1. Shanda Reports Q2 2011 Financial Results, Gross Profit Was US$145.5 Million
Shanda announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2011, its net revenues increased 5% quarter-over-quarter and increased 26% year-over-year to US$264.2 million. However, when its comes to Net Income Attributable to Ordinary Shareholders, things didn’t look good, net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was US$1.4 million, a decrease of 94.8% from US$ 26.6 million in the second quarter of 2010.
Ku6 reported a US$ 21.6 million net loss while Cloudary reported a US$ 1.64 million net loss for this quarter.
2, Sina Acquired 9.05% Of Tudou For US$ 66.4 Million
According to a SEC filing, Sina has acquired 9.05% of Tudou for US$ 66.4 million. Sina spokesman Liu Qi told local media that We bought a stake in Tudou as an investment, and we will seek business cooperation in many areas in the future”.
Spreading rumor speculated that Sina will use Tudou as its video outlet, however, an Tudou PR person responded saying “It’s just an investment and Tudou will remain independent”.
3, Copyrighted Content Costs Skyrocketing For Video Sites
In a wave that now almost every video site wants to be China’s Hulu rather than YouTube, copyrighted content costs are skyrocketing compared to several years ago.
For instance, in 2006 it costs RMB 1000 (US$ 156) to buy one episode of the then hit TV drama My Own Swordsmen (武林外传). Now the price for hit show is like RMB 1million (US$ 156,787) per episode.
4, Sohu Video Supports 3rd Weibo Services, Adding Distribution Channel
Sohu Video is really at it with aggressive moves like bleeding money on quality contents and shooting its own movies. Today, the services announced that it will support the mainstream weibo services in China. After uploading a clip to the site, now you can also sync the clip to many other weibo platforms like Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo and of course, Sohu Weibo.