The "foreign restriction order" has been lifted, and the copyright fees of overseas dramas may be polarized

One quarter after the "foreign restriction order" was implemented, the overseas drama that netizens have been waiting for is finally here.

On June 30, South Korea's SBS TV station's "Hyde, Jekyll, Me" passed the review, and Youku Tudou obtained the broadcast serial number, becoming the first overseas imported drama with a license in the entire network; 10 days later, Sohu Video announced that "The Big Bang Theory" Season 8 obtained the (Beijing) Drama Review Network No. (2015) 0001 broadcast license, becoming the first American drama in the entire network to obtain a license after the "foreign restriction order".

An industry insider told reporters that the new regulations on overseas dramas have squeezed the previously soaring copyright prices of Korean dramas to a certain extent, but video websites are still "content is king", and in the future, multiple video websites may continue to compete for popular dramas at high prices. This means that the copyright fees for overseas dramas may be polarized.

"Time Difference" mode

Starting from April 1 this year, the "Notice on Further Implementation of Relevant Provisions on the Management of Online Foreign Films and TV Series" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") issued by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television was officially implemented.

According to the Notice, imported dramas on video websites are subject to four main principles: "quantity restrictions, content requirements, review before broadcast, and unified registration." Among them, newly launched foreign TV dramas must be submitted for review with "full season" and subtitles. After passing the review, they can be broadcast online after obtaining the import license number. This also means that video websites have entered the "time difference" mode for the introduction of foreign dramas.

Nearly 7 months later than Korean audiences and nearly 10 months later than American audiences, the Korean drama "Hyde, Jekyll, Me" and the American drama "The Big Bang Theory" became the first batch of overseas dramas that Chinese netizens watched this year.

Among them, the Korean drama "Hyde, Jekyll, Me", adapted from a popular Korean webtoon, was the first to pass the review, get the broadcast serial number, and start broadcasting on July 13. The reporter logged into Youku and saw that the total number of views of "Hyde, Jekyll, Me" was 79.21 million, and it also ranked first in the number of views of Korean dramas on Youku in the past week.

Following closely behind is the eighth season of the American TV series The Big Bang Theory, which has aired four episodes on Sohu Video so far, with a total of 19.34 million views.

As the first American TV series introduced after the "foreign restriction order" was issued, the popularity of "The Big Bang Theory" is expected. At the 66th American TV Emmy Awards last year, its protagonist Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon, won the Best Actor in a Comedy Series for the fourth time for his role in "The Big Bang Theory", and its popularity has always been at the top of China's online video platforms.

On July 27, the fifth season of Game of Thrones, which was exclusively introduced by Tencent Video, passed the review and obtained the broadcast license No. (Guangdong) Drama Review Network (2015) 0001.

It is understood that these dramas are only part of the overseas purchases of domestic video websites in 2015. Public data shows that Youku Tudou claimed to have exclusively acquired more than 1,700 episodes of overseas new dramas in 2015; Sohu Video is currently reviewing American dramas including the third season of "House of Cards"; Tencent Video announced that it has full exclusive rights to broadcast more than 900 episodes of HBO's film and television drama content each year.

Youku Tudou told the reporter from China Business News that although the introduction policy has been tightened, based on observations of the audience's previous viewing habits of Korean dramas, it still has a certain degree of confidence in the broadcast of Korean dramas, and has more initiative in scheduling. In the past, they followed overseas broadcasts, but now they have more independent scheduling rights and can make corresponding adjustments based on user preferences, existing content, and even sales demand.

Copyright fees will be polarized

The "review before broadcast" regulation has created a "time difference" in the domestic broadcast of foreign dramas. Industry insiders believe that the cost of purchasing dramas from abroad is expected to change.

The 2014 Tencent Entertainment White Paper shows that the price of American TV series is relatively stable, with exclusive TV series costing $30,000 per episode and non-exclusive TV series costing between $2,000 and $4,000 per episode. The online copyright sales price of Korean TV series has doubled. Before 2013, the price of a single episode of a Korean TV series was less than 4,000 yuan. By the end of 2013, the price of "The Heirs" was 90,000 yuan per episode. In 2014, the price of "My Love from the Star" rose to 185,000 yuan per episode, and the recent hit "Pinocchio" has reached 1.73 million yuan per episode.

An industry insider told reporters that the new rules for foreign dramas mean that major video websites can evaluate the quality of foreign dramas by investigating the ratings and online comments of foreign users before purchasing them, which will squeeze the water out of the previously soaring prices of Korean drama copyrights to a certain extent. However, on the other hand, video websites are still "content is king", and in the future, multiple video websites may continue to compete for popular dramas at high prices.

This means that the copyright fees for overseas dramas may become polarized.

On the other hand, under policies such as "one drama, two stars" for domestic dramas and "review before broadcast" for foreign dramas, websites that originally relied on the development of a single drama type must expand their content, and self-produced dramas are the only choice for video websites to take a differentiated route.

The advantages of self-produced dramas are obvious, such as large creative space and short production cycle. Industry insiders believe that if 2014 is the first year of online self-produced dramas, then 2015 will be the year when major video websites will start a fierce "battle" over self-produced drama content.

Youku Tudou CEO Gu Yongqiang announced at a previous promotion meeting that the company invested 600 million yuan in self-produced drama content in 2015, doubling the investment announced in 2014. Zhang Chaoyang also told reporters earlier that he hoped that the investment in self-produced dramas in 2015 would be twice that of 2014, and that self-produced dramas would surpass variety shows and become the second largest category in Sohu Video's layout after TV dramas.

"In the future, as TV drama production decreases, iQiyi's investment in copyright purchases will decrease, and investment in self-produced dramas will exceed 10%. At the same time, when copyrighted dramas are broadcast, online dramas will also be pushed to develop the entire brand," predicted Zhang Yuxin, general manager of iQiyi's Copyright Production Management Center.

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.