Tencent Video (Chinese: 腾讯视频; pinyin: Téngxùn Shìpín, also called WeTV outside of China) is a Chinese video streaming website owned by Tencent. The website was launched in April 2011, and is one of China's largest online video platforms. As of October 2022, Tencent Video has 120 million paid subscribers, making it the 4th largest streaming service in the world, after Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney .[1] Tencent Video also operates an international version, WeTV,[2] which was launched in 2018.

Tencent Video
Logo used since 2011
Available inMandarin, English (WeTV only), Thai (WeTV only), Indonesian (WeTV only), Hindi (WeTV only), Japanese (WeTV only), Korean (WeTV only), Portuguese (WeTV only), Spanish (WeTV only), Arabic (WeTV only), Vietnamese (WeTV only)
IndustryEntertainment
ProductsStreaming media
Video on demand
ParentTencent
URLv.qq.com
wetv.vip/en (WeTV)

History

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In April 2011, Tencent Video officially launched with an independent domain. Tencent Video supports online Video-on-Demand, television broadcasts, and in July 2017 began featuring video content on China's biggest television maker, TCL.[3]

Usage

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In October 2017, Tencent Video's revenue was CNY 65.2 billion (US $9.87 billion). In September 2017, Tencent Video was one of eight Chinese apps in the top 30 mobile apps with the largest revenue in the App Store and Google Play Stores. In October 2017, Tencent Video ranked among the top 15 apps with the largest global consolidated monthly income with Tencent Video ranked top in revenue of iOS entertainment applications in China in October 2017.[4]

Censorship

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Tencent's relationship with the Chinese government has stirred controversy, as content produced or distributed by the platform is subject to censorship with high levels of surveillance.[5][6][7]

Events

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  • June 2011, the Tencent Video documentary channel was officially launched.[8]
  • August 2012, Tencent Video reached 200 million daily average broadcasts.
  • April 17, 2013, Tencent Video's first British drama "Happy Lovers" (Coupling) was independently broadcast on their website.[9]
  • April 27, 2013, Tencent Video reached an agreement with six major production companies including BBC Worldwide, ITV Studios, Fremantle Media, All3Media International, and Endemol.[10]
  • June 3, 2013, Tencent Video's British TV channel was launched, which was China's first British drama broadcast platform.[11]
  • April 27, 2022, Disney China announced that "迪家影视俱乐部" (literal translation Disney's Home of Film and Television Club) will be launched on Tencent Video,[12] providing Disney's movies, children's animation series and documentaries including selected Disney Original films.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TENCENT ANNOUNCES 2022 THIRD QUARTER RESULTS" (PDF). November 16, 2022.
  2. ^ WeTV
  3. ^ "Tencent makes smart TV push in joint venture with China's biggest TV maker". Reuters. 5 July 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2017 – via The Business Times.
  4. ^ Liu, Alon. "Tencent Third Quarter Earnings Report: Tencent Video realized strong growth in business and revenue". Tencent Technology. Archived from the original on 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  5. ^ "No cults, no politics, no ghouls: how China censors the video game world". the Guardian. 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  6. ^ Kharpal, Arjun (2020-05-08). "Chinese tech giant Tencent reportedly surveilled foreign users of WeChat to help censorship at home". CNBC. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  7. ^ Pavia, Will. "Chinese streaming platform Tencent edits Fight Club to appease censors". The Times. New York. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  8. ^ "Tencent video documentary channel was launched". tech.ifeng.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  9. ^ "Tencent video first British drama was online". ent.qq.com (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 2018-11-22. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  10. ^ "腾讯视频与BBC等制作公司达成中国最大英剧资源引进". ent.ifeng.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  11. ^ "腾讯视频发布独家大剧计划 打造第一英剧平台_娱乐_腾讯网". ent.qq.com (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2017-12-11.
  12. ^ 迪士尼“迪家影视俱乐部”上线腾讯视频 https://www.jiemian.com/article/7392315.html https://web.archive.org/web/20220504010704/https://www.jiemian.com/article/7392315.html
  13. ^ 腾讯视频携迪士尼上线迪家影视俱乐部 以影迷生态为会员体验增值 http://news.jxntv.cn/2022/0429/9610188.shtml https://web.archive.org/web/20220504010756/http://news.jxntv.cn/2022/0429/9610188.shtml
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