of netizens across the globe.
"Almost all video websites are actively acquiring copyrighted contents in the past 12 months. As a result, premium content is in high demand and prices are going up," said Anita Huang, VP of Tudou’s product, user and business development. "Tudou and Youku are joining hands in exchanging selective programming that we acquired exclusive and distribution rights for respectively – meaning some hot programs or drama will only be available on both Tudou and Youku for a certain airing window."
Huang added that the companies look to share their resources with more than 80 per cent of China’s online video audience.
Youku and Tudou - both seen as the most established video sites in the market - are anticipating competition from companies including Baidu, which last month announced its plan to launch a video site, and Sohu, which has been at odds with Youku over copyright content.
The news is in line with these companies’ ongoing efforts to provide licenced content to Chinese audiences. Last month, Youku launched a copyright-monitoring platform - similar to systems used by sites like YouTube - in a self-described effort to police its video and set the tone for its competitors. At the time, the company said Youku implemented the system to more aptly identify and prevent users from uploading infringed video content. Similar technology is already used by European and American audio-video copyright holders but Youku’s platform allows for manual monitoring which vets for content “that's sensitive for other reasons”.
Months earlier in October, Tudou announced a plan to invest Rmb 100 million (US$14 million) to boost its legalised content library.
According to China Internet Network Information Center, China had 240 million online video viewers by the end of 2009.
The country currently claims more than 380 million internet users, the largest population of netizens across the globe.
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