Foreign dramas that are reviewed before broadcasting officially enjoy the same “equal treatment” as domestic dramas

April 1 (Reporter Zhang Zhichang) Today, April Fools' Day, the "Notice on Further Implementing the Regulations on the Management of Overseas TV Series and Films Online" issued by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television officially came into effect. This may mark the end of the days when you can watch overseas TV series online through video websites. At the same time, under the four principles of "quantity restrictions, content requirements, review before broadcast, and unified registration", the introduction of overseas TV series may be subject to "content deletion" under the review of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, just like domestic TV series and films.

At this point, after the "foreign restriction order" is officially implemented, the content share of major video websites will be redistributed between the content of imported dramas and domestic film and television dramas, which will in turn affect another major content reshuffle in the entire video website industry.

Foreign dramas may lose their appeal

Prior to this, the imported foreign dramas had only a few minor errors in subtitles, but the entire plot was still authentic. And with the joint efforts of subtitle workers and video websites, users can also enjoy online "synchronous update" content comparable to domestic film and television dramas.

However, with the implementation of the four major principles regarding "quantity restrictions, content requirements, review before broadcast, and unified registration" for imported dramas on video websites, foreign dramas may face the reality of losing their content and charm.

The first is the quantity limit; the Radio, Film and Television Administration stipulates that the number of foreign films and TV series that can be introduced in 2015 should be 30% of the number of domestic films and TV series newly broadcast in the previous year (2014), and the countries and types of themes should be diversified.

Obviously, with the market cultivation in recent years, American dramas have become increasingly mainstream in the minds of users. Especially after experiencing fierce and cruel copyright battles, American drama resources have now become one of the most important content sections of major video websites. In particular, video websites represented by Youku Tudou and Sohu Video have used American drama resources as the main signboard of their website content in recent years.

According to the implementation of the "foreign restriction order", these video websites may reduce the overall number of imported foreign dramas, or increase the number of domestic film and television dramas purchased. Whichever option is chosen, it will directly affect the revenue and profits of video websites.

The second is the content requirement; the policy stipulates that it is encouraged to introduce and broadcast foreign film and television dramas with healthy content, excellent production, and that promote truth, goodness and beauty.

Obviously, this content regulation directly hits the advantages of American and British dramas in content resources, and the common contents such as murder, violence, pornography, and psychopathy in American and British dramas will inevitably be deleted by the radio and television during the censorship.

The most important point is review before broadcast; the "foreign restriction order" requires that foreign film and television dramas launched after April 1, 2015 must get a full season of the film and subtitles and then submit it to the local bureau of the place where they belong for review. After the review is passed, they can obtain the introduction license number before they can be broadcast online.

The introduction of this policy regulation not only means that foreign dramas will face significant content deletions after censorship, but video websites will no longer be able to provide users with "synchronously updated" foreign drama content.

As we all know, foreign dramas, represented by American, British and Korean dramas, are mostly weekly dramas that are filmed and broadcast at the same time, which means that domestic users may not be able to watch them online until a year after the show is broadcast.

The last step is unified registration. Under the implementation of the radio and television policy, all overseas TV series and films broadcast online before September 2014 must complete registration before April 1, 2015. The online broadcast agreement cannot be renewed upon expiration. If renewed, the new policy will apply.

If nothing unexpected happens, the registration office under the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will be extremely busy today.

Homemade dramas will have a new lease of life

Although major video websites have not made any response or adjustments to the implementation of this new policy, it is not difficult to speculate that with the gradual implementation of this policy, major video websites will make certain adjustments and changes in their content resource layout. The introduction and broadcast of foreign dramas will be greatly reduced compared to domestic film and television dramas, and in order to maintain a certain amount of foreign dramas, it is not ruled out that video websites will increase the number of domestic film and television dramas purchased.

This is just as Wu Chunyong, an expert in the radio and television industry and executive editor of Fusion Network, said, "In the short term, the reduction in foreign dramas will cause a small number of users to leave video websites, but no matter whether major video websites focus on Korean dramas or American dramas, they will definitely find a balance point for the company as soon as possible by adjusting the proportion of other programs."

As for where the next breakthrough will be for video websites after the "foreign restriction order" is officially implemented, considering the investment and proportion of self-made content by major video websites in 2014, the "first year of self-made content", and the efforts of video websites in self-made variety shows at the beginning of this year, it can be predicted that self-made content will be one of the important competitive means for video websites to continue their differentiation route.

As major video sites continue to work hard on producing their own content, a new round of competitive battle points may gradually emerge.

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.