Curbing the stream

Meanwhile, new opportunities are opening up for these licenses holders, most of which are traditional broadcasters and media companies.

As third-party apps are shut out, license holders are being encouraged to develop their own content rather than just getting it from streaming sites.

Wasu Media &Network Co will invest in a number of production companies to widen its program sources, Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

In May, it invested an additional 100 million yuan in Tangren Media, one of China's most prolific producers of costume dramas.

By reaching an agreement with 21st Century Fox on copyright cooperation in TV series, Shanghai Media Group subsidiary BesTV has forged partnerships with Hollywood's six leading production houses, including Universal, Disney and Paramount, from which it can license programs.

This will affect streaming sites to some extent, but the impact isn't expected to be vast, Wu says.

According to a report by IT portal Zhongguancun On Line, streaming sites like PPS and PPTV have more than 5,000 movies, while most of China's Internet TV license holders lack content.

So, for the moment at least, until their investments and tie-ups with production houses come onstream, licensed providers will have to rely on streaming sites' content, Wu says.