Foreign TV shows in China under the scanner(2)

A scene from the popular TV series House of Cards. (Photo/China Daily)

The popular erotic romance Fifty Shades of Grey was scheduled for a high-profile release on major Chinese video websites including iQiyi and Tencent Video on Feb 27.

But it failed to be posted to the sites, leading many fans to speculate that the US film's controversial subject meant its release was delayed.

"It will not be possible for shows to exist on video websites for a long time if they can't be shown on TV channels," Sun Zhonghuai, vice-president of Tencent Holdings, told a news conference in Beijing while announcing the company's deal with HBO last year.

This, however, could also be an opportunity to apply a rating system to China's online video industry, says iQiyi's deputy editor-in-chief to news portal Tencent Technology.

But because foreign shows don't make up the bulk of sales on Chinese video sites, the uncertainty surrounding their streaming in China isn't expected to affect the businesses of such sites, Feng says.

Statistics from EntGroup show that popular Chinese TV series were watched up to 2 billion times online, with this year's most popular historical drama The Empress of China recording more than 10 billion views so far.

Walking Dead and House of Cards, among the most-watched US TV series in China, were viewed 200 million times last year.

But with broadcasting schedules likely to be delayed and numbers to be reduced, the altered scenario is expected to cause commercial turbulence of another kind－the rise of illegal downloads.

An online video fan, who doesn't reveal his real name, says Internet traffic and commercial breaks don't get in the way of watching such downloads.

Last year, the government banned some websites that allowed illegal downloading of shows, but replacement platforms were found by fans.

Tencent Technology recently quoted an anonymous insider as saying there are currently over 2 million small-and medium-sized download websites in China, which either provide links for downloading or have online screening services themselves.

"But their vitality has yet to be observed because they will face a hard time as China strengthens its efforts to crack down on piracy," Feng says.

The local TV industry is expected to benefit from this change of situation as video websites are expected to license more local productions and more international joint productions are likely to emerge.

Earlier this year, the first joint production between Chinese online video group Youku Tudou and South Korea's JYP Entertainment Dream Knight went online.