A list of 247 candidates qualified for providing online video services was released yesterday on the Website of the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), according to the Beijing Morning Post.
State-owned TV stations, radio stations, newspapers and publishing houses were the biggest winners, while Youku.com and Tudou.com, two of the major video sharing websites in China, failed to get a license.
Entities must get a license before their operation of online video services, SARFT said in a regulation released in December 2007. At the same time, reforms were carried out among most of the Chinese video sharing websites to successfully get permission from SARFT for their online video services.
The online video industry in China has attracted US$ 300 million of venture capital, but not all of the video service providers in China have been licensed to operate, according to a report conducted by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).
Xinhua News Agency, China News Service, 22 newspapers and 3 magazines have been licensed to provide internet video programs.
Five private portals, including sina.com, sohu.com, 163.com, qq.com and tom.com, are covered by the list. Video sharing websites, such as joy.cn, ku6.com, and 6.cn, have also been allowed to operate online video business.
Youku will be positive and patient in its license application, insiders at the website said.
(China.org.cn by Yang Xi, June 19, 2008)