Exclusive | ByteDance to enter China’s long-form streaming video market, challenging iQiyi, Tencent Video
The Beijing-based start-up is developing new film and television drama segments for its Xigua Video app
Beijing ByteDance Technology, operator of popular news aggregator Jinri Toutiao and short video app Tik Tok, plans to bring long-form content in China’s streaming video market and compete head-to-head with industry leaders iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku Tudou.
The fast-growing start-up is developing new film and television drama segments for its Xigua Video app, which will be launched either at the end of this year or early next year, according to people familiar with the initiative.
It plans to buy the exclusive digital rights for selected films and TV shows, as well as finance the development of a number of original film and TV projects and was looking at a paid subscription business model, said the people who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
Founded in 2012, ByteDance currently runs several short video apps, the most popular of which are Douyin and Xigua.
Known as Tik Tok outside China, Douyin provides clips shorter than 15 seconds and has become the go-to short video platform for China’s Generation Z. Every video on the Xigua platform runs for less than five minutes.
