WWE signs TV deal in China.
News filtered on Monday that the wrestling organization had signed a new TV deal and details of the partnership would see Chinese company iQIYI offer products of the Wrestling promoter in Mainland China starting from September 22.
iQIYI is an innovative and market-leading online entertainment service provider and it would air WWE programs weekly live in Mandarin to audiences in China.
China is home to over one billion people and is one of the WWE’s biggest markets and the company is constantly looking for new ways to penetrate the market.
-
Attitude Era: 5 WWE superstars the 90s kids will never forget
WWE signs TV deal in China, what can viewers expect?
iQIYI would have access to airing all WWE-produced content on a weekly basis from September 22 and the programs would be made available in HD, while dual Mandarin and English commentaries would also be available to choose from depending on the viewer’s preference.
Access to the service would require users to have the regular iQIYI sports membership or the iQIYI boxing membership. More details can be gotten from the official iQIYI WWE channel.
There would also be a WWE subscription video-on-demand for flagship events and pay-per-views including Wrestlemania, Royal Rumble, and Money in the Bank would be made available
Speaking on the new development, WWE Vice President & General Manager, Greater China Jey Li said:.
“We are thrilled to begin an exciting new chapter for WWE in the region as we bring our unique blend of action-packed, family-friendly sports entertainment to iQIYI Sport’s impressive portfolio of premium sports content,”
“I have full confidence in this partnership,” said Lingxiao Yu, CEO of iQIYI Sports. “WWE is loved by many fans around the world and has a huge fan base in China. We are pleased to become partners with WWE. We will leverage the resources of our platform to ensure that top quality WWE content is delivered to Chinese audiences as an unbeatable entertainment experience.”
WWE programming is currently available in more than 800 million households worldwide and with the addition of this new service, their reach is set to expand exponentially.
Moving ahead, iQIYI Sports would introduce innovative concept to get the best viewing pleasure while airing WWE content, in addition to interactive features such as Bullet subtitles (Danmu) and would collaborate with the company to develop interaction with fans.
