Quotas may limit more foreign TV shows online

Internet giants make bid for viewers

Big plans for tiny times

Chinese video websites enjoyed a relatively open environment regarding content choice, because it was previously not subject to the administration's direct examination.

The supervision of video websites is believed to involve both the administration and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Legend Media's consultant Peng Kan said in an earlier interview with China Daily, but the administration has long wanted to apply its regulation and management policies on film and television to online videos.

The restrictive policies, Peng had then said, could be a signal that the unrestrained days for online content is possibly over.

Wu Chunyong, editor-in-chief with IT portal dwrh.net, told the Southern Metropolis Daily that directly restricting online content is a much more influential matter than restricting the content in set-top boxes. He said he believed the supervisors will be very careful in that.

But if such a policy is established, Wu added, video websites can ways around it. For example, he said, they can jointly produce movies and TV series with Hollywood and license these shows as joint productions.