iQiyi aims to drive convergence with traditional media

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01:26

During the ongoing 15th China International Film & TV Program Exhibition, many television and film companies across China showed up with their best shows for potential business within the industry.

Among them are some streaming sites that are changing viewers’ habits in recent years. iQiyi, Tencent Video, Youku and Sohu TV are all among those many giants of streaming sites in China, similar to Netflix and Hulu in the West.

A new trend in China in recent years is sensational shows, including dramas and variety shows, are not necessarily produced by televisions like they used to be.

For example, the Rap of China, the 2017 talent show aimed at searching for talented rappers in China, was produced by iQiyi and caused a craze nationwide and even triggered the awareness for hiphop culture in China.

Tencent had stepped into the movie industry since 2016 and already produced several box-office winners.

All those streaming sites are already starting to make their own dramas and online films. Several years ago, televisions make shows and distribute them to streaming sites. But now things are changing.

"We are now exporting our content to CCTV, provincial satellite television stations, all those traditional media," Wang Xiaoyuan, who was in charge of distributions for iQiyi's content, told CGTN Digital in a sit-down interview during the expo.

She believes cooperation between traditional media and new media like them will result in a much bigger win.

"In fact, we prefer to be the pioneer in driving the cooperation between platforms and media," she said.