Chinese Online Video Giant Youku Tudou Acquires 33 U.S. TV Series

6:43 AM PDT 3/28/2013 by Patrick Brzeski

2
44
0
1
0
Email
Print
Comments

ABC/PETER "HOPPER" STONE

"Modern Family"

"Modern Family", "2 Broke Girls," and "Cougar Town," are among the huge collection of American-made content that the streaming video service will add to its library in 2013.

Youku Tudou, China's leading Internet streaming video service, has announced the addition of 33 U.S. TV dramas, comedies and variety shows to its library of licensed content.

Youku Tudou Reports 'Narrowing Loss' for 2012 Q4

Youku Tudou CEO Talks Hulu, Opportunities Outside of China

Chinese Online Video Giant Youku Completes Acquisition of Tudou

Among the titles picked up by the Chinese online video giant are Modern Family, 2 Broke Girls, Cougar Town, The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Revenge and 27 other popular shows from ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, The CW and WB.

PHOTOS: 'Modern Family' Stars Pick Their Favorite Episodes

According to the company, viewership of U.S. TV is its fastest-growing content category, with an increase of roughly 400 percent from 2011 to 2012. Average views for single episodes reach as high as 2.5 million, Youku Tudou said in a statement.

After appearing on Youku.com, The Walking Dead became the most-watched U.S. show in China, reaching the top three on Chinese Internet search giant Baidu's TV list, with the third season scoring more than 95 million views on Youku.

STORY: Youku Tudou Reports 'Narrowing Loss' for 2012 Q4

The huge content coup more than doubles Youku Tudou's existing library of American TV series. Since 2010, the company had imported slightly more than 20 U.S. TV shows, including Desperate Housewives, American Idol, Scandal, Glee, Survivor, America's Got Talent and The X Factor.

Financial terms and the specific timing for the slate of acquisitions were not disclosed Thursday.

Youku and Tudou once were major rivals in the fiercely competitive Chinese streaming video space, ranking No. 1 and No. 2 by market share, respectively. Youku acquired Tudou in August in a stock deal valued at $1 billion. The new entity, Youku Tudou, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as YOKU. Combined, the company's two sites, Youku.com and Tudou.com have a user base of nearly half a billion, by most estimates.