CCTV's efforts can't dominate Internet video
- Source: Global Times
- [22:49 January 11 2010]
- Comments
Tired of being passively indoctrinated with news reports on government's work meetings or the mayor's recent visit to a factory, we use the liberty of the Internet to arrange our own program schedule, read what we take interest in and watch what we like whenever we feel convenient.
Unfortunately when Bugu distributes exactly the same programming with a delay of dozen seconds as the cable grid does, it will only convert cable subscribers to viewers of IPTV and effectively save us from buying a TV.
An obvious inspiration for CNTV's VOD service is hulu.com, a website that streams shows, sports events and other programs previously aired on its owners: NBC, Fox and ABC.
CNTV does the same with contents produced by CCTV, allowing us the control of when it's screened.
Still the hulu-like division fails to supply the freedom of what, as CCTV's productions are monotonously orthodox and the shows are strictly aligned with its selection criterion.
What failed to interest us won't suddenly become appealing when it's recorded in a giant Internet DVR. Young netizens love to watch US series hours after a new episode is broadcast. Some find high art unapproachable and so enjoy not-so-elegant or even "vulgar" music.
Certain TV drama series which are banned from re-airing on CCTV because they don't fi t into the TV station's criterion can't even be found on cntv.cn. This upsets the audience who wish to enjoy the series again.
Apparently architects of CNTV do not want their work to be merely a distribution channel for videos also available through cable, over the air and via satellites, and so Xiyou (literally meaning grapefruit) comes into play.
Like Youtube and Youku, this part of the site lets users upload and share their own clips with the rest of the world.
Even so Xiyou is not going to be a game changer. While Youku, Tudou and 6.CN, domestic competitors to Xiyou, can symbolically review and let pass all those copyrighted and coarse videos, which drive a signifi cant chunk of traffic to the sites, the State-owned Xiyou is not likely to enjoy such luck.
A stale industry needs more to revitalize itself than just a new delivery method.
The author is a graduate student at the University of Hong Kong. He can be reached at yizhong@hku.hk
