Internet giants make bid for viewers

Big plans for tiny times

Youku Tudou brands itself as a Korean entertainment hub, teaming with South Korea's top TV stations and entertainment companies, such as SBS and CJE& M. This year alone more than 10 South Korean TV series and entertainment shows are expected to be exclusively broadcast on Tudou.com.

In the past few months, the administration has drafted several restriction policies regarding Internet-based programs.

In March, the administration required in a notice that online content be examined by at least three government specialists. Programs should be removed immediately if they include inappropriate content such as promoting superstition or glamorizing violence, sex or gambling.

In late April, it required four popular US TV series, including The Good Wife and The Big Bang Theory, to be removed from video websites while giving no specific reasons.

In July, according to Beijing-based portal Imtw.com, the administration called meetings with seven licensed Internet-television content providers, that provide online content to set-top boxes, to warn of a possible license withdrawal because all have acted against rules in varying degrees. As a result, many US programs are now missing from LeTV box, a namesake Internet TV set of video portal LeTV.com.