China Media Monitor Headlines Archives

Leading mainland online video site Youku plans to raise the rates for some of its ad space by 20% to 30% next year, according to Vice President of Operations and CEO Executive Assistant Wei Ming. Although Youku has more than 300 advertising clients - including manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods, cars and IT products – its revenues are still insufficient to cover broadband fees. Most mainstream online video sites in China are operating at a loss. Broadband and copyright fees are their largest expenditures.

The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) shut down 699 websites with pornographic content from December 10 to 14, reports Sina. The state-controlled CNNIC found the sites by following up on the reports the public lodged on its hotline, which opened on December 10. The sites were closed down after CNNIC employees verified the reports. CNNIC has also shut down more than 8,000 phishing sites in 2009.

Chinese Internet users have turned to other online video sites for their content fix following last week's closure of some of China's largest BitTorrent sites, reports National Business Daily. Popular video sites such as Tudou.com and 56.com have reported 10% to 20% jumps in traffic compared to the previous week. Wang Jianjun, CEO of 56.com, said "The increase in traffic occurred right after the BitTorrent sites were shut down but I’m not sure whether it will continue to grow."

Chinese domain name supervisor, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), announced that it closed domain name registrations for individual users from 21:00 on December 14, 2009. According to China Tech, users who want to apply for domain names must now provide written application materials, including an enterprise business license.

CNNIC said it has conducted an audit of the companies providing domain name registration services. Three companies have been punished as a result: Zhengzhou Dahuang Network Development Company, Beijing Xinnet Digital Information Technology Company, and Beijing Blinux Network Technology Company.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT) has asked its provincial regulatory branches to start their annual audit of licensed TV and radio content producers, according to a December 3 circular. The broadcast industry regulator will investigate whether producers have compiled with relevant laws and audit the quality and quantity of the content they produced in 2009. The results of the audit will be released in March 2010.