Some are happy, some are worried. The reason why the radio and television industry is making another move may be because TVOS2.0 is coming.

Recently, a ban issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has pushed the topic of "comprehensive ban on TV boxes" to the top of Weibo's hot search list. The popularity of this topic has continued to ferment in the past ten days and is still a hot topic on Weibo.

Although it is not the first time that the radio and television has rectified Internet TV, it is the first time that this official policy has been able to achieve nationwide discussion among ordinary users. From the "excessive" reactions of Weibo users, it can be seen that the popularity and awareness of the box among TV users have increased. Secondly, the introduction of this strict policy by the radio and television has indeed affected the interests of many parties.

Does the Radio and Television Administration really want to completely ban TV boxes?

On November 6, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television issued an order that in order to rectify the current Internet TV box market, the first batch of 81 illegal and non-compliant third-party applications announced will be blocked. These include well-known software such as Fengyun Live, Himalaya, and Panda Audiobooks, as well as video aggregation software commonly used by some users.

The subsequent escalation of the incident was due to the feedback from some users of Tmall Magic Box and YunOS boxes around the 11th of this month that they could not find the live broadcast software installed on their TV boxes, and the same problem persisted after the second installation and restart. Subsequently, Tmall Magic Box issued a "Notice on Blocking Illegal and Violating Applications", stating that in order to fully respond to the actions of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, Tmall Magic Box decided to upgrade the system before November 15, 2015. After the upgrade, all 81 illegal and violating third-party applications announced by the Administration will be blocked.

The incident affected most users because the combined market share of Tmall Magic Box and the YunOS-based Cloud Box Alliance is as high as 70%. The impact of Ali Digital Entertainment on the Internet TV box market has been described in detail in the article "All Losses: Ali Digital Entertainment Used Billions of Yuan in Subsidies to Cause the Massive Retreat of Terminal Manufacturers", so I will not repeat it here.

As early as July this year, we reported four bans issued internally by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. If manufacturers fail to comply, their broadcast control rights will be revoked: models released after early 2015 are strictly prohibited from supporting USB installation of applications; built-in browsers that can access the Internet are strictly prohibited; application stores or other means are strictly prohibited from pushing aggregated application software, video website clients, and radio application software; application stores or other means are strictly prohibited from pushing remote control applications that can indirectly control video playback through mobile phones.

On September 18, "Document No. 229" was issued, and the governance objects of this document cover the terminals, content and software of Internet TV. It is reported that this document was jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. The involvement of the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments has greatly increased the weight of "Document No. 229". This is because it means that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television can obtain close cooperation in "law enforcement power" in this action. The combined efforts of the public security, procuratorial and judicial departments have left illegal enterprises in the Internet TV industry with nowhere to hide.

The topic of "total ban on TV boxes" spontaneously started by netizens on Weibo is not an accurate statement. To be precise, the radio and television authorities have completely banned illegal boxes that do not comply with "Document No. 181" and "Document No. 229". This generalization reflects that illegal software and boxes currently have a "considerable mass base" among users.

Some are happy, some are sad. Is TVOS2.0 coming?

"Since I installed the TV box, the only software I use when I turn on the TV are video aggregation software such as TV Cat and Taijie Video. I thought I could avoid cable TV fees after installing the box, but now it seems that the box at home will become a decoration." A user who has been using a TV box for a year told , This phenomenon is not uncommon among users.

In fact, people familiar with the industry know that the news of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's rectification of Internet TV has come out "from time to time" in the past two years. The official has never expressed unanimous recognition of the existence of Internet TV boxes. The overall state is to educate and guide on the one hand, and "let it go" on the other. "Catch it when it's free, and let it go when it's busy" has been the official "norm" in the past two years.

After the recent rectification order was issued again, various parties have given various inferences, including the emphasis on copyright, the competition for users, the supervision of the market, etc. They believe that the main purpose of the General Administration's re-issuance of this document is to lay the groundwork for the upcoming promotion of TVOS2.0.

According to inquiries, the research and development of TVOS2.0 has entered its final stage, with Huawei's internal engineers taking on the main development work. TVOS2.0 will be launched early next year. Developers who have obtained the beta system have told us that TVOS2.0 is relatively closed, and it is basically impossible for users to manually install applications. People familiar with the matter said that the TV shopping mall in TVOS2.0 is in charge of Alibaba, while Tencent is mainly involved in the construction of the social module, and the development of the TV game battle function is specifically in charge of PalmPlay Network.

Under the strict supervision of the government, the specific direction of Internet TV in the future remains to be seen. On December 2, the 3rd China Internet Audiovisual Conference, guided by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, will be held. The conference is the highest-level and largest national annual industry event in China's Internet audio and video field. It covers hot topics such as the integration and innovation of new audiovisual media, online film and television works and program production, IPTV and OTT development, family entertainment, and Internet audiovisual copyright protection. At that time, leaders of national industry departments, CEOs of well-known Internet companies, directors of major TV stations and online TV stations, senior scholars in the industry, famous content creators, and heads of smart terminal companies, etc., leaders of the entire industry chain will gather in Chengdu. Perhaps we can find more answers here.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.