iQIYI Treats VIP Viewers with Popular Netflix Shows As It's on Global Hunt for Good Content
BEIJING, June 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China's largest internet and mobile video service provider iQIYI today announced the release of several popular Netflix shows exclusively to its paid subscribers.
Bojack Horseman, an animated sitcom, has been available on iQIYI exclusively to paid subscribers since June 19 and the critically-acclaimed documentary thriller series Make a Murderer and documentary series Chef's Table have already been online on iQIYI since June 6 and June 15 respectively.
The cooperation between iQIYI and Netflix over rights to popular shows from Netflix is a landmark for iQIYI's endeavor to bring good productions from around the world to its VIP viewers.
The first batch of imported online shows for Chinese audience also marks a new era for the online video industry to embrace the paid subscription business model for premium contents en mass.
Bojack Horseman, a black comedy offering a satirical insight into the meaning of life in the real world, is expected to resonate well with the younger generation in China that in the grip of "Sang" culture - pessimism, lack of motivation and purpose in life among the young.
The animation for adult viewers received a rating of 86% from Rotten Tomatoes as well as a nomination for best animation (for the episode Fish Out of Water) in The Writers Guild Awards in the United States earlier this year.
The series' first three seasons will be streamed on iQIYI every Monday from June 19, offering viewers some bitter-sweet self-help tips from the most beloved sitcom horse.
Chef's Table, a Netflix original featuring world's renowned chefs, is another beautifully crafted documentary from David Gelb, who directed the highly-rated 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Viewers in China who have watched the show gave it an impressive rating of 9/10 on Douban, a leading Chinese review aggregator equivalent to Rotten Tomatoes.
The complete first season of Chef's Table was available on iQIYI from June 15, which allows the VIP viewers to peek into a magnificent feast of unique cuisine and delicacies around the world. The second season as well as a special for France, Chef's Table: France, will be up on iQIYI on June 22 and 29 respectively.
Making A Murderer which premiered on iQIYI on June 6, is a real-life docu-series that explores the premise for what constitutes truth in criminal cases by examining mainly the life of a man who was convicted over sexual assault and attempted murder and then fully exonerated in 2003 and again convicted over another murder.
The documentary, filmed over a ten-year period and first shown on Netflix, created much of buzz on social media platforms such as Reddit, Twitter and Buzzfeed in the United States. It has been well received by Chinese viewers with access to the show, who gave it a 9.3 out 10 rating on Douban.
Emboldened by the popularity of the show's first season, iQIYI and Netflix have agreed to release the following season concurrently on both sites in December.
iQIYI and Netflix reached a licensing agreement in April to give iQIYI rights to streaming its U.S. counterpart's popular drama, animations, documentaries and reality shows and bilateral cooperation moves ahead rapidly.
As the online video industry embraces paid subscription business model, iQIYI will see a wider range of premium content -- not only online dramas and internet films but also documentaries, children's shows and animations -- go behind the paywall. iQIYI will continue looking for licensing deals from its global partners to ensure access by its VIP viewers to premium content of broader varieties great content while working closely with the partners to maximize revenues for all.
SOURCE iQIYI
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