GUEST POST: ‘Voice of China’ Copyright Dispute Buzzes State-Run TV

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By Lin Nanwei

“Voice of China” caught in copyright feud

The wildly popular “Voice of China” variety show has landed at the center of a major copyright dispute in China, attracting big audiences in its own right. How the conflict gets resolved will pose a major test for China’s young and fiercely competitive industry that makes programs for TV and other video channels.

The conflict’s origins lie in “Voice of China’s” copyright owner, the Dutch company Talpa, and Vico Systems, which has been producing the program for the last 4 seasons. After failing to come to financial terms for a fifth season of the show, Talpa found a new production partner, Talent TV and Film (Shenzhen: 300426). (Chinese article)

On January 20 Talent TV announced it had signed a deal to make the next “Voice of China” season. Two days later Talpa applied for a temporary restraining order in Hong Kong prohibiting Vico from producing or broadcasting the series.

Vico was in no mood to admit defeat, and accused Talpa of violating their agreement by demanding an exorbitant new licensing fee in the hundreds of millions of yuan. Vico added it still held rights to the show, and indicated it might continue production even without Talpa’s permission.

Around the same time, Talpa’s new partner Talent TV issued yet another announcement saying it had paid $60 million for 4-year rights to the show. It also strongly hinted it may have found a new broadcasting partner with the main TV station operator in eastern Jiangsu province.

Rising Fee

The reality is that Vico paid just 2 million yuan ($300,000) for licensing rights to “Voice of China” during its first season, and created a huge hit for itself and its own broadcasting partner, Zhejiang TV, the main broadcaster in east China’s Zhejiang province. After that the licensing rights for the show grew by large amounts in each of the next 3 years.

My sources at Vico tell me that from as early as the show’s second season, a number of other production companies were bidding aggressively for the show. But Vico retained the rights, even as ratings softened in the second and third seasons. The show made a strong comeback in its fourth season, banking on the star power of celebrity Zhou Jielun.

This explains Talpa’s demands for a high licensing fee and Vico’s reaction. China’s TV market lacks many good domestically-developed variety show. That has emboldened foreign license holders to aggressively raise their prices for imported popular shows, especially as huge sums of money flow into the industry, leading to highly competitive bidding for original content.

Popular variety shows can bring in huge audiences and business, especially with the entry of online video sites into the market. Chinese Internet giants Tencent (HKEx: 700), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) have all moved aggressively into the space, and Tencent has its own relationship with the same Zhejiang TV that was responsible for making “Voice of China” a hit in partnership with Vico. (previous post) Tencent also makes another popular talent show in partnership with Talpa, further complicating the relationship in the “Voice of China” conflict.

While Vico has been quite vocal during the conflict, its Zhejiang TV broadcasting partner has been quiet so far. But I suspect this is because Zhejiang TV is a state-owned broadcaster, and is being extra cautious. Some observers also are guessing that Zhejiang TV may be preparing to dump Vico and try to form a relationship with the new rights holder, Talent TV.

Vico and Zhejiang TV have accumulated years of experience working together, even though they have much to lose in the current situation. But new license holder Talent TV has no experience making this kind of variety show, and thus might need another production partner even if it agreed to let Zhejiang TV broadcast the next season of “Voice of China”.

So, will Zhejiang TV give up on “Voice of China”? I personally think that even though it has built a big audience with a number of similar shows these last few years, “Voice of China” is one of its strongest cards. What’s more, a primary driver behind Zhejiang TV’s recent strategic partnership with Tencent was “Voice of China”. That would make it even more difficult for Zhejiang TV to give up the show.

Changing production companies for popular shows isn’t uncommon outside China, though there are less cases where the show’s broadcaster also changes. Accordingly, I expect that Zhejiang TV may ultimately convince Vico to enter negotiations with Talpa and Talent TV. If those negotiations fail, then Zhejiang TV and Vico could very well go ahead with their previously announced plans to make an unauthorized version of “Voice of China”.

Lin Nanwei previously worked as a reporter for Zhejiang TV. Contact the author at lnw000@163.com.

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