Internet TV is being rectified again. Are license holders responsible for rescuing the market?

After the General Administration's strict control, the attack was made again

The Internet TV industry has been busy again in recent days, and the reason is that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has started to make up for the previous regulation. The background of this round of regulation is that although the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has repeatedly emphasized that the TV version of video website APP clients cannot appear on Internet TV, some video websites have tried to get away with it by launching large-sized Pad version, XL version, Max version, etc.

Industry insiders have long expressed concerns about this kind of clever approach, believing that it is not only detrimental to the development of Internet TV, but may also lead to new regulation.

As expected, the development of the situation forced the General Administration to take action again. The latest news is that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television requires all video websites and TV apps to be removed from the shelves within this week and inspected next week, otherwise their Internet audio-visual licenses will be revoked and their servers will be shut down. "Revoking the Internet audio-visual license" means that the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is really angry, because the Internet audio-visual license is the "foundation" of video websites. The meaning is clear: whoever has any bad ideas about Internet TV will not open a video website and will be closed down.

The SARFT's repeated crackdowns have made the Internet TV industry panic, and rumors have continued to spread. But looking back at the regulatory policies issued by the SARFT in the past few months, whether it is that video website APP clients cannot provide downloads, users and billing platforms can only use Internet TV platforms, or the so-called regulations on the introduction of overseas dramas, there are actually documents that have been there for a long time, but people have ignored them intentionally or unintentionally.

The logic behind the General Administration's further action

This raises a question: why did the General Administration of Radio, Film and Television, turn a blind eye to Internet TV in the past few years, but now suddenly take drastic measures? This may be related to the overall environment of cultural communication and information security.

The first and foremost reason is cultural and information security. A large amount of content and applications that have not been reviewed through normal channels have entered the TV screen through the Internet channel. Although this has enriched the content and entertainment of the TV screen to a certain extent, some vulgar and unhealthy content and applications are likely to be mixed in, bringing content and information security risks that are outside the scope of supervision. I am afraid that the government's recent decision to hand over the Internet information content review power to the Cyberspace Administration of China was based on this consideration. In the face of disorderly development and lack of supervision of Internet TV, it is also urgent to include it in the scope of security control, and Internet TV licensees will undoubtedly be the first to bear the brunt of this responsibility.

The second reason is cultural communication. President Xi Jinping recently proposed to accelerate the integration of traditional media and emerging media, and to build several new media groups with strong strength, communication power, credibility and influence. Internet TV, as a new way to watch TV, is rapidly moving towards families. It is estimated that the number of Internet TV terminals will exceed 100 million by the end of this year, which means that Internet TV will be one of the main fronts for new media communication. Although commercial video websites have promoted the development of the cultural industry to a certain extent, they are still relatively lacking in the dissemination of mainstream cultural views and values. Internet TV licensees are rooted in radio and television, and have the social responsibility and experience of mainstream cultural dissemination. They should shoulder the responsibility of promoting mainstream culture in the era of new media communication.

Therefore, the regulation of SARFT is not improvisation, but is carried out under the context of new media communication and information security framework. It is even hard to say whether SARFT is in the lead. It is just that the SARFT has always been high-profile and lacks communication with the industry, which has repeatedly caused it to be questioned.

As the saying goes, to look at an industry, you have to look at the general trend. The trend of the Internet TV industry being gradually dominated by Internet TV licensees will not change much. After all, they have the ability and social responsibility to spread mainstream culture, an advantage that commercial websites cannot match.

OTT licensees taking action

In fact, Internet TV licensees, who have always been highly sensitive to policies, have been more cooperative in this round of rectification and have begun to take action. Putting aside the policy dividends, they know that this is not the rhythm of the country to control Internet TV, but based on the requirements of the new era of communication, they must hold up the banner.

Taking Wasu as an example, it took offline the TV version client of the video website, video aggregation software and some applications in Tmall Magic Box in a short period of time, and further issued notifications to third-party app stores, requiring them to remove the video aggregation APK provided by the licensee.

Mango TV also sent letters to its partners, requesting them to clean up any pre-installation or download and installation of audio-visual application apps that are not from the Internet TV content service license holders on their cooperative models. Since then, it has also been discussing with its hardware partners in Shenzhen how to provide better services to users.

BesTV also notified its partners to remove all applications that can connect to the public Internet from their OTT Internet TV devices. These partners are said to include TV manufacturers such as Changhong, TCL, and Konka, as well as box manufacturers such as Meiruhua and HiMedia, and equipment manufacturers such as Internet projectors.

Others such as CNTV's Future TV, CIBN, CNR Galaxy, and Southern Media have all undergone rectification to varying degrees and removed some non-licensed content and applications from service.

While cooperating with the rectification, Internet TV licensees are also making full efforts in technology, network, content market, terminals, etc. While dispelling external concerns, they are also working with upstream and downstream of the industry chain, especially terminal hardware manufacturers, to promote the development of the Internet TV industry through high-quality and rich content and good user experience, while shouldering the responsibility of spreading mainstream culture.

As for the content that the industry is most concerned about, Internet TV licensees are actually accelerating their steps. First, they have launched exclusive broadcast strategies to form exclusive high-quality content; second, they have increased their investment in copyright procurement and content production, such as Mango TV, which has invested 1 billion yuan at one time, and Wasu has also made extensive efforts; third, they have launched joint efforts to integrate the content of some Internet TV content licensees and partners to give full play to the group advantage. TV stations themselves have a strong advantage in original content, and with the increase in investment, it is not that difficult to meet users' content needs.

In fact, these practices of the licensees have been more or less recognized by the Internet TV industry chain. For example, Mango TV has launched new products with multiple terminal manufacturers such as Nut. It may not be a bad thing to put Internet TV on a regular development track.

Internet TV has unknowingly come to the center of attention again. The licensees are actually doing something, but due to the relative lack of early accumulation and the need to improve their industry influence, they have unknowingly been drowned in "verbal criticism"!

Privately, I feel that CNTV, Mango TV, BesTV, Wasu, etc. should now join forces to express their intentions, or take action to save the market, and shout out loud: We can!

This way you can live up to the General Administration, terminal manufacturers and users. Otherwise, some people will really think that you can't do it!

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.