China Media Monitor Headlines Archives

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.

Hong Kong-based channel Sun TV saw its tacit permission to re-broadcast on mainland cable networks revoked on December 5. According to an unnamed source quoted by the Hollywood Reporter, SARFT did not inform the company of the decision. The move is not thought to affect the channel's carriage via the official Chinasat platform to foreigners’ compounds and 3/4/5 star hotels.

WinTV has entered the third round of bidding for the next three years of broadcast rights for the FA Premier League in mainland China, reports National Business Daily. The pay-TV station, which has held the broadcast rights for the last three years, entered the bidding process when it started in November 2009. It will continue through to the final outcome in January, 2010 according to an unnamed source at WinTV.